The Sparrow

Mary Doria Russell

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1996

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The Sparrow

Genre: Fiction; science fiction
Originally Published: 1996
Reading Level/Interest: College/adult
Structure/Length: 32 chapters; approximately 408 pages; approximately 15 hours, 19 minutes on audio
Protagonist and Central Conflict: In 2059, Father Emilio Sandoz heals from a mission to the planet Rakhat from which he is the only survivor. He tells the harrowing story of his mission in flashback, recounting the deaths of his friends, his own years of torture, and his questioning of his faith.
Potential Sensitivity Issues: Violence; rape; farming and slaughtering of sentient beings for food

Mary Doria Russell, Author

Bio: Born in 1950 in Illinois; earned PhD in biological anthropology from the University of Michigan; worked as a technical writer before turning to fiction; donated half of her advance for The Sparrow to fund a struggling Catholic school in Ohio; writes mainly historical fiction, although The Sparrow and its sequel, Children of God, are speculative fiction; converted from Catholicism to Judaism in 1993; often explores matters of religious faith in her writing
Other Works: Children of God (1998); A Thread of Grace (2005); Doc (2011); The Women of Copper County (2019)
Awards: James Tiptree, Jr. (now Otherwise) Award (1997); Arthur C. Clarke Award (1998); British Science Fiction Association Best Novel Award (1998)