Children of God

by Mary Doria Russell | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
ISBN: 044900483x Global Overview for this book
Registered by newk of Adelaide, South Australia Australia on 1/23/2004
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9 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by newk from Adelaide, South Australia Australia on Friday, January 23, 2004
This is a sequel to The Sparrow. And that book needs to be read first. I will register it if I can find it in the mess that is my house and book collection!!

A very very good story about a privately funded (by the church) mission to a newly discovered "nearby" planet.

Both books have great characters and explore, beautifully, such things as:

-Interspecies relationships..between humans and the two major species on the new planet; and the relationship between the two alien species.

-the role of the church, both present day and in the future

-Personal relationships that are altered by the effect, on time, of close to light speed travel. I can remember only one other book that attempts this so well.... one of the Culture books by Iain M banks. Consider Phoebus I think. I will look this up and correct if needed

Morals and prejudices and "what would you do in the circumstances"
sort of stuff


Highly recommended. I think Grooble may like this. But need The Sparrow first.

I cannot let this go in the wild just yet. I hope you all can understand the reluctance to let books, that have had a deep effect, go.

Available however on a "read and pretty please return basis"

Journal Entry 2 by Flambard from Horsham, West Sussex United Kingdom on Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Received from newk today! Very quick! Many thanks!

Journal Entry 3 by Flambard from Horsham, West Sussex United Kingdom on Friday, December 3, 2004
Magnificent. How could I have not read this IMMEDIATELY I received it from Newk? A soaring chorale of a story (part 2 of The Sparrow effectively), with familiar voices, some falling away and new ones joining, building to a wonderfully pleasing resolution. The very, very end was predictable, but so satisfying and deserving for Emilio that it couldn't detract from the overall story. I didn't feel as uncomfortable by the use of God in this story as I had in The Sparrow. A fantastic dark jewel of a book. I'll now see if I can send it off in pursuit of my copy of The Sparrow on another bookray..... Thanks Newk!

Journal Entry 4 by newk from Adelaide, South Australia Australia on Friday, December 3, 2004
Glad you enjoyed it and that it found a good home and willing reader. Thank YOU!

Journal Entry 5 by Flambard at on Tuesday, December 7, 2004
Released on Tuesday, December 07, 2004 at about 7:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at Sent to a fellow BookCrosser in Controlled release, England United Kingdom.

RELEASE NOTES:

To jessyjames13. Enjoy!

Journal Entry 6 by jessyjames13 from Crozet, Virginia USA on Thursday, December 23, 2004
Flambard, many thanks. I'm not too sure when this book came, because I had all my mail forwarded to my Mom and Daddy's home. I'm gone from school for the holidays. Anyhow I am leaving today for the first leg of my Christmas Holidays and this book is a Godsend. I will be on airplanes all day today, so now I have something to read!!! I should be finished with this sometime today, since I don't have anything else to do besides read! Happy Holidays!!! Well it is February 1 and I am send this book off to GoryDetails. I have to say that I am soooooo glad that I got to read this book. After The Sparrow, I had a feeling of being let down somehow. I wanted the book to keep on going...well with Children of God it did. Finally things make much more sense to me and since I don't want to spoil the book for those of you who have not read it...suffice to say I just LOVED part 2. Happy trails Children of God...

Released 19 yrs ago (2/2/2005 UTC) at RABCK to fellow Bookcrossing member in RABCK, A RABCK -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

On its way to GoryDetails

Journal Entry 8 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Tuesday, February 8, 2005
The book arrived safely in today's mail; many thanks! Looking forward to finding out what happens to the survivors from The Sparrow...

Journal Entry 9 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Monday, February 21, 2005
This is the sequel to The Sparrow [if you haven't read that one, stop here to avoid spoilers], picking up where it left off. It, too, hops around in the timeline, sometimes giving tantalizing hints as to the outcome of the events that are yet to unfold in the alternate timelines. Russell also very deftly pulls the rug out from under many of the assumptions we were left with at the end of the previous book; I was intrigued to find that the motives and behavior of some of the major characters were completely different than I'd assumed, including those of Supaari, the social-climbing bureaucrat who, in The Sparrow, initially seemed to be a trustworthy friend and ally of the Earth party - before mutilating Sandoz and selling him to the vicious Hlavin Kitheri. The revelations as to Supaari's view of events were startling, and gave a masterful lesson in assumptions and miscommunication - and Supaari wasn't the only character whose motives had been misinterpreted, so by the time this book got going I found myself wondering whether anything from the last book was really as it seemed. [I also had to wonder how much difference it made; if you've been put through hell, is it better to find out that it was an honest mistake, or is it easier to live with if you can blame the perpetrator for being intentionally evil?]

Anyway, I really enjoyed that aspect of the book, as well as some of the developing alliances and schisms on Rakhat. I also liked several of the new characters, including Ha'anala, Nico, Isaac, and the quiet but impressive Shetri Laaks. Other aspects didn't please me as much: for one thing, since this book begins with everyone knowing all about what happened to Emilio Sandoz, and Emilio himself apparently beginning to cope with it and, we hoped, to start healing, I expected this to be less dark somehow - but in some ways it was even worse.

[Spoilers follow; to see the text, select the blank space.] For Emilio to have been so brutally abused by a power-mad alien ruler was one thing, but to be kidnapped and torn from the arms of his new family (and, given the space-time differences, likely never to see them again) - and for this to be done by his own colleagues and church leaders... well, that was beyond betrayal. While some of the participants did eventually suffer for it (and a few repented), the balance did not seem to be redressed, IMO. Whether this was part of Russell's point I don't know, but it left me feeling furious.

While I found Isaac interesting, and could allow that the circumstances of his conception and birth might just have contributed to his condition, I still thought that the autistic-only-hears-music bit was a touch too heavy-handed. Still, despite the omnipresent Jesuits and the is-there-a-God-and-is-He-responsible-for-suffering questions, I found both books very open in that regard; Children of God even mentioned it at the end, describing the differing reactions of various groups to the music-of-the-DNA, from utter belief to total-coincidence. [Isaac himself said he picked out only the harmonious sections: "It's DNA for humans and for Jana'ata and Runa. Played together." Isaac stopped, gathering himself. "A lot of it is dissonant." A pause. "I remembered the parts that harmonize." This makes me think the author was leaving the door as wide open as she could!]

The grace-note at the end for Emilio (who "found room in the crowded necropolis of his heart" - a wonderfully sad line, that) - well, OK, I suppose it was believable and touching and all that, if a bit too - simple? But I couldn't help wondering whether he have been happier if he'd stayed on Rakhat. I do suspect that his work helping Rukuei "find the words" will be more rewarding to him than anything else he's been able to do in his last few years... but we don't get to know that for certain.
[End of spoilers.]

Despite a few too many coincidences and some fairly heavy-handed plot devices, both books are thought-provoking and memorable; Russell has created a fictional world that I won't forget.

Will be sending this along to Sherlockfan in New Zealand; hope you enjoy it!

Journal Entry 10 by newk from Adelaide, South Australia Australia on Tuesday, February 22, 2005
It is just fantastic to see such a great book find sympathetic readers. Great review gory.

And as for (in the blanked out section of your review) your question about the "absolute betrayal"...I read this as a not so veiled criticism of the power of the church. In part the old "absolute power corrupts absolutely".

Travel well book and good onyas all

Journal Entry 11 by Sherlockfan from Upper Hutt, Wellington Province New Zealand on Thursday, April 21, 2005
Thanks so much for sending this book - it arrived safely in Wellington, NZ on 21st April.
'twill be absolute next read for me. Very excited to have it.

Journal Entry 12 by Sherlockfan from Upper Hutt, Wellington Province New Zealand on Thursday, April 28, 2005
After my extreme delight with "The Sparrow" I'm sad to find that I didn't enjoy this sequel anywhere near as much. Partly because of the jumping between time-frames which I couldn't always respond to quickly enough so got a little lost.
In the interview with the author she says that 80% of her correspondents prefer the 2nd book which surprised me a little. I liked her mention of the Faberge eggs during that interview which helped to clarify for me a little of the splendour of some descritions. The graphic portrayals of Emilio's suffering at the end of "The Sparrow" remained prevalent in my mind through out. His "adventures" in the sequel did nothing to ameliorate those for me.
Like an other BCer I found Isaac's character not as believable as almost all the others. The author's ability to develop such clear visible characters is masterly.

'twould be a shame to simply release this book in the wild so, Newk, if you have suggestions for a likely recipient please let me know. I'll put a memo on the BCNZ Yahoo site hoping to find someone who has read "The Sparrow" and would like this. Otherwise perhaps I should hold it until I can pick up a copy of "The Sparrow" and treat them as a pair.

Journal Entry 13 by Sherlockfan from Upper Hutt, Wellington Province New Zealand on Wednesday, May 4, 2005
RELEASE NOTE

Posted to KiwiKat who expressed an interest in this book, having already The Sparrow. 4 May 4.30pm

I'll be really interested to read your journal entry when you've read it, KK.

Journal Entry 14 by KiwiKat from Blenheim, Marlborough New Zealand on Sunday, May 8, 2005
Although my Mt TBR is groaning under the weight of books that have been stacked in it for far too long, I just could not resist this book when Sherlockfan offered it. I found 'The Sparrow' gripping and sometimes a bit troubling. I actually had to have two goes at getting through it, but I was pleased that I stuck with it the second time. I will write again once I've read it and then, hopefully, find another interested reader for it.

Journal Entry 15 by KiwiKat from Blenheim, Marlborough New Zealand on Sunday, May 22, 2005
The previous readers of this sequel and 'The Sparrow' have really captured all my sentiments very well. It did take me awhile to get into this one, due to a few distractions, but once drawn in, I was well and truly hooked.

I have decided to pass this along to Cackleberry to, hopefully, circulate around the Aus BC Convention.

Journal Entry 16 by jawin from Launceston, Tasmania Australia on Tuesday, May 31, 2005
This arrived today in the hands (wings?) of our feathered friend Cackleberry. Following advice from kiwikat, he did not want to let it go to just anyone - he wanted to pass it to someone who would read it. And I am it. I've got a bit on the mountain at the moment, but I'll move this one up so it can eb ready to pass on to the next BCer at the convention in June.

Journal Entry 17 by jawin from Launceston, Tasmania Australia on Tuesday, September 26, 2006


I did miss having this read for the ABC convention in June 2004, and the one in NZ last year. But I'm sending this off to Adelaide for the 2006 Australian BookCrossing Convention - back to whence it came. Thanks Newk!

Journal Entry 18 by jawin from Launceston, Tasmania Australia on Tuesday, September 26, 2006
It took me a while, but I did eventually get round to reading this one.

I took Newk's advice, though, and read the Sparrow first. I found that rewarding and was looking forward to the story continuing. Unfortunately, this did not do it for me.

The set-ups were contrived, and the fact that they did not turn out as expected seemed even more contrived. The story also did not pick up on the same intricate character dimensions of the original. Although the author has an amazing talent for bringing her knowledge of paleo-anthropology into the story, and personally, I must say I did enjoy the cultural nuances and norms of the people of Rhakat, it appears that the effort to make this book as exceptional as the original was lost or edited out. I found the final confrontation between Anne and Emilio deflating and disappointing, and the character of Isaac spurious and really, pretty useless. But then again, maybe I did miss something.


Journal Entry 19 by adelbcconv from Adelaide, South Australia Australia on Friday, October 13, 2006
Received with much appreciation for the 3rd Australian BookCrossing Convention, Adelaide, Australia, 20-22 October 2006.

Thanks :)

Journal Entry 20 by claudinec from North Melbourne, Victoria Australia on Saturday, October 21, 2006
Found in my convention goodie bag.

Journal Entry 21 by claudinec at Sea wall in Glenelg, South Australia Australia on Saturday, October 21, 2006

Released 17 yrs ago (10/21/2006 UTC) at Sea wall in Glenelg, South Australia Australia

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Released on the sea wall for the convention flashmob.

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