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Sep 22, 2007

Patrick rated it:

The sequel to The Sparrow. Once again, the author does a tremendous job in both introducing new social, political, and cultural concepts on almost every page for both the human and alien species she writes about, which makes the story very compelling for the reader. As the story progresses the author creates a nearly intractable problem of species genocide that she resolves near the end in a manner that completely surprised me, but which makes a lot of sense once one considers the backgrounds More...

1 comment like (10 people liked it)

Mar 19, 2010

David rated it:

"The Sparrow" is a hard act to follow, and Russell doesn't quite match the brilliance of the earlier book in this sequel. Her evident desire to tie up all the loose ends and leave no one unaccounted for is a distinct handicap, as some parts of the book are too obviously there for that purpose only. Just as she did in the first book, Russell takes on the big questions of spirituality, morality, the challenge to faith posed by an apparently capricious God, against a backdrop of extreme p More...

6 comments like (8 people liked it)

Mar 11, 2009

BunWat rated it:

I liked it. Good follow up to The Sparrow, with many of the same virtues and vices. Among the virtues, great characters well described, attention to moral questions without being dogmatic (greatly appreciated), aliens that are really aliens, a beautifully light touch with the exposition. Among the vices, too MUCH foreshadowing, some clunky plot developments yeah I get that some of this has to happen that way thematically but I still don't buy it, and a certain effect of emotional distancing i More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Feb 10, 2009

Brooke rated it:

I was expecting this to knock me off my feet the way The Sparrow did, but it was such a letdown of a sequel.

I didn't connect with anyone the way I completely fell in love with all the characters in The Sparrow. Sean Fein, Danny Iron Horse, Joseba Urizarbarrena - they were all completely interchangeable. I couldn't tell you who did what or who had which characteristics. There was an overweight pilot as well, and I'm not sure why he was in the book at all except for the ship to have a More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

May 21, 2008

Allison rated it:

I went out and bought this book the day after I finished "The Sparrow" because I needed to know what happened to Emilio and to the worlds created in that book and could not believe my good fortune that there WAS a sequel and that the first bookstore I walked into had it.

The book picks up right where the last one let off. Maybe it's because I was so enthralled/engaged/enraptured by "The Sparrow" that I began plowing my way through "Children of G-d" and a br More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 30, 2008

Fran rated it:

The amazing sequel to The Sparrow, reviewed earlier (the one I have affectionately referred to as Jesuits in Space.) I won't give away how The Sparrow ended, but suffice it to say that I couldn't imagine a sequel being possible to write or bearable to read. Something convinced me to pick up Children of God, though, and it was just as intellectually fascinating, just as emotionally wrenching, just as exciting. A stay-up-all-night-reading book.

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Apr 19, 2009

Mosca rated it:

I am not writing a separate review for either The Sparrow or Children of God because I feel that the two books are so bound to one another that I can only review them as a pair. So this review addresses the two as if they were merely Part I and Part II of the same work.

This unique work of science fiction takes as its premise a Jesuit mission to space--at first an outrageous assumption, but this should not prevent you from reading these books because these books are most importantly a More...

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 14, 2009

Lisa rated it:

I am so glad that Mary Doria Russell continued with the story from The Sparrow. I was so happy to see some of the characters from that book in this one. It’s my favorite kind of science fiction: character driven and thought provoking. This one had me sobbing at the end.

This is a fascinating study of human and other sentient being psychology and cultural and social anthropology, which is how I saw it what with my predilections, and because my personal philosophy differs from many of t More...

35 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 27, 2008

Marley rated it:

This is the sequel to The Sparrow, but I think it is more accurate to think of The Sparrow and Children of God as part 1 and 2 of the same book. If you've read The Sparrow, you must read Children of God and if you're considering Children of God you need to go read The Sparrow first.

Everything I said about the first book applies here. The author has created a very believable future world, full of ethical dilemmas that force you to really think. It's sad and tragic and yet she manages More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 22, 2008

Jamie rated it:

This sequel to The Sparrow is worth reading, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book. It begins well enough but loses steam about halfway through.

I liked the second revealing look at the events which occurred at the end of The Sparrow, even though the author cheats: it turns out that something you thought happened in the first book didn't really happen. The new characters aren't as well-developed as the original set, and I thought the aliens were more interesting when they we More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 12, 2008

Siria rated it:

Children of God falls into the category of sequels which are not bad, but which are unnecessary. Picking up where The Sparrow left off, it follows the story of Emilio Sandoz' return to Rakhat, and how the social changes which he found there had occurred. Unlike the first book, however, Children of God is much more of a traditional first-contact SF novel than it is a character study. There was nothing here which needed to be told, and I think the ending of The Sparrow offered a much more real More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 20, 2008

Farida added it

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3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 22, 2009

Karen rated it:

A very good sequel to her extraordinary first novel, "The Sparrow". Nothing like a good wrestling with religious, sociological and ethical questions, set on an alien planet with a very well thought out society of it's own.

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 28, 2007

Zigforas rated it:

A favorite exchange:

"It is dishonest," Danny said with clipped exactitude. "It is arrogant. It is cruel."
"The Holy Father--"
"Stop hiding behind his skirts," Danny sneered.
"You are scrupulous," Giuliani observed. "There is a way out, Father Iron Horse--"
"And cede the Society to your kind?"
"Ah. My kind," the Father General said, almost smiling..."You are young, Father Iron More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 17, 2011

Shawn rated it:

Every time I picked up this book I had a hard time putting it back down. I was engrossed from beginning to end. The Sparrow had its stalls. But if my attention was left wanting at any point throughout this book I don't remember it.

Not surprisingly Children of God was considerably more sermonizing than The Sparrow. The title is all the warning anyone could ask for on that point. But Russell stays true to the form she set in the first book and gives every scene of theological pondering a good More...

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Aug 28, 2011

Taryn rated it:

This book is a sequel (and continuation of the narrative) of The Sparrow. I own The Sparrow and it’s a difficult book to read. Really difficult, awful things happen to the people of that book, and it’s hard to finish. I told a friend about it recently and she liked it (tho she agreed with its difficulty) and then went on to read Children of God. I hadn’t considered moving on to the second book, but boy am I glad I did! Such interesting things to say about God and His hand in this world. Question More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 23, 2011

Cori rated it:

The Sparrow was my favorite book in 2010. So, despite a few negative reviews, I decided to give its sequel, Children of God, a shot. I knew from the beginning that it probably wouldn’t live up to the first book, but I was pleasantly surprised nonetheless. I found myself captivated by the characters once again, though I missed Anne and George like crazy. Emilio is one of the most devestating and beautiful characters I’ve ever read, and I loved to read the continuation of his story. Isaac’s autism More...

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Jan 30, 2011

CynthiaA rated it:

Readers should ensure they read The Sparrow first, as this book is a sequel to it. I did really enjoyed both books a great deal, but to be frank, I preferred The Sparrow to Children of God. The first half of Children of God was very good, perhaps because it totally challenged the assumptions I had made about the events of The Sparrow. The second half of Children of God was more difficult for me. I didn't like what Sofia had become -- which I suppose is the point, but still. Both of these are ex More...

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Aug 25, 2010

Bonnie rated it:

This book was...intense. There is no other word to describe it. The Sparrow was powerful and wonderful, but I knew that everyone but Sandoz would die and I was prepared for that. I knew what happened, even though I didn’t know how, so I was intrigued but not on the edge of my seat. In Children of God I had NO idea what would happen and I spent most of the time white-knuckled and on edge. Poor Sandoz manages to get screwed over all the time no matter what. And it’s all God’s plan and for the best More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 17, 2010

Juushika rated it:

This sequel continues where The Sparrow left off. Sandoz is finally beginning to heal after the traumatizing events on Rakhat, the first known alien planet. He renounces the priesthood, but the Jesuit Church insists that he return to Rakhat to finish the work he started; meanwhile civil war brews on Rakhat as Runa declare their independence from Jana'ata. Children of God is similar to The Sparrow in many ways, but pales in comparison: many literary techniques reappear but are less effective; the More...

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Sep 09, 2009

Gar rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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May 11, 2009

Holli rated it:

I started reading this book back in 2004, right after I finished The Sparrow. When Emilio ended up on that ship headed back to space, I quit reading. Hasn't he been through enough already? I wanted him to marry Gina and have a nice life. Poor guy! I didn't want to go back to Rakhat myself and I didn't blame him for not wanting to go either.

4 1/2 years later, I picked the book up again and this time I read it all the way through. I love Mary Doria Russell and just hosted her a More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 31, 2008

Joy rated it:

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 17, 2011

Lori L rated it:

Essentially, Children of God and The Sparrow are one story separated into two volumes. While I count The Sparrow as one of my favorite books, in reality my appreciation encompasses both books and they must be read (and reread) together. On the surface, they are science fiction, but on a deeper level together they examine faith under fire and why God allows evil to occur in the universe. There won't be any spoilers about the plot in this review. Both my copies of The Sparrow and Children of God i More...

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Sep 08, 2009

Bird rated it:

I almost can't believe how much I hated this book, especially since I enjoyed The Sparrow so much. I have a laundry list of things I didn't like, and here are the main points.

1. Too many scenes from the VaRahkati point of view. It seemed like Russell was more interested in writing a historical fiction piece about Rakhat rather than finishing up Emilio's story.

2. Going along with #1, there were far too many VaRahkati characters to keep track of. Many were introduced f More...

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Apr 11, 2011

Carol rated it:

Epic. Read it shortly after reading The Sparrow, and I'm glad that I read both together. Although it might stand alone, some of the characters are the same, and the story is building upon experiences that occured in The Sparrow.

Didn't rate it 5 stars for a couple of reasons. One, occasionally Russell has the habit of dropping non-plot vital but important information in the space of a sentence, so if you tend to skim or even if your attention wanders, comprehension suffers. An examp More...

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Sep 06, 2011

Kelly rated it:

I loved The Sparrow so much that I probably would have read a telephone book set in the same universe as a sequel. Children of God is a lot better than a telephone book but even further away from being as good as The Sparrow. So much about the first book is a series of terrible revelations that end with the exhaustion of full disclosure and that's what passes for redemption and you're not gonna get any more than that, the end. Children of God is very "More hard times! Second verse same as t More...

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Jul 28, 2011

Ruth rated it:

c1998. Everything that I had read on the various bloggings sites said that this book had to be read in order to fully understand the first book. This was so right! The writing was brilliant and the plot superb. Definitely agree that it was a "miracle of telling" as the front blurb went. You just have to feel so so so sorry for Sandoz but at least the story is put into context - Beloved of God. There were a number of themes running through the book but happily it can be read as a story More...

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Jun 11, 2011

Sam rated it:

There is a passage towards the end of this book that- I think - explains why I feel so strongly about how Mary Doria Russell has dealt with God and faith in this novel... it goes: "There is a passage in Deutoronomy - God tells Moses, "No one can see My face but I will protect you with My hand until I have passed by you, and then I will remove My hand and you will see My back." Well I always thought this was a physical metaphor, but you know - I wonder now if it isn't really about More...

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Nov 01, 2010

Sonia rated it:

I'm a fan of Russell apparently, but I half wish that The Sparrow could have stood alone and not been followed up with this sequel. The Sparrow pretty much left me breathless and I think that, although the writing was stellar and the book was in no way lacking, this was primarily due to my enthrallment with the characters, particularly Sandoz.

While I understand that the circumstances from The Sparrow could twist the character of nearly anyone, I felt a lot less love for Emilio in More...

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