The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell [224]
13. One reviewer wrote, "It is neither celibacy, faith, exotics goods, nor (as Sandoz bitterly asserts) the introduction, of one of humanity’s oldest inventions that leads to the crisis between humans and aliens. The humans get into trouble because they fail to understand how Rakhat society controls reproduction. In shott, they fail because they fail to put themselves into the aliens’ shoes." Do you agree? If so, why? If not, why not?
14. Is confession good (or the sou!? Do you think Emilio Sandoz will ultimately recover—both as a man and as a priest—from his ordeal?
15. Why do you think it’s so important to Emilio to stand by his vow of celibacy when he so obviously loves Sofia Mendez?
16. The Jesuits saw so many of their fellows martyred all over the world throughout history. Why aren’t they more sympathetic in dealing with Sandoz—a man victimized by his faith?
17. What is this story about? Is it a story about coming face-to-face with a sentient race that is so alien as to be incomprehensible, or about putting up a mirror to our own inner setves?
Excerpts from reviews of Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow
"It is science fiction brought back to the project with which it began in the hands of a writer like Jules Verne: the necessity of wonder, the hope for moral rectitude, and the possibility of belief."
—America
"Russell’s debut novel...focuses on her characters, and it is here that the work truly shines. An entertaining infusion of humor keeps the book from becoming too dark, although some of the characters are so clever that they sometimes seem contrived. Readers who dislike an emphasis on moral dilemmas or spiritual quests may be turned off, but those who enjoy science fiction because it can create these things are in for a real treat."
—Science Fiction Weekly
"The Sparrow tackles a difficult subject with grace and intelligence."
—San Francisco Chronicle
"The Sparrow is an incredible novel, for one reason. Though it is set in the early twenty-first century, it is not written like most science fiction. Russell’s novel is driven by her characters, by their complex relationships and inner conflicts, not by aliens or technology,"
—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"It is rare to find a book about interplanetary exploration that has this much insight into human nature and foresight into a possible future.
—San Atitonio Express News
"Two narratives — the mission to the ptanet and its aftermath four decades later—interweave to create a suspenseful tate."
—The Seattle Times
"By alternating chapters that dramatize Sandoz’s tough-love interrogation with flashbacks to the mission’s genesis, flowering, and tragic collapse, The Sparrow casts a strange, unsettling emotional spell, bouncing readers from scenes of black despair to ones of wild euphoria, from the bracing simplicity of pure adventure to the complicated tangles of nonhuman culture and politics.... The smooth storytelling and gorgeous characterization can’t be faulted."
—Entertainment Weekly
Please read on for a preview of Mary Doria Russell’s latest novel
A THREAD OF GRACE
available in hardcover from Random House wherever books are sold
SAINTE-GISÈLE ON THE VESUBIE RIVER SOUTHEASTERN FRANCE
WEST OF THE Maritime Alps, beyond what used to be the French border, soldiers of the Italian Fourth Army loiter on a street corner, pausing in their discussion of the armistice to watch a girl dash past. Sharing a match, they bend their heads over army-issue Milites and raise eyes narrowed by smoke. "Another year, and Diobon!" a Veronese private remarks. "That one’s going to be trouble. "
The others grunt agreement. The Italian Fourth has occupied this territory only since the end of ’42, but that’s been time enough to see her flower. "The features are still a bit too large for the face," a Florentine sergeant says appraisingly, "but the