The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell is a novel that was recommended and lent to me by one of the women at church. I took forever to open it, but once I got into it, and I admit, I struggled in the beginning, whether due to my state of mind or it being science fiction and moving back and forth in time throughout the text, I enjoyed the work greatly.
Russell writes of the discovery of life on a planet in the next galaxy. A team is put together to travel there to find out about them – a very curious group of people, including a few Jesuit priests. They arrive, meet the inhabitants and spend several years there, during which, they experience more than they ever expected.
Reading the novel, one is confronted with questions about how one ought and what it means to encounter a species for the first time. But even more so, one is faced with questions about God: Is there a God? And if so, does He intervene in human history in any way? And if God does, what does that mean, given the history of humanity?
I wondered about the title of the book, and it’s meaning is revealed very near the end of the novel. I was slapped across the face (figuratively) when it was revealed, being shocked into not just considering a novel, but real questions about the nature of reality.
I recommend the novel for any interested in science fiction, religion, and/or questions about providence. Russell has written a sequel, Children of God, and I intend to read it.
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