"The Sparrow" is written by Mary Doria Russell, and simultaneously tells the story of Father Emilio Sandoz in two parts. The first part begins where an alien signal is picked up and a team is sent off to investigate the planet in which the signal originated from (the team contains Father Emilio, obviously), and the second part telling the disasterous results of this encounter of two worlds, where only Father Emelio manages to return from the original voyage, quite changed from his original self - he is apparently a murderer, a whore, and has lost his faith in God.

Although it's an alien encounter novel, and the premise is pretty much identical to the millions of alien encounter stories you've read/watched before, Mary Doria Russel manages to do several things to make this a cut above the stereotypical alien-encounter story, which deserve a mention.

The first aspect that is done somewhat differently is the two-eras aspect of the novel. One on hand, there is a sense of tension created that I probably would not have felt if I were simply reading one of many "people encounter aliens" stories that have been done so often before. Having Emelio explain what is occuring afterwards also clears up what would otherwise be quite confusing to read otherwise - his explanations of the likely motivations of the aliens, or what actually occured, take away any confusion that might exist. However, the main aspect of the dual-timeline aspect is that you want to see why Sandoz turned out the way he did, and yes, the novel is worth reading for these revelations alone.

On the other hand, the dual-storyline aspect occasionally comes off as disjointed, as the second part has Emelio relating his story with little regard to chronology, which does create a bit of a headache trying to sort the story out properly. I'll chalk it up as a plus for the book, but I think Russell could have dealt with this better.

If it were not obvious from the main character being a priest, Russell adds a religious aspect to the first-encounter idea, that is not considered as often, and has some interesting observations about religion and how an encounter with aliens might affect us in a religious sense. This was quite interesting, particularly the ending revelations about the new society that leads to Emelio losing his faith in God. It is only when you find these out that you see all the hints that were left there that might lead to such a conclusion, but were looked over when you first read the book.

Also quite interesting is the society Russell creates for the aliens in question. The aliens are humanoid, in that they are bipedal and have forearms for the manipulation of tools and the like, but their society and ideas are quite alien to ours - the way they behave and interact, the way they talk, their social systems.

However, the book does come off in several ways that make it seem like many other "land on an alien planet and find the inhabitant" stories. The planning for the mission, voyaging to the planet, landing and making initial forays on the planet feature problems similar to what many authors have previously dealt with. Russell does write about this well and quite convincingly, but you've seen it before and also have the T-shirt.

While the book occasionally comes off as following a set formula, on the whole, Russel has created an interesting alien-encounter book, with quite a few religious overtones, and a writing style and methodology that makes "The Sparrow" well worth reading. ( )

Hauntingly intriguing. A very gut-wrenching, in some parts disturbing, book. I could not put it down and found it stayed with me long after I finished reading it. I loved it! But I know someone who hated it. Not for everyone, I guess. Great book for fascinating discussion. ( )

A thought provoking and intriguing read. The novel poses questions about faith and the human condition and soul. ( )

Please be aware that there are a few spoilers below.

When an astronomer discovers intelligent life in space, the Jesuits launch a mission to make first contact.

I've abandoned a lot of books in my time. Usually, it's because they bore me. The plot doesn't engage me. I don't feel anything for the characters. The writing doesn't pull me in. The setting leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

This one was different. The premise was interesting. The plot was nicely developed through a series of flashbacks. I wasn't quite invested in the characters, but I could feel myself getting there. The writing was lovely. There were some fascinating things going on with the whole idea of goodness and faith. I'm sure that, had I finished it, I'd have given it at least four stars.

But I just couldn't. This is the very first book I've had to put down not because I didn't like it but because it disturbed the hell out of me.

The book is told in flashbacks, so we quickly learn just how the main character ends up. His hands are mutilated, he's forced into prostitution and he loses his faith. I have issues with hand mutilation. Hardcore issues. I'd probably have been able to deal if Russell had let us imagine the mutilation for ourselves, but I just couldn't make it past the scene in which Emilio described what was done to him. I honestly could not see myself reading forward to see how it all came about.

Strange as it sounds, I didn't have nearly enough invested in him to watch him go through that. If I'm going to read about a character who goes through hell, I have to really, really care about them. I have to hope against hope that things will be better for them, someday. I couldn't care about Emilio like that. I didn't want to subject myself to any more, regardless of how good the book was overall or how small a part the mutilation played in the bulk of the story. I abandoned it a little over two hundred pages in, and I doubt I'll ever return to it.

I enjoyed this one.
A story of priests in space always sounds a bit out there to me, but it's handled well here.

It's a journey of one priest (and his friends) who travels space and finds a whole new world, thinking he is guided by God.

What he finds there is worse than Hell, and Emilio must reexamine the God he thinks he knows and come to terms with why God leads him there, if at all.

We jump back and forth in time, with Emilio recounting what happened to him and his friends when he left Earth, and although we know from the get-go that there is only one survivor, the story retains its potency -- the journey is important, but it is much more as you flip through the pages knowing that it rests under the weight of a terrible conclusion. The only question that remains is why?

The story flows seamlessly from beginning to aftermath and Russell's new world is vivid and real and very alien, with an interesting power structure.
It is an interesting concept that is, for the most part, well executed. My only problem is that for crafting such a great story, some of Russell's characters feel more like caricatures than characters at times -- like the woman with the tragic dark past whom everyone seems to fall in love with. ( )