The Sparrow (The Sparrow, #1) in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

May 04, 2019 Lorena rated it it was ok

Shelves: epl, science-fiction

The writing style was engaging and interesting, for the most part, but that's about all I can say for this book. For a bunch of supposedly genius-level people, the characters displayed such breath-taking stupidity that it was hard to sympathize with them much (especially when the stupidity seemed to take place mostly in order to advance the plot to its desired conclusion, and didn't seem believable based on everything else we knew about the characters). Between the characters' convenient blindne ...more

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Oct 05, 2010 Carl rated it really liked it

OK, finished rereading it-- sticking to 4 stars, though in many ways it goes beyond the usual sci fi novel. The two timelines are nice of course, and a lot less common in "pulp" lit like sci fi. There are things that bother me-- it's just a bit too easy to travel to another star, too convenient that another civilization at approx. the same stage of development as ours is at the NEAREST star, and the tragic portions, while explicitly foreshadowed for the whole book are very suddenly gone through ...more

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Jun 08, 2009 Peter rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sciencefiction

I didn't agree with the apparent conclusion of the book as far as God was concerned and the utility of believing in a non-present God over atheism, but it gave me a lot to think about and the world created was beautiful as well as terrifying. I also really enjoyed the contrast between what was happening on earth and what had happened on Rakhat (and how the chapters went back and forth between the two worlds). I also thought it was an excellent exploration on the anatomy of faith and what motivat ...more

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Mar 11, 2008 Heather rated it really liked it

religion and science fiction -- a strange marriage, and a wonderfully fascinating one to me, at least in the form of the sparrow. this is full of heartbreak and joy, adventure and horror, people navigating between light and dark. in short, it is full, and its richness delighted me.

it's been so long since i read a 4-star, bordering on 5-star book. as a result, i forgot how delicious that experience can be. the only real flaw i can think of is that, especially as the book was winding down, it got ...more

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