This book is beautiful, thought-provoking, and tragic. It's a story of an exploratory mission gone wrong. Just like the early explorers of the Americas, these explorers think they are completely prepared, but make a lot of erroneous assumptions about the culture they encounter.

From the beginning of the book you are told that everyone dies except the main character, and that he has been tortured both physically and mentally. Some of what happens to the characters is pretty gruesome; if you can't handle that, stay away from this book. The violence and torture are necessary for the questions that the book poses about why God allows suffering.

The story ends on a depressing note. The sequel, Children Of God, is not as good but takes the story in a more hopeful direction. If you are going to read this book, I would plan on reading that one as well.