Product Description
Mary Doria Russell's debut novel, The Sparrow, took us on a journey to a distant planet and into the center of the human soul. A critically acclaimed bestseller, The Sparrow was chosen as one of Entertainment Weekly's Ten Best Books of the Year, a finalist for the Book-of-the-Month Club's First Fiction Prize and the winner of the James M. Tiptree Memorial Award. Now, in Children of God, Russell further establishes herself as one of the most innovative, entertaining and philosophically provocative novelists writing today.

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 So-ciety 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.

Strikingly original, richly plotted, replete with memorable characters and filled with humanity and humor, Chil-dren of God is an unforgettable and uplifting novel that is a potent successor to The Sparrow and a startlingly imaginative adventure for newcomers to Mary Doria Russell's special literary magic.

From the Hardcover edition.

Amazon.com Review
The abridged audio version of Mary Doria Russell's sequel to The Sparrow is read by actor Stephen Lang, of Last Exit to Brooklyn fame, whose deep, dramatic voice perfectly suits this tale full of loss and redemption, despair, and hope. Children of God continues the story of Father Emilio Sandoz, the Jesuit priest whose faith was brutally tested when he was maimed and raped, and witnessed the deaths of his friends on the faraway planet of Rakhat. Sandoz has begun the long, slow work of healing body and soul, finding some measure of happiness in his new life. He finds himself an unwilling member of a second mission to Rakhat, where survivor Sophia Mendez struggles to live in a world torn by genocidal strife between the Runa and Jana'ata. Children of God is a respectable sequel to a brilliant first novel, one that brings back and further develops beloved characters, and adds depth to an already thoroughly realized world. Lang perfectly captures each character, using flawless accents and a broad range of emotion to bring a new immediacy to the story. (Running time: five hours, four cassettes) --Therese Littleton

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 96 reviews)

A HIGHLY INTELLIGENT TREATISE ON PERSONAL THEOLOGY - A TRUE CLASSIC

Theology can become a distant logical exercise of dry doctrine and easy theoretical conclusions. When it comes down to the wet choices of real life most such theoretical Theology is found wanting as it can offer only limited answers. This is Theology of the other kind, the real one.

Mary Doria Russell has created a highly intelligent story: what would the story of a future saint be? Say, a Jesuit spearheading an exploratory mission to an alien civilization as a linguist of unique abilities; a former outcast that found his true calling as a man of the Cloth and God's face in all the hungry he fed and all the orphans he sheltered and all the lost he bough back from desperation. And then God asked for more. Much more. Is God real or a mere human construct? Can Faith survive anything?

This is one of those books that stays with you for ever. Read THE SPARROW first, CHILDREN OF THE GOD later in order to enjoy them both more.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
May 01, 2008

Children of God - Kindle Edition

Overall I found the book to be interesting, though not nearly as much as the first book. Several plot points felt unnecessary, but overall the exploration of Rakhat, and what happened as a consequence of human involvement was intelligent and thoughtfully laid out.

Specific problems with the Kindle edition:
Chapter 16 of my version abruptly ends midway through, and then goes on to the same chapter over again, though the second chapter 16 is complete. I found this strange and aggravating to have to skip through.

In addition, a number of lower case "t"'s are dropped beneath the rest of the text on their lines as well as other odd letter errors appear sporadically throughout the whole of the text. This is the second Kindle book I've downloaded that has had issues of this sort.
April 13, 2008

got under my skin

Yes, this book has gotten under my skin and into my consciousness, but in a good way. I strongly recommend reading The Sparrow first because this is a true sequel. It can stand on it's own, but the emotional impact of this book is much greater when read immediately following The Sparrow.

In Children of God, Russell follows the characters introduced in The Sparrow. We find out what happened to them and follow some of them into the new story. I won't say too much about the plot because I don't want to risk any spoilers. The surprises and many unexpected turn of events are some of the best parts in these stories. Some reviewers were shocked by the graphic descriptions of pain and suffering. But this is what makes the story so compelling. Russell writes so well that you feel one with the characters, you feel his or her suffering, and you are in pain along with them. But there is also redemption and closure and you don't leave them unhappy.

I fell in love with Russell's writing from the very beginning of The Sparrow. The story line, as it unfolds, gripped me to my soul, with it's unflinching look into the nature of belief and friendship. And the aliens, the new planet, were fascinating. In both books, Russell takes a very anthropological, rather than a science fiction, approach to alien/human experience. She never tries to present these books as science fiction - they are not. She is a doctor of anthropology and has been on a personal spiritual journey. Russell brings all of these things to her books in a way that makes us feel she is opening her soul to her readers.

Most important, these books stay with you. I could not wait to read Children of God after finishing The Sparrow. And now, several months after finishing Children of God, and having read a few more books since, it is still the story of Sanchez and the rest that stays with me, as absent friends I would like to visit with again.
November 10, 2007

children of god

This book, the second in a series, is a compelling and fierce read. I can't wait for my father in law to finish it so that I can talk about it with someone.
October 28, 2007

Compelling and Original

This is an amazing story, and so unique. The language the author uses is surprising and somehow perfect. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys literature for the sake of beautiful story-telling and the power of words.
September 20, 2007

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