Customer Reviews

Children of God: A Novel

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Like many readers, I found The Sparrow to be one of the most moving and exciting Science Fiction books to come out in recent memory. I almost did not want to read the sequel because I was afraid that it was going to be a disappointment.

While perhaps Children of God is not as original as The Sparrow, it is not (I am relieved to say) a disappointment. It picks up the themes that were explored so well in the first book and develops them in a number of new and satisfying ways. Rakhat is considerably more developed, as is the interspecies conflict between the Runa and the Jana'ata. As in the first book, Russell uses a sure and blessedly light hand to link the events on the two planets to the long-standing moral issues that have concerned humanity.

There are weaknesses in the Children of God that are largely tied to the Earth side of the story. A few of the less necessary characters have the unfortunate feel that they exist simply to move the plot along. Since Russell uses so few cliches in her writing, it unfortunately hits a very sour note on the few occasions where her talent for writing character fails. It did not need stock bad guys or good guys to make it a success. The book also did not need the dramatic 'reward' offered at the end by Isaac and his discovery. The hand of God would have been clear enough in the unfolding events on Rakhat, and additional proof felt unnecessary. Not bad, but unnecessary.

Properly speaking, this book would probably be rated four stars rather than five. However, there are so few writers working with this level of inventiveness. For that reason, and for the strength of the two books taken together, I am rating it as five stars.

Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow was one of the best SF books of 1996 and a remarkable first novel. That novel, which involved first contact with aliens living on the planet Rakhat (orbiting Alpha Cetauri) worked well on a number of levels. It told a good story, had interesting characters, creating a fascinating alien civilization, and explored some interesting philosophical issues. The ending of the book left me stunned and nearly in tears. I was thus rather worried when I heard that Russell was at work on a sequel. I wasn't convinced that the book needed a sequel and wasn't sure that any sequel could live up to The Sparrow.

Children of God isn't quite as good as The Sparrow. However, although it doesn't have quite the impact of the original, it is still a fine novel in its own right. The book interweaves two stories: the story of Emilio Sandoz and his return to Rakhat and the story of what happened on Rakhat after the original Jesuit mission failed and Sandoz was sent back to earth. The two stories together continue and in many ways complete much of the story of The Sparrow, in a way that makes the book feel like a natural, almost essential sequel.

On Rakhat, war has broken out. The Runa, the herbivore species that were both the servants and the food of the planet's other intelligent species, the Jana'ata, have risen up against their former masters. At the same time, Jana'ata society itself is undergoing great changes, in fact is undergoing a mostly progressive social revolution, lead by the same Jana'ata who was the source of Emilio's brutalization in The Sparrow. Russell does a very good job here of not giving us good guys and bad guys in this struggle. In fact, she even sheds some new light on some things that happened in the previous book, making us look again at why characters did some of the things they did. Both alien species have their good and their bad, and both in their way are trapped by their genes. Catalyzing the whole revolution are Sophia (a human left behind for dead from the first mission), her autistic son Isaac, the Jana'ata merchant Supaari (now an outcast) and his daughter. Much of what happens in the book comes from these four characters and the ways they each attempt to come to grips with the Runa/Jana'ata problem.

At the same time, on earth, Emilio continues to recover from the devastating events of The Sparrow, while the Church tries to convince him to go back to Rakhat, both to help the Church and for the sake of his own soul. Emilio, they feel, can only come to understand what happened to him -- events that have shaken his beliefs -- if he goes back to discover the results of these events. Of course, he does wind up going back, and the new party becomes a crucial part of the resolution on Rakhat.

As a side note, on thing I particularly liked is that, early in Children of God, Russell had the General of the Jesuits essentially produce a short summary of what happened to the first expedition. It was a very nice way of summing up the first novel in a page and a half. Too many writers assume that everyone remembers all the details of a book they read two years earlier. I often don't remember some details, and thus I liked having the short reminder.

If the book isn't quite as good as The Sparrow, this stems in large part from the fact that the story of Rakhat, while well done and rather interesting, is not as interesting as the story of Emilio and his companions. I would at times, while reading about the Jana'ata, really want to get back to Emilio and his companions. They're well drawn and interesting characters and was anxious to find out what would happen to them.

In the end, the book remained satisfying. The ending was strong, and the characters remained interesting to the end. The book will certainly be on my Hugo nominations list next year. (Russell was also on my Campbell nominating ballot this year. I hope she makes it.)

It's almost not fair to think of The Sparrow and Children as two seperate novels, since their plots tie in so closely and could just as easily be combined into one coherent book. That being said, Children is everything The Sparrow(Also a 5 star book in my opinion) was, and a little more in some places!

There is much more background on Rakhati history and culture given here, which certainly helped me make sense of a few lingering questions I had from The Sparrow(which I'll be reading again in a month or two, of course!) Many questions left open about the characters of The Sparrow(particularly Emilio Sandoz) are also answered, which leads to a better understanding of the storyline of both books, although Children won't be nearly as an enjoyable or understandable to someone who hasn't read The Sparrow.

I highly recommend this novel to anyone who read The Sparrow and enjoyed it, and I recommend the Sparrow followed by Children of God to anyone looking for an engrossing novel on spirituality, religion, and what it all means.

As intriguing as the first novel, The Sparrow, Children of God kept me reading, but reluctantly. Why? Because I knew once I was finished, I'd have nothing comparable to read.

Mary Doria Russell (a Catholic who converted to Judaism) is an excellent writer who is skilled at creating characters that seem real. Her books raise questions that open the mind and encourage conversation. They are wonderful to read alone, but would be great to read and discuss with fellow readers.

The story switches between Naples and Rakhat, and spreads between 2060 and 2096 Earth-Relative years. Three different locations are followed - Earth, Rukhat and the ship, Giardano Bruno. In addition, we follow the lives of Emilio Sandoz, Sophia Mendes (originally thought dead), and members of a Jana'Ata family, Hlavana Kiteri and his descendants. Despite the many viewpoints, and the time-changes, this is an enjoyable, thought-provoking read.

Was Jesuit priest Emilio Sandoz' original mission to Rakhat a success or a failure? Did God let him down? Is there more to be done before his work is finished? Sandoz is no longer longer judged by the Church's interrogators as a prostitute turned baby-killer. Still healing from the horrors of his experience and doubtful of his relationship with God, he is ready to move on, to make major changes in his life - including giving up his priesthood and marrying.

While Emilio is back on Earth, major changes are being made on Rukhat because of the Jesuit sponsored mission that started in the first book. The Runa have slowly begun questioning their sociological position. For centuries they were passive, accustomed to providing the Jana'Ata with everything from childcare to protein. The Jana'Ata have never questioned the morality of their treatment of the Runa. The arrival of the humans, the lives and relationships that are born, the introduction of new world views causes life as the Runa and Jana'Ata knew it to be questioned and changed forever.

You could read this book without having read The Sparrow, but I wouldn't recommend it. Start with The Sparrow - if you love it, come back for more. You won't be disappointed.

After reading just two of Ms. Russell's books, I'm a confirmed fan, and hope she writes many more. This book is a direct sequel to The Sparrow, and while there is some explanatory material about the events in The Sparrow in this book, I'm afraid someone who hasn't read the earlier book will feel a little lost, and will definitely not be able to appreciate the full power of this book.

Once more I found myself irresistibly drawn to Ms. Russell's full-bodied characters. Emilio Sandoz, the Jesuit priest who has been through a myriad number of events that would test anyone's faith, in this book begins to find a way to believe that life is still worth living, that he can still be of benefit to the people around him. Sophia Mendez, the quiet, withdrawn, abused, and highly intellectual lady finds a reason to return to the faith of her parents when she finds herself marooned on Rakhat, surrounded by enslaved Runa. New characters of Giardano Bruno and his bodyguard Nico prove that Russell can portray many kinds of people in a very believable manner.

Perhaps the reason these characters are so fascinating is that each of them has their own outlook on life, their own problems, their own ways of coping with life's vagaries. When placed within the Runa/ Jana'Ata society, each person's attempts to influence that society becomes magnified, each action leading to consequences both foreseen and totally unexpected. Which brings to the fore the focus of this book, which is much more about cross-cultural relations and impacts than religion, though the original questions of The Sparrow are not slighted here. Within the events that humans arrival on Rakhat have provoked, there is a deep delving into the ethics of the 'the end justifies the means', played on a canvas where a species survival is the end stake.

There are some areas where I was not quite as pleased. The characterization of the aliens was just a little too human, even though such characterization does much to highlight the fact that the ethical problems of this book apply just as equally here on Earth. In some ways, the cultural parallels between the Jana'Ata and the American Indians were just a little too obvious. And once again, the story is not told in a totally linear fashion, with occasional flash-forwards to various later periods that then fill in the back-story of the history of the world after the main events of the book. While this type of structure worked very well in The Sparrow, here I thought it led to a little disjointedness to the story continuity and too much a lessening of suspense. Once again, there are some aspects of the portrayed science here that do not ring true. These are all minor quibbles, not seriously hurting the engrossing wholeness, the feeling of not only that this is how it could be, but the why of seemingly random and sometimes-cruel events.

There are very few works that approach these two books in terms of thematic depth and both intellectual and emotional reader involvement. Nominated for the 1999 Hugo Award, this book fully deserved that honor.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow is one of my favorite books. Regrettably, its sequel, Children of God, is not as good a novel; however, it is not so bad as to retroactively ruin its predecessor. Instead, it is a flawed work which still manages to display Russell's strengths as a writer--namely characterization, world-building, and an eye for the damage that ethical, moral, and religious dilemmas can produce.

At the end of The Sparrow, the Jesuit linguist Emilio Sandoz had finally fully disclosed the events of the mission to the planet Rakhat, events which broke his health, faith, and heart. This act was the start of his healing process, but he was still very far from peace or happiness at the close of the novel. The sequel takes up where its predecessor left off, tracing the further efforts to heal his soul. Emilio's superiors are convinced that this can only be done by sending him back to Rakhat, where, one tells him, "God is waiting for you, in the ruins."

It should not surprise anyone that Emilio does go back and face the consequences of the previous mission. Here both the strengths and the weaknesses of the novel are apparent. Pieces of the plot are problematic: in particular, the method the author uses to get Emilio to Rakhat is extremely transparent. In the Acknowledgments, she apologizes, stating that she could not think of any other way to get him there; I, for one, had already guessed this upon reading the scene. While I had already suspended a very large chunk of disbelief for a major revelation early on, I think that the author's hand would have been quite obvious in this case regardless. I was also jarred out of the story by some of the events prior to Emilio's trip back. In the first novel, terrible things happened to the characters, but they were a necessary part of the plot. However, in Children of God, some of the painful events do not appear to have been necessary to the story, and felt uncomfortably gratuitous.

Yet the trip back to Rakhat and the examination of events there display the better aspects of the novel, as well. One of the best things about The Sparrow was its people: Russell has a knack for illuminating the motivations and quirks of her characters, and while Sandoz was necessarily the best-drawn, the other characters were also lively and memorable. This skill is still in evidence, though the broader canvas of Children of God means that there is less in-depth examination of characters. While one or two fail to come alive (in particular, I found Carlo Guiliani less than believable, perhaps because his main function was as an animate plot device), Russell still generally manages to show the conflicts and influences that motivate her actors. Supaari and Hlavin Kitheri's various reasons for and reactions to the events of the first mission will be of particular interest to readers of the first novel.

Arguably the other best thing about The Sparrow was the world-building. Rakhat was an intriguing, complex, and detailed world, and seeing that world in upheaval generates a deeper understanding of its components. Further, the structure of that world helps generate the major theme of the novel, what Sol Weintraub called Abraham's Dilemma. The problem of the sacrifice of the innocent (particularly children) for the greater good is one that nearly every character must face, and it resonates throughout the novel on many levels. (Indeed, two characters discuss this issue with explicit reference to Abraham, and a key character is named after Abraham's son Isaac.) This recurring dilemma helps bring coherence to a novel which weaves a large and complicated story from a number of viewpoints.

I consider the other weak point of the novel to be the resolution of Emilio's spiritual problems. I found it unconvincing that Emilio would interpret and react to a certain event at the end of the novel in the manner described. While Russell carefully avoids forcing one interpretation of the event itself onto the reader, I still had a difficult time accepting its impact on Emilio as realistic.

Overall, Children of God is a decent book, but not as good as its predecessor. It presents an interesting alien society and then carefully examines the political, moral, and religious implications for the people involved. While some parts of the plot are rather problematic, the characters and the world-building keep the novel an interesting and generally enjoyable read.

[Originally posted to rec.arts.sf.written.] END

I know that many people consider _Children of God_ to be inferior to _Sparrow_, and certainly _Sparrow_ has a certain existential sincerity that few other sf novels posess. But on the whole I find the sequel even better than its predecessor. In particular, Russell's depiction of the alien society of the Jana'ata is much richer and more interesting than that found in _Sparrow_. In the first novel, the Jana'ata were monsters; here they come across as real people (albeit with a tail and claws) who have built a beautiful though profoundly sick civilization. The Jana'ata characters are arguably even better drawn than the humans--at least by the end of the novel the characters with whom I most identified were Jana'ata. And the dilemma of how to deal with a civilization guilty of great atrocities (without committing even greater atrocities in one's zeal for vengeance) is presented here more powerfully than anywhere else I know.

Some readers criticize the means by which Sandoz gets back to Rakhat. Yet in a way this underlines the profound moral ambiguity of the novels. The Pope and the General of the Jesuit order are presented as thoroughly good (even, in the case of the Pope, holy) people. Yet they violate Sandoz's free will in a high-handed, almost brutal way. And this violation is itself portrayed as the divinely ordained means by which Sandoz's wounds, and those of the planet Rakhat, may be healed. I understand those readers who find this contrived and unconvincing. Myself, I think it rings true with reality. By the end of the novel one cannot but think of Frodo's lament at the end of Lord of the Rings (I paraphrase); "I have saved the Shire, Sam, but not for me. Some must give things up, lose them, so that others may keep them."

The religious revelation with which the novel ends may likewise be unconvincing to some readers. But Russell has built the possibility of such a reaction into the story itself. My own reaction was to sob almost uncontrollably with heart-broken joy, not only the first time I read the ending but the second and (if memory serves) the third as well. But then, I respond to that sort of thing.

I read The Sparrow after seeing a few glowing reviews, and it was one of the most remarkable science fiction novels I'd read in a long time. Not only was the alien culture of Rakhat portrayed in a credible way, but Mary Doria Russell also manages to tackle a lot of provocative theological issues without presuming to resolve them neatly. Since the ending of The Sparrow made it obvious that a sequel was in the offing, I looked forward to reading Children of God, and I was by no means disappointed. In a way, Children of God is to The Sparrow what The Vampire Lestat was to Interview With The Vampire, almost surrounding the previous work in a richer, broader sense. The Sparrow was a singular GEM of a book, concisely written and emotionally devastating. Although Children of God is not quite that sort of gem, it is still an entirely worthy follow-up. On the scale of 1-10, I give The Sparrow a 10 and Children of God a strong 9.

The book `Children of God' is the sequel to Mary Doria Russell's award winning first novel, `The Sparrow'. In this we take up once again with Father Emilio Sandoz, the only survivor of a doomed expedition to a nearby planet, set in the not-to-distant future. (Please see reviews of `The Sparrow' for a little more detail about that.)

Most of the characters from the first novel have died (in this novel we discover how a few of the missing people from the first expedition met their fates), and due to the effects of near-light-speed travel, many decades have passed on earth while Father Emilio is still relatively young.

There are political crises on earth, including a crisis in the church, and there seems to be an urgent need for yet another expedition to Rakhat. In the interim, there have been several attempted journeys, all of which have failed. The church hierarchy decides that the only 'successful' trip was that of Father Emilio, and thus decides (largely without his consent) to send him off again.

At the same time, Rakhat has undergone a dramatic change, brought about in part by the arrival of the strangers, but also due to the political schemings of members of the dominant race, the Jana'ata. The Runa, always larger in population, begin to realise their oppressive situation, aided by renegade Jana'ata, and a civil war breaks loose. Into this situation the human expedition re-enters the scene on Rakhat.

This story completes many of the unfinished details from `The Sparrow'. By filling in the blanks while also carrying the narrative forward, Russell's rather dark picture of the nature of God in the universe (as enacted by the creatures on earth and elsewhere) becomes a little lighter, a little more just, a little less doomed. There is, however, no answer to the personal injustices, to Father Emilio's abuse both at the hands of the Jana'ata and the Jesuit order.

Russell's development of the characters, both human and alien, deepens and broadens in this second novel; her imaginative history of the alien cultures is quite stunning, and her treatment of the strengths and weakness in human character insightful.

Read `The Sparrow' and `Children of God' back-to-back if at all possible.

It's about what I expected in a second half. (Me thinks she could have written more but her editor put a limit on the number of pages.) Her writing style is noticeably improved as her moving back and forth into time is not as abrupt as in The Sparrow. Supaari VaGayjur's character was well developed, as he becomes up being more tragic than Emilio Sandoz. Russell got me to judge Supaari at the end of the Sparrow as Voelkering judged Sandoz at the beginning-- good trick!. While the discourse of the pre-revolutionary Machiavellian politics was interesting in the Children of God, I was more interested with the spiritual dilemmas brought up in The Sparrow. Perhaps it is because Russell spends so much time on Fr. White Horse's pet subject, that the spiritual redemption of Emilio is anticlimactic, even hollow, if it ever reaches a clear resolution. I felt that Emilio came to peace with himself and even forgave Supaari VaGayjur and Havlin Kitheri -- he had to or the hatred would have killed him. But his relationship to God at the end seems just as distant, just as far removed as when he realized that his pleas during the rapes seemed to be futile gestures. It seems that Russell has two main threads one is of a spiritual nature and another demonstrates how even the political correctness of the late 20th & 21st century cannot prevent the sociopolitical havoc wreaked by a 'first contact' situation. In the first thread, Sandoz's experiences are not too dissimilar to Job, Jeremiah and other Biblical Prophets. The latter thread is very similar to the experiences of the early European 'Discoverers' of the Americas and our current judgement of their insensitivity. In the Sparrow, the political events help to drive Emilio's journey froward while in the Children of God the roles are reversed. I think it is this reversal that makes the Children of God not as satisfying to me.