Now that everyone's had time to read it, it's time to talk about The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell in detail. Did we like the book? Were the characters compelling? Did the end work for us? Was it an effective alegorical exploration of the Columbian contact with the Americas? And why are the answers to all these questions "no"?
This book featured a lot of graphic imagery, so be aware we have in-depth discussions of rape, torture, and isolation in this episode.
If you'd like to skip the discussion of the plot and jump right to our deeper discussion of the themes, then jump from about 15:05 to 52:40. We wanted folks who haven't read the book recently, or don't intend to read it, to be able to understand the plot and enjoy the rest of the episode, but not everyone will want a recounting of the novel they just read.
During the course of the novel we mentioned a few articles, videos, and books, including:
Next week we'll be discussing Arthur C. Clarke's short story "The Star" (pdf) in the context of The Sparrow to compare and contrast them.
As always, we'd love to hear from you! Tweet us at @spectologypod, submit the episode at r/printSF, or email us at spectologypod@gmail.com with your thoughts about the book.
Many thanks to Dubby J and Noah Bradley for doing our music and art.
5.2: Gnomon post-read with Max Gladstone
In Conversation: Things We Like This Month
5.1: Pre-read for Gnomon, by Nick Harkaway, with guest Max Gladstone
4.3: Matt's back for our Romie Futch wrap-up!
4.2: The New & Improved Romie Futch post-read w/ Britt O'Duffy
In Conversation: Matt & Adrian talk "Spoilers"
4.1: The New & Improved Romie Futch pre-read
3.BONUS: Talking Caribbean SF with Tobias Buckell + July book announcement
3.4: Binti: The Night Masquerade post-read
3.3: Binti: Home post-read
3.2: Binti post-read
3.1: The Binti Trilogy pre-read
2.3: The Sparrow vs. The Star (Minisode)
2.1: The Sparrow Pre-Read
1.2: Use of Weapons Post-Read
Minisode 2: Things We Like & Reader Mail
1.1: Use of Weapons Pre-Read
Minisode 1: Intro to Spectology
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