Mary Doria Russell

Children of God

Random House, 1998

Monika says:

Mary Doria Russell’s second novel CHILDREN OF GOD begins in the year 2060, some time after Pater Emilio Sandoz returned to Earth. Still crushed by the events on Rakhat where he lost his best friends Emilio meets recently divorced Gina and her little daughter Celestina who help him along on the road to recovery. But their happiness is short-lived, because the Jesuits want to send another expedition to Rakhat and urge him to be a member of the crew. When he refuses they resort to drastic measures, and a few weeks later he finds himself an unwilling passenger aboard the Giordano Bruno on his way from the solar system to Alpha Centauri.

Arriving at Rakhat the Jesuits are faced with an unexpected situation. The two intelligent species who inhabit the planet are at war. The Runa, who were subjugated by the Jana’ata, have risen against their former masters. The earlier visitors from Earth unwittingly caused this revolt when they showed the Runa how to grow vegetables. The formerly selfless Runa who where kept in herds by the Jana’ata, developed a new sense of self and rebelled against slavery. And Sandoz finds out that he is not the only survivor of the first Rakhat mission after all.

Sequels of successful books often disappoint and leave you with a feeling that you didn’t get what you were hoping for. Fortunately CHILDREN OF GOD is the exception to the rule and lives up to the standards set in THE SPARROW. The author managed to bring the story of Pater Sandoz to a satisfying conclusion even if it is no happy ending Hollywood style. Just like in THE SPARROW the plot moves along two different storylines, but this time they are re-joined when all the loose ends are tied up.

CHILDREN OF GOD may not be as suspense-packed as THE SPARROW, but we learn more about the culture and mentality of the VaRakhati. Reading we discover a strange world that seems all the more alien when we see it through the eyes of the second survivor, scientist Sofia Mendez. She barely survived the massacre among the Runa and gave birth to her autistic son who to her is almost as alien as the natives of Rakhat.

A book full of colorful detail, not as much action as in THE SPARROW, but nonetheless a book that leaves just as deep an impression as its predecessor.

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Monika Hübner
Christina Gross

Last changes: 02-09-03

Copyright 2000 Christina Gross & Monika Hübner