Children of God

The sequel to the acclaimed 1996 novel The Sparrow, American author Mary Doria Russell’s science fiction novel Children of God (1998) continues the story of Father Emilio Sandoz, a Jesuit priest who confronts an alien civilization. For Children of God, Russell received a Hugo Award nomination.

Father Emilio Sandoz is still reeling from his experiences in The Sparrow, during which he was physically assaulted and spiritually traumatized by a hostile alien civilization on the planet Rakhat. Although the expedition departed in 2019 and wasn't terribly long, it is 2060 when Emilio returns, a consequence of time dilation. Although Emilio is still a Jesuit priest, his faith is extremely shaken. At a christening ceremony, Emilio meets a divorcee named Gina along with her four-year-old daughter, Celestina. Emilio falls in love with Gina and asks to be released from the priesthood so he can marry her.

Though released from the priesthood, the Vatican wants Emilio to accompany a second Jesuit expedition to Rakhat to confer once again with the peaceful Runa and the hostile Jana'ata alien civilizations. Emilio refuses but does agree to teach the new delegation to speak Ruanja and K'San, the respective languages of the Runa and the Jana'ata. The new delegation consists of Sean Fein, Danny Iron Horse, and John Candotti.



On the eve of the trip to Rakhat, Gina's ex-husband, Carlo beats, drugs, and kidnaps Emilio. When Emilio wakes up, he realizes he is on Carlo's ship, the Giordano Bruno, headed to Rakhat with the Jesuits. The Jesuits and the Vatican desperately want Emilio to return so he can help make right the chaos his original expedition inadvertently caused. In the intervening years, the Runa have risen up in revolution against the predatory Jana'ata, causing widespread violence and heavy losses on both sides of the conflict.

As the ship makes its way across the galaxy, the narrative shifts to Radkat to tell the story of what has happened over the past four decades. Despite being presumed dead, his old colleague, Sofia Mendes Quinn, a Turkish Jewish AI specialist, survived the events of the previous novel. From a hidden village, Sofia commands the Runa in their revolution against the Jana'ata. Sofia also has an autistic child named Isaac, conceived before the departure of the first expedition.

Meanwhile, in the Jana'ata capital, the last novel's antagonist, Supaari, prepares to marry Jholla, the sister of the prince, Hlavin Kitheri. In The Sparrow, Hlavin agrees to give Jholla to Supaari in exchange for Emilio, whom Hlavin keeps as his sex slave. Unaware of her impending marriage, Jholla is raped by Supaari in front of a crowd as part of their "wedding ceremony." Later, Jholla gives birth to a daughter who, according to a doctor, is "deformed" and therefore must be killed. Supaari suspects this is a ruse orchestrated by Hlavin to keep his children from the line of nobility. Before the baby can be killed, Supaari takes her, names her Ha'anala, and retreats from Jana'ata society. Supaari finds a safe haven with the Runa and becomes a spy for Sofia. Over the years, Ha'anala and Isaac become friends, later escaping together to live with a group of Jana'ata in the mountains of N'Jarr Valley.



The war between Runa and Jana'ata rages on, lasting for many decades. It culminates in a fierce hand-to-hand battle between Supaari and Hlavin in which both aliens are killed. Shortly thereafter, the Jana'ata capital falls to the Runa. Without the Runa as a placid and easily hunted source of food, many Jana'ata starve to death. Many of those who don't starve are killed or captured by the Runa, a total reversal of the old status quo in which the Jana'ata terrorized the Runa. By the time Emilio arrives with Carlo and the new Jesuit delegation, he is shocked to discover that the Runa have killed nearly every Jana'ata, aside from the ones living in the N'Jarr Valley with Ha'anala and Isaac. The delegation expected it would have to intervene on behalf of the Runa to protect them, not to protect the remaining Jana'ata.

Shortly after Emilio arrives, the Runa troops led by Sofia discover the N'Jarr Valley. Sofia is ready to rescue Isaac and slaughter all of the Jana'ata until she learns that Isaac stays there by choice. Now aged forty, Isaac's life work is to prove the existence of God by creating music out of the overlapped genomes of Runa, Jana'ata, and human DNA. Meanwhile, Danny Iron Horse sets up an arrangement akin to the Native American reservation system to provide homes for the planet's remaining Jana'ata. Sofia dies of old age.

In the end, Emilio, Carlo, and the rest of the priests return to Earth with a Jana'ata child. Once again, time dilation has caused many decades to pass since they departed Earth. Gina is long dead, but at her gravestone, Emilio meets her second daughter, whom she conceived with Emilio before he left Earth.



According to Library Journal, Children of God "examines the problem of faith under fire with insight and clarity."