Review: The Sparrow

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I imagine some hard sci-fi enthusiasts will gawk at some of the blunders committed by the crew during the plot (we’ve seen enough First Contact stories to know better by now even in a non-scientific context) but if you read this as thought exercise on more anthropological/spiritual themes than just pure science fiction, I think the story carries its weight well (stay away if you have trouble suspending disbelief though lol).

I wish some of the ideas expounded on in the last 100 pages of this book had been built up in more detail over the first 2/3rds (definitely hinted at early on but some things are effectively name dropped in execution just to expedite the climax). I would put this at 5* just for the ending alone otherwise.