The Sparrow Audiobook By Mary Doria Russell cover art

The Sparrow

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The Sparrow

By: Mary Doria Russell
Narrated by: David Colacci
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A visionary work that combines speculative fiction with deep philosophical inquiry, The Sparrow tells the story of a charismatic Jesuit priest and linguist, Emilio Sandoz, who leads a scientific mission entrusted with a profound task: To make first contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life. The mission begins in faith, hope, and beauty, but a series of small misunderstandings brings it to a catastrophic end.

©2008 Mary Doria Russell (P)2008 Brilliance Audio Science Fiction Adventure Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Christian Fiction Sagas Movie, TV & Video Game Tie-Ins Amish Historical Fiction Fantasy

Critic reviews

“A startling, engrossing, and moral work of fiction.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“Important novels leave deep cracks in our beliefs, our prejudices, and our blinders. The Sparrow is one of them.” (Entertainment Weekly)

“Powerful...The Sparrow tackles a difficult subject with grace and intelligence.” (San Francisco Chronicle)

Featured Article: The best audiobooks about aliens for curious humans


Throughout the history of storytelling, we humans have been curious about the possibility of worlds beyond Earth and its inhabitants. Thanks to our endless fascination with extraterrestrial life, there is a mountain of literature, from novels to memoirs, exploring the potential outcomes of interacting with creatures from other planets. Without further ado, here are 20 of our favorite listens about alien life.

Featured Article The best audiobooks about aliens for curious humans

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Children of God Audiobook By Mary Doria Russell cover art
Children of God By: Mary Doria Russell
Thought-provoking Narrative • Compelling Mystery • Emotional Depth • Philosophical Exploration • Distinct Accents

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I listened to The Sparrow and immediately moved on to The Children of God. Enjoyed listening to both and following the adventure into the discovery of other intelligent live in the solar system. Many well developed and memorable characters with dialog which propelled the story forward to discover a world beyond our own. It has many political and societal issues woven into the story, if you pay close enough attention to catch the author’s attempts to make statements about the church, capitalism, politics, belief in a higher power, slavery and population control. Some of the characters switch from good to bad and back several times during each book. These are novels that can make you listen for a while and then think about how this effects our present, our past and our future, for just as long. I found myself often stopping to contemplate these issues before continuing on with the story. If you have two credits and want several hours of intelligent novels, by all means get The Sparrow and The Children of God. (please note, you don’t need to get COG, but you really must start with The Sparrow. I don’t think you would understand near as much of COG without first listening to The Sparrow.)

An interesting take on higher powers.

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MDR has a gift for setting big theological questions in the context of vibrant characters who came to life with deep humanity as she wove personal journeys into THE quest.
Her eye for detail & her ear for speech both alien & human made her book rich indeed
The narrator added color while not inserting himself...a truly humble blessing

I didn't want it to end...

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3yrs after listening to it, I still find the thought of this book unsettling, yet I can't help but keep coming back to it. This book has made me laugh and cry...

Who knew sci-fi and religion could come together so well without feeling forced?!

I'm glad someone told me about this book. It has become one of my favorite pieces.

Haunting

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Lots of questions many have asked over the years, and many more that are explored. In the end, I'm glad I stuck it out, but it was the last hour where everything happened.

Struggled a long time, but finished

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Where does The Sparrow rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the better written stories so far, very thought-provoking. A lot of unpredictable moments.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, it started very slow I was actually thinking about dropping it. But then it picked up and kept looking for chores to do and places to go just so that I can listened to it more.

Any additional comments?

I would recommend it to a friend that has patience to sit through the first 1/3 to get to the gem it is.

Left me thinking

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