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Children of God is the sequel to Mary Doria Russell's 1996 The Sparrow, which saw a Jesuit mission to the planet Rakhat end in disaster. The sole survivor of that mission, a priest named Emilio Sandoz, returned a beaten and broken man, having suffered rape and mutilation at the hands of enigmatic aliens. Now the Jesuits want to go back to Rakhat, and they want Sandoz aboard the new mission. But Sandoz has renounced his priesthood and even found a measure of happiness with his new wife and stepdaughter. Meanwhile, on Rakhat, contact with the humans has thrown the local culture into turmoil, precipitating a war between Rakhat's two sentient races. As forces conspire to send Emilio back to Rakhat--and toward a possible reconciliation with God--the planet verges on genocidal destruction. Children of God is a more polished novel than The Sparrow, and the story is equally compelling.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Russell follows her speculative first novel, The Sparrow, with a sequel that will please even readers new to her interplanetary missionaries. Having returned from a disastrous, 21st-century expedition to the planet Rakhat, Jesuit Father Emilio Sandoz, the sole survivor of the mission, faces public rage over the order's part in the war between the gentle Runa and the predatory Jana'ata?fury more than matched by the priest's own self-hatred and religious disillusionment. In the sequel, he is forced to return to Rakhat with a new expedition more interested in profits than prophets. When they discover the planet in turmoil and the Runa precariously in power, the temptation to interfere is more than they can withstand. As in her first book, Russell uses the entertaining plot to explore sociological, spiritual, religious, scientific and historical questions. Misunderstandings between cultures and people are at the heart of her story. It is, however, the complex figure of Father Sandoz around which a diverse interplanetary cast orbits, and it is the intelligent, emotional and very personal feud between Father Sandoz and his God that provides energy for both books. 50,000 first printing; BOMC selection; audio rights to Random House Audio; author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Children Of God,
By
This review is from: Children of God (Paperback)
Mary Doria Russell takes us back to Rakhat in her sequel to The Sparrow and I'm happy to say that I enjoyed the journey. With her main protagonist Emelio Sandoz in tow she once again paints a lush personal background for both his obstinate state of mind, but also the varied motivations of his newest companions in the venture. What I love about Ms Russell's writing is the way she forms her characters lives into a believable web of circumstances that ultimately lead them to a far off world filled with danger and possible death. She humanizes them; none perfectly good, none perfectly evil, yet all of them come alive to share in the humanity of not only the voyage back to Rakhat, but the lives that continue on in both the Runa villages, and the Ja'anta cities.We find Sophia alive and struggling to make a life for herself and her new born son, Isaac, with the Runa. We know that change will soon sweep across the world introduced by author in the first novel, The Sparrow. And we learn that the events that have changed Emilio Sandoz's tortured life were not all as contrived as we once thought. Perception is certainly one of Ms Russell's main concepts in the sequel and she twists these varied personal perceptions from every angle possible. If you have read The Sparrow and enjoyed it, you can't possibly miss with its sequel, Children Of God.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A HIGHLY INTELLIGENT TREATISE ON PERSONAL THEOLOGY - A TRUE CLASSIC,
By NeuroSplicer (Freeside, in geosynchronous orbit) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER)
This review is from: Children of God (Paperback)
Theology can become a distant logical exercise of dry doctrine and easy theoretical conclusions. When it comes down to the wet choices of real life most such theoretical Theology is found wanting as it can offer only limited answers. This is Theology of the other kind, the real one.Mary Doria Russell has created a highly intelligent story: what would the story of a future saint be? Say, a Jesuit spearheading an exploratory mission to an alien civilization as a linguist of unique abilities; a former outcast that found his true calling as a man of the Cloth and God's face in all the hungry he fed and all the orphans he sheltered and all the lost he bough back from desperation. And then God asked for more. Much more. Is God real or a mere human construct? Can Faith survive anything? This is one of those books that stays with you for ever. Read THE SPARROW first, CHILDREN OF THE GOD later in order to enjoy them both more. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Even better than the first one,
By Kansas Mom (KS, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Children of God (Paperback)
I highly recommend The Sparrow. After you've read it, pick up Children of God. Mary Doria Russell's ending of The Sparrow leaves the main character in despair and confusion about his relationship to others and to God. His experiences in the second book (along with those of other major characters from the first) don't give pat answers to his questions but force him (and the reader) to consider how the Lord may be guiding the universe.
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