book 1 of The Sparrow Series

by Mary Doria Russell

isbn: 0449912558
subject: SF, Fiction and Literature
finished: 3/31/1998

In 2016, the Jesuits secretly send a ship to the Centauri system in response to beautiful music received by the SETI project. In 2060, the ship returns containing only Father Emilio Sandoz, who is barely alive and doesn't much wish to be. Although the story is about the crew and their contact with the two races they discover on Rahkat, the central theme is Emilio's quest for faith, his trust in God, and why he believes that trust was betrayed.

Like McHugh's China Mountain Zhang, The Sparrow is a strong SF story that focuses on people and relationships rather than technology. It's easy to forgive a few improbabilities (intelligent life in the nearest solar system to ours, humans can eat the food on an alien planet, etc.) since they make the story work better. Recommended.