Children of God

“She had read Yeats in Jimmy’s memory, and thought now of The Pensioner:’I spit in the face of time/that has transfigured me...’” Father Emilio Sandoz has been returned to Earth, assumed the only survivor of the Stella Maris and Magellan explorations. However, he has no idea... what G-d has in store for him next, nor does he care. He’s lost the use of his hands. He’s very ill. He’s truly in the valley of shadow, as we learned at the end of “The Sparrow”, and is sure he’s been abandoned so he abandons everything he’s ever known, sinks into hopeless despair and constant pain. The Jesuits have taken him in, but nothing helps... until a little 4 year old finds an answer that all these learned minds have been searching for when she takes his sleeve and brings him into her world of simple...love. As the Father General calls for inquiries into the Rakhat situation, Emilio shows great restraint when all he really wants to do is die. THEY know why he does. HE knows there’s another mission planned and that he’s the only one who knows Rakhat well enough to teach others the language and customs. Healing comes slowly, and with it new choices. However.... Will Emilio be able to comprehend what changes have happened since he left Rakhat? Can he still do the work he was called, and now forced to do? And when he finds out another member of the original Stella Maris crew survived and that things changed because of that? In a “Conversation with Mary Doria Russell” added to this paperback, she was asked what the themes were for this book. Her response was that *The Sparrow* was about the role of religion in peoples’ lives, no matter if they believe or not; and that history transcends from “The Age of Discovery to The Space Age”. Then, when asked about *The Children of G-d*, Ms. Russell explains, is about time and memory after extreme tragedy and how hope can fade or sharpen our reaction even many years after. These two books were simply amazing. *Children of G-d* is a much smoother story than *The Sparrow * but that just might be because it’s the “aftermath” of a rather uncomfortable situation. This might be summed up in quoting Numbers 23:23 :”What hath G-d wrought”...and now what? Highly Recommended 5/5

Superb and smart science fiction with beautifully developed characters and story lines. Bravo.

The author does such an incredible job with this book... I really liked The Sparrow and wanted to learn more about Rakhat and what happened there. This book takes you in a front seat luxury tour of EVERYTHING that happened, the beautiful, the horrible, the unthinkable. Just finished it mere minutes ago and feel such a deep longing for a third book. Must read!

The sparrow I picked up out of BookBub and loved it. The children of God went back and forth a bit but I enjoyed it immensely. I read it at the time our new Pope, a Jesuit, was named so that added some insight and depth. Well done-but my question is there more?

Decidedly tragic, poetic, and informative of the internal struggle between faith and reason. Rarely does one encounter a sci-fi novel that transcends the genre to this extent. A classic as much as The Sparrow. Gone are the typical sci-fi alien encounter tropes that make the humans infallible, quick to learn and dominate, and capable of change. This novel reminds us of how unique, stubborn and cruel we are, by pitting us up alongside a culture and people no less cruel, ruthless, and incapable of truly understanding of others as ourselves, whether it be in Earth's past or present. The author realizes that great science fiction does not solely rely on imagination and "clever" scientific concepts, but how the genre can enrich and inform our lives by showing real people dealing with extraordinary circumstances, technologies and culture. There were many moving moments, and some take you by surprise, like Nico's offering of food to Sandoz. This novel also jumps back and forth through time to great effect. Sometimes teasing us with what may happen, and creating tension. The only criticism is a slight lag in pace with some of the political stuff, but I may have just been tired. Please read THE SPARROW, before this, and you'll see what all the fuss is about.