Children of God is the sequel to Mary Doria Russell's 1996 The Sparrow, which saw a Jesuit mission to the planet Rakhat end in disaster. The sole survivor of that mission, a priest named Emilio Sandoz, returned a beaten and broken man, having suffered rape and mutilation at the hands of enigmatic aliens. Now the Jesuits want to go back to Rakhat, and they want Sandoz aboard the new mission. But Sandoz has renounced his priesthood and even found a measure of happiness with his new wife and stepdaughter. Meanwhile, on Rakhat, contact with the humans has thrown the local culture into turmoil, precipitating a war between Rakhat's two sentient races. As forces conspire to send Emilio back to Rakhat--and toward a possible reconciliation with God--the planet verges on genocidal destruction. Children of God is a more polished novel than The Sparrow, and the story is equally compelling.


From Publishers Weekly
Russell follows her speculative first novel, The Sparrow, with a sequel that will please even readers new to her interplanetary missionaries. Having returned from a disastrous, 21st-century expedition to the planet Rakhat, Jesuit Father Emilio Sandoz, the sole survivor of the mission, faces public rage over the order's part in the war between the gentle Runa and the predatory Jana'ata?fury more than matched by the priest's own self-hatred and religious disillusionment. In the sequel, he is forced to return to Rakhat with a new expedition more interested in profits than prophets. When they discover the planet in turmoil and the Runa precariously in power, the temptation to interfere is more than they can withstand. As in her first book, Russell uses the entertaining plot to explore sociological, spiritual, religious, scientific and historical questions. Misunderstandings between cultures and people are at the heart of her story. It is, however, the complex figure of Father Sandoz around which a diverse interplanetary cast orbits, and it is the intelligent, emotional and very personal feud between Father Sandoz and his God that provides energy for both books. 50,000 first printing; BOMC selection; audio rights to Random House Audio; author tour. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Believing himself the sole survivor of a disastrous Jesuit mission to the planet Rakhat, Emilio Sandoz struggles to repair his broken body and ravaged spirit. Fate?or God's will?takes a hand in his life, however, demanding more from a man who has already given his all. Firmly grounded in science yet informed and illuminated by an inherent spirituality, this sequel to Russell's highly praised The Sparrow (Villard, 1996) examines the problem of faith under fire with insight and clarity. Powerful prose and memorable characters make this a prime purchase for all sf and speculative fiction collections.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


The New York Times Book Review, Jim Gladstone
Russell succeeds in painting an alien culture with remarkably detailed verisimilitude.


Entertainment Weekly, Tom De Haven
...a tragic, haunting parable about moral justice that miraculously avoids all of the usual clichés and even subverts some of them. Here, for a change, is a sequel that counts.


From AudioFile
In her latest science fiction thriller, Russell carries a hot modern-day theme--the quest for spirituality and faith--into the future. Perhaps the most appealing aspect of the production is Stephen Lang's performance. With his masterful voice and flawless Italian accents, Lang sucks listeners in. His characters are clearly defined, making the already complex story easier to follow. Many elements of fascinating storytelling can be found and Lang is a definite asset to the production. R.A.P. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
The hero of Russell's acclaimed first novel The Sparrow (1996), Father Emilio Sandoz, eventually recovers enough from his mauling on the planet Rakhat to have both the Jesuit father general and the pope pressuring him to return. So he quits the Jesuits. The father general then enlists his nephew, a high-ranking member of the Camorra (the Neapolitan Mafia), as a further persuader: Sandoz returns to Rakhat. Meanwhile, things on Rakhat are changing because Sandoz's erstwhile ruling-caste torturer has risen to power and some of the servant (and cattle) caste have been rebelliously influenced by the sole member of Sandoz's original party still on Rakhat. Russell offers plenty of plot, fascinating secondary characters, and the religious, cultural, and linguistic imagination that distinguished The Sparrow, but she lacks the literary skill to make first-rate fiction. She rises quite high when describing the growing love between Sandoz and the abandoned wife of the man who will shanghai him back into space, but she cannot bring much life to Rakhat and its kangaroo-like people. Maybe less is more in serious science fiction; Stanislaw Lem's much shorter Eden (1989) shows how good--indeed, superb--a novel about a first-contact predicament like that in Russell's books can be. Ray Olson


From Kirkus Reviews
Sequel to The Sparrow (1996), Russell's account of a 21st- century Jesuit-led expedition to planet Rakhat with its two intelligent, kangaroo-like alien races, the carnivorous Jana'ata and their prey, the enslaved Runa. Broken, beset by terrible nightmares, Emilio Sandoz--the expedition's sole survivor--has returned to Earth, where he rejects the Jesuits and the priesthood and falls in love with Gina Giuliani and her four-year-old daughter Celestina. Still, for a variety of reasons the Jesuits (as well as the Pope) pressure Sandoz toward agreeing to return to Rakhat. But even when Sandoz discovers that another expedition member, Sofia Mendes, also survived, he refuses to go. On Rakhat, meanwhile, changes continue. The merchant Supaari, who broke Sandoz and sold him, rejects the Jana'ata lifestyle and takes his supposedly deformed daughter into the forest. Jana'ata poet Hlavin Kitheri, who bought Sandoz in order to rape him, slaughters all his relatives, blames Supaari, and tries to build a society based on ability, not inherited rank. Sofia Mendes, hiding in the forest with the Runa she incited to rebel, gives birth to Isaac, an autistic child with an uncanny musical talent, and supplies the Runa with advanced technology so that they can continue the revolt against their Jana'ata overlords. On Earth, Sandoz is shanghaied aboard the Jesuits' new ship (thanks to relativistic effects, he will never see Gina again), which arrives at Rakhat just in time to prevent the extermination of the Jana'ata by the Sofia-led Runa. Finally, Sandoz will return to Earth, free at last of his nightmares, to meet the daughter he never knew he had. A brutal and deliberate tale, its characters rather too forgiving to be wholly human, that will challenge and sometimes shred the reader's preconceptions. (First printing of 50,000; Book- of-the-Month selection; author tour) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The only member of the original mission to the planet Rakhat to return to Earth, Father Emilio Sandoz has barely begun to recover from his ordeal when the Society of Jesus calls upon him for help in preparing for another mission to Alpha Centauri. Despite his objections and fear, he cannot escape his past or the future. Old friends, new discoveries and difficult questions await Emilio as he struggles for inner peace and understanding in a moral universe whose boundaries now extend beyond the solar system and whose future lies with children born in a faraway place.

FROM THE CRITICS

San Francisco Chronicle

Brilliant...Powerful...An outstanding natural storyteller.

Publishers Weekly

Russell follows her speculative first novel, The Sparrow, with a sequel that will please even readers new to her interplanetary missionaries. Having returned from a disastrous, 21st-century expedition to the planet Rakhat, Jesuit Father Emilio Sandoz, the sole survivor of the mission, faces public rage over the order's part in the war between the gentle Runa and the predatory Jana'ata -- fury more than matched by the priest's own self-hatred and religious disillusionment. In the sequel, he is forced to return to Rakhat with a new expedition more interested in profits than prophets. When they discover the planet in turmoil and the Runa precariously in power, the temptation to interfere is more than they can withstand.

As in her first book, Russell uses the entertaining plot to explore sociological, spiritual, religious, scientific and historical questions. Misunderstandings between cultures and people are at the heart of her story. It is, however, the complex figure of Father Sandoz around which a diverse interplanetary cast orbits, and it is the intelligent, emotional and very personal feud between Father Sandoz and his God that provides energy for both books.

Library Journal

Emilio Sandoz is a priest and brilliant linguist who was crippled and sexually assaulted during a mission to Rakhat, a planet inhabited by two intelligent life forms, the Runa and the Jana'ata. Vowing never to return, Emilio quits the priesthood and finds peace, even love. He is kidnapped, however, and sent on a return mission, where he finds that the servant Runi are rebelling against the Jana'ata and the planet is consumed by unrest and savagery. Intertwined are other stories, including that of Sophia, a previously unknown survivor from the first mission, and Supaari, a Jana'ata who risks everything to protect his daughter who, in accordance with Jana'ata policy, should have been killed. Compelling and chilling, set in the not-too-distant 2060, Russell's novel immediately pulls the listener in and delivers. -- Susan McCaffrey, Sturgis Middle School,. Michigan

Library Journal

Emilio Sandoz is a priest and brilliant linguist who was crippled and sexually assaulted during a mission to Rakhat, a planet inhabited by two intelligent life forms, the Runa and the Jana'ata. Vowing never to return, Emilio quits the priesthood and finds peace, even love. He is kidnapped, however, and sent on a return mission, where he finds that the servant Runi are rebelling against the Jana'ata and the planet is consumed by unrest and savagery. Intertwined are other stories, including that of Sophia, a previously unknown survivor from the first mission, and Supaari, a Jana'ata who risks everything to protect his daughter who, in accordance with Jana'ata policy, should have been killed. Compelling and chilling, set in the not-too-distant 2060, Russell's novel immediately pulls the listener in and delivers. -- Susan McCaffrey, Sturgis Middle School,. Michigan

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