The Sparrow

I first read this book 15 years ago when I was a freshman in college. Ouch time flies. There is a huge difference in reading this book at 18 vs 33, and I found a lot of my reread was more about looking at my shifting interpretation of the events rather than the actual events, so this might be a weirdly personal review.

The first thing I noticed is that the science just didn't stand up. Russell wrote this in 1996, and even when I read it in 2000, I was completely able to suspend my disbelief that travel outside our solar system via hollowed out mining asteroids would be completely possible in the next couple of decades by a group of untrained but enthusiastic explorers. Oh, and nobody would really notice till they were gone. 33 year old me was shaking her head at the flippant carelessness of the mission where 18 year old me was as smitten as Emilio was by the divinely ordained exploration.

However, this story is more anthropological fantasy than science fiction, so let's just move past that.

The story has a dual core, beginning with First Contact and how we handle it. Russell states in the extra material that she was inspired by Columbus and other figures from the Age of Exploration and the disastrous effects they had on the societies they touched. She has her characters, none of them trained in the Prime Directive, act based on faith and emotion as well as admittedly little science. Where 18 year old me was shocked at the repercussions of their actions, 33 year old me is much likely to say “I told you so!”

The second core is that of faith and the divine. The bulk of the story is addressed with a Jesuit philosophy (and Jesuits in space seems to be a theme I really enjoy), which makes sense considering how often Jesuits have been the first point of contact for two cultures. Sofia's character allows for some Judaic thought to be woven in as well. It tells about how dangerous it can be to view events as ordained by the divine. A sparrow cannot fall without God knowing it, but the sparrow still falls. That meant very different things to an 18 year old soul searcher compared to a 33 year old cynic. Both readers, however, love the way Russell plays with morality and ethics, taking no sides but pulling no punches either. It is an effective if intentionally unclear lesson in the school of “shit happens.” Having 15 extra years of experience in that area took the book to a different level for me.

Let's not leave out that Russell's writing is still a treat to read even if the science isn't. She has crafted a completely different evolutionary chain on Rakhat including two sentient species, language system Tolkien would be proud of, and a richness of culture that runs the gambit from depraved to divine. For that alone, I have to recommend reading this book, although it is not for the faint of heart and trigger warnings definitely apply. Read it, and read it again to see how you change.