A review by vimesbootstheory
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

adventurous emotional inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really loved this, what a beautiful story. I was hesitant to pick it up, as I'm not always sure how to make my way through an explicitly religious story, but there's room for a lot of different positions on theism in this book (at least re: Christian theism). The core characters were all extraordinarily loveable, especially Anne and Emilio. Having recently finished Asimov's first Foundation book, my enjoyment of The Sparrow felt very illustrative of my preference for reading real human stories about human connection over hard science fact. Who gives a shit that very little about the Jesuit mission to Rakhat makes much sense? We got found family bonding on an asteroid and that's way more entertaining. I will say, knowing in advance (and this is not a spoiler) that everyone but Emilio dies did keep me more at-arm's-length from the characters than I would have been otherwise, but I wouldn't necessarily have preferred that Russell write it otherwise. The characters and their interactions still carry the book. It seemed to me that The Sparrow is making a point about colonialism at the end, without a lot of ground being laid for it in advance, outside of just knowing that it was a visiting-alien-culture story and that's going to be unavoidable. It's possible I missed the groundwork earlier in the story, though I feel like I had been waiting for it, at least at some level. Also, did not care for the narrative's preachiness re: sex work, I'd feel bad for any sex worker who finds fulfillment in their job reading how hard Russell drops an anvil on sex work = bad.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings