The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell

...style and story telling all the more remarkable, as a hidden talent becomes unveiled.

The story follows close the journey of Father Emilio Sandoz, a Jesuit with a facility for language, and an emptiness in his soul. Set in the near future when near-earth space travel has become if not commonplace at least not unusual, people are regularly mining the moon and asteroids for minerals and fuel. Sandoz is assigned to a mission near one ...
...post discovers a signal from the nearby star system of Alpha Centauri, the process toward the journey begins.

While nations debate and plan an exploratory trip, the Jesuit order (well known historically for missionary work) get their own trip underway, with a crew of Jesuits and laypersons each with differing expertise (one in musicology, as the transmission seem musical; and so forth). The process for travel is one that is inventive ... more

Mary Doria Russell's novel, 'The Sparrow', is a truly interesting mix of theology and science fiction. Prior to this novel, Russell had only ever written scientific and technical manuals, which makes her prose style and story telling all the more remarkable, as a hidden talent becomes unveiled.

The story follows close the journey of Father Emilio Sandoz, a Jesuit with a facility for language, and an emptiness in his soul. Set in the near future when near-earth space travel has become if not commonplace at least not unusual, people are regularly mining the moon and asteroids for minerals and fuel. Sandoz is assigned to a mission near one of the big radio telescopes (Arecibo, in Puerto Rico), and when this SETI listening post near Father Emilio's parish post discovers a signal from the nearby star system of Alpha Centauri, the process toward the journey begins.

While nations debate and plan an exploratory trip, the Jesuit order (well known historically for missionary work) get their own trip underway, with a crew of Jesuits and laypersons each with differing expertise (one in musicology, as the transmission seem musical; and so forth). The process for travel is one that is inventive – essentially, it involves the attachment of super-powered engines to an asteroid, and using the asteroid’s resources for fuel, piloting the entire thing to the new planet.

Russell’s narrative includes description of the discovery and debate about the journey, the process of starting the journey, and tales of the voyage itself, a lengthy journey that involves travel at a good fraction of the speed of light. Relativistic effects mean that the earth will have aged decades in the term of the journey to and from the new planet for the crew. The crew consists of priests of the Jesuit order and others not part of this order, but hired for their expertise.

The crew arrive on a planet (Rakhat) to discover two dominant species (the Juna and the Jana'ata), and an intricate society dependent upon certain inter-species realities that the human visitors come to find unethical (yet not really basing this judgment on more than cursory research and observation). The human crew members establish various relationships with both the overlord and the underling species, and find themselves treated variously with curiosity, respect, and finally almost as circus oddities.

Russell presents this as an adventure and a tragedy; as members of the expedition die off one by one for various causes, Father Emilio is left alone and injured and ill-used by those he came to embrace as friends. A second expedition arrives from earth and rescues Father Emilio; the whole tale is told in the manner of flashback while the Jesuits investigate what went wrong. Thus, there are two narrative lines running simultaneously--the unfolding story on Rakhat, and the unfolding trauma and resolution of Father Emilio.

There is great relationship to history here – the manner in which different cultures met along trading routes and came to understand each other figures into the narrative here. Russell has studied her history and anthropology, to discover the natural course for understanding and misunderstanding that occurs between distinct cultural groups. Language can be the least of the difficulties.

Russell’s characters are ones I can relate to very well. Some reviewers have had difficulty understanding the characters, seeing some as flat and lifeless; however, perhaps it is because I am also a priest and see the underlying sense of calling inherent, as well as the difficulties of basing faith and hope on ambiguous and not-always-clearly-defined criteria, that I see the characters as fully formed and interesting.

Russell, raised a catholic yet a convert to Judaism, writes with sensitivity and realism about the Jesuit order, the church, and about the will of God in general. According to Russell, 'When you convert to Judaism in a post-Holocaust world, you know two things for sure: one is that being Jewish can get you killed; the other is that God won't rescue you. That was the theology I was dealing with at the time.'

This is a glimpse into human nature as well as a good science fiction story; many of Russell's situations will be unnerving, and the conclusion very disturbing. Yet, I feel there is something dishonest about the 'everything-works-out-in-the-end-for-everyone' kind of science fiction which is our usual lot today; this book doesn't end on hopelessness, but there is a good dose of reality here, and this honest makes the story all the more credible.

Russell’s novel is concluded in the sequel, ‘Children of God’. If possible, read the two back-to-back.

 

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