Rand bought this book a while back on a recommendation. He never read it, so eventually, I picked it up and started reading. Just so I don’t have to explain the setup, here’s the book description from Amazon:

In 2019, humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet which will come to be known as Rakhat. While United Nations diplomats endlessly debate a possible first contact mission, the Society of Jesus quietly organizes an eight-person scientific expedition of its own. What the Jesuits find is a world so beyond comprehension that it will lead them to question the meaning of being “human.” When the lone survivor of the expedition, Emilio Sandoz, returns to Earth in 2059, he will try to explain what went wrong… Words like “provocative” and “compelling” will come to mind as you read this shocking novel about first contact with a race that creates music akin to both poetry and prayer.

The cast of characters is large, but The Sparrow is primarily the story of Sandoz, the Jesuit priest who is the only survivor of the mission to Rakhat. The author, Mary Doria Russell, is a paleoanthropologist. She uses the species that the humans encounter to explore ideas that wouldn’t have been possible for humans to explore on earth. This is her first novel, and it’s not without its problems, but overall, I thought it was stunning.

At first, I thought this was going to be a difficult novel to read. As I got into it, though, I found I had no trouble following the juxtaposed storylines and keeping track of all the characters. Russell builds suspense very well, keeping readers interested in finding out not what happened, but how.

I was thinking about Star Trek’s prime directive as I was reading…the prime directive is a pledge to not interfere with the “healthy development of alien life and culture.” While on Rakhat, the team does something seemingly harmless that ends up throwing the alien cultures into turmoil. I had to chuckle when I read the discussion questions at the end of the book, and one of them directly addressed the prime directive.

I read the book’s final pages a weeping, blubbering mess. The Sparrow was a sad and beautiful exploration of humanity, love, faith, and family. While it was science fiction, I don’t think that you need to be a SF fan to appreciate it. I’m very interested in hearing from others who have read this book, because I’d love to discuss it further.