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A review by benjobuks
Children of God by Mary Doria Russell
4.0
An incredible follow up to one of the most interesting sci-fi worlds I've read. Doria Russel is unmatched in the science fiction world in the richness of her characters. Where The Sparrow explored the fall out of first contact with the inhabitants of Rakhat, Children of God explores the aftermath on Earth and Rakhat. The story only lacked richer Janaata and Runa characters.
The human characters were flawed and beautiful, and the extraterrestrial characters were a bit one-dimensional by comparison. I think to Octavia Butler's Lilith's Brood series first and the more popular The Word for World is Forest (Ursula LeGuin) second as models of representing extraterrestrial characters. She also does end up falling prey to casting humans as heroes, particularly in the end of the book in frustratingly predictable character arcs (don't worry, you still may not expect the ending!) Regardless, a Children of God is a beautiful continuation of The Sparrow, telling tails of trauma, colonization, expansive kinship, restorative justice and art.
The human characters were flawed and beautiful, and the extraterrestrial characters were a bit one-dimensional by comparison. I think to Octavia Butler's Lilith's Brood series first and the more popular The Word for World is Forest (Ursula LeGuin) second as models of representing extraterrestrial characters. She also does end up falling prey to casting humans as heroes, particularly in the end of the book in frustratingly predictable character arcs (don't worry, you still may not expect the ending!) Regardless, a Children of God is a beautiful continuation of The Sparrow, telling tails of trauma, colonization, expansive kinship, restorative justice and art.