Back to Reviews By Title - T

The Sparrow, Maria Doria Russell
Random House
Reviewed by Virginia Winder

It was my doctor who turned me on to The Sparrow, prefixing her recommendation with: "I don't usually read science fiction, but…"

She couldn't speak more highly of the novel by Maria Doria Russell, whose debut is pieced together with the precision of a surgeon reconnecting a patient's severed hands.

In my hands, I couldn't put the book down – or stop thinking about the implications of finding life on another planet. This astonishing book won the Arthur C. Clark Award for best novel published in Britain in 1997 and could well be hailed as the sci-fi classic of our time (or the future).

The storyline is written in two timeframes – 2016 and 2020. One follows the actual timeline of the The Mission, led by Jesuit priests to the planet of Rakhat in the Alpha Centauri star system. The other follows The Trials, which place the sole survivor under the spotlight.

These two tales eventually merge to reveal what happened to the Earthlings on Rakhat.
As well as three priests, there are five civilians in the exploratory group. All eight are highly intelligent with a mass of skills between them, including Father Emilio Sandoz, who is a gifted linguist. Russell, who has a PhD in biological anthropology, creates real people (and other species) whose relationships are cemented together with love and humour.

Each chapter is a short story in itself, with endings so tantalising they spur more page-turning: "The Jesuit scientists went to Rakhat to learn, not to proselytize. They went so that they might come to know and love God's other children. They went for the reason Jesuits have always gone to the farthest frontiers of human exploration. They went for the greater glory of God," Russell writes.
"They meant no harm."

The Sparrow is a rare gem of a book that pushes new frontiers of imagination, long-held beliefs and healthy skepticism. It's just what the doctor ordered.