CommonwealĪn unusual kind of speculative fiction, challenging the heart even more than the mind … harrowing and strangely beautiful. San Francisco ChronicleĪn ingenious and haunting tale… Even when humans venture into space, Russell reminds us, we will continue to struggle with questions of God, the difficulties and ambiguities of human relationships and the hubris that casts the Other into the outer darkness. Powerful and ambitious … Tackles a difficult subject with grace and intelligence. The Sparrow is out of this world … deeply humanistic science fiction … fascinating narrative suspense … compelling characters … An intelligently constructed first novel that makes us wonder! Alan Cheuse, All Things Considered, National Public RadioĬharacter and style and theme … all come together seamlessly … an extraordinarily assured grasp of science, and of the things that science cannot tell us: things of the heart. Colleen McCullough, New York Times Review of Books

Cleveland Plain DealerĪ startling, engrossing, moral work of fiction. Locusīeautiful, sometimes unsettling, always thought-provoking. Brian Stableford, Interzone MagazineĪn extraordinarily tough-minded novel that challenges the very nature of religious belief… Russell has managed to achieve stunning effects with a first novel.

The Sparrow is, in essence, a challenging book–which is, in my view, the best kind. Nor is it in any way a comforting book… Even those who approve of its moral conclusions…will inevitably find much to unsettle them along the route by which those conclusions are attained. The novel’s prose is exceptionally well-crafted, the characterization exceptionally detailed, the climax exceptionally moving, but it is nevertheless a conscientious science-fiction novel which does not skimp on its careful description of how an interstellar expedition might be mounted. Padberg, SJ, Jesuit SpiritualityĪ biography of belief… Russell describes much in the lives of individual Jesuits and the order itself with uncanny accuracy and deep affection.

How she does this, I do not know… An utterly fascinating story, a book that is hard to put down. ― Milwaukee Journal SentinelĮxtraordinary… And what about the Jesuits specifically? In so many ways, the author gets us right, in our attitudes, our training, our activities, our spirituality. The soul-searching nature of the story of The Sparrow, combined with Russell’s incredible grasp of narrative structure and control of character development, make this novel an experience not to be missed. Important novels leave deep cracks in our beliefs, our prejudices and our blinders.

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell