Recommendations based on The Sparrowby Mary Doria Russell

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Children of God

    by Mary Doria Russell
    Follows the struggles of a religious family in the face of a mysterious alien race.

    Father Emilio Sandoz is a Jesuit priest who has returned to Earth and is recovering from his experiences on the planet Rakhat (detailed in The Sparrow ). He is exposed to Father Vincenzo Giuliani's ... (Wikipedia)

  2. A Thread of Grace

    by Mary Doria Russell
    A young girl's story of resilience through the chaos of WWII Italy.

    Set in Italy during the dramatic finale of World War II, this new novel is the first in seven years by the bestselling author of The Sparrow and Children of God . It is September 8, 1943, and ... (Goodreads)

  3. Doc

    by Mary Doria Russell
    A tale of a doctor's quest to understand an alien race, and the moral dilemmas he faces.

    The year is 1878, peak of the Texas cattle trade. The place is Dodge City, Kansas, a saloon-filled cow town jammed with liquored-up adolescent cowboys and young Irish hookers. Violence is random and ... (Goodreads)

  4. Hyperion

    by Dan Simmons
    Epic science-fiction story of a journey to the distant planet Hyperion.

    In the 29th century, the Hegemony of Man comprises hundreds of planets connected by farcaster portals. The Hegemony maintains an uneasy alliance with the TechnoCore , a civilisation of AIs . Modified ... (Wikipedia)

  5. A Wizard of Earthsea

    by Ursula K. Le Guin
    A young wizard embarks on a quest to master his own magical powers and battle a mysterious force of evil.

    Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth. Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon ... (Goodreads)

  6. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

    by Susanna Clarke
    A whimsical tale of two magicians mastering the mysteries of English magic.

    The novel opens in 1806 in northern England with The Learned Society of York Magicians, whose members are "theoretical magicians" who believe that magic died out several hundred years earlier. The ... (Wikipedia)

  7. To Say Nothing of the Dog

    by Connie Willis
    Time-traveling historian visits Victorian England in search of an artifact, amidst a comedy of errors.

    Ned Henry is a time traveler in 1940 studying Coventry Cathedral after the Coventry Blitz of World War II . He is specifically searching for the location of the "Bishop's bird stump ", a MacGuffin ... (Wikipedia)

  8. The Martian Chronicles

    by Ray Bradbury
    Human colonists struggle for survival on Mars, facing the challenges of a new world.

    The strange and wonderful tale of man’s experiences on Mars, filled with intense images and astonishing visions. Now part of the Voyager Classics collection. The Martian Chronicles tells the story of ... (Goodreads)

  9. Kindred

    by Octavia E. Butler
    A modern woman is thrown back in time, forced to confront the harsh realities of slavery.

    Kindred scholars have noted that the novel's chapter headings suggest something "elemental, apocalyptic, archetypal about the events in the narrative," thus giving the impression that the main ... (Wikipedia)

  10. Cryptonomicon

    by Neal Stephenson
    A thrilling journey through the past and present, combining tech, history and adventure.

    The action takes place in two periods—World War II and the late 1990s, during the Internet boom and Asian financial crisis . In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse, a young United States Navy code ... (Wikipedia)

  11. Doomsday Book

    by Connie Willis
    A time-traveling historian struggles to contain a deadly pandemic in the Middle Ages.

    For Kivrin, preparing an on-site study of one of the deadliest eras in humanity's history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi ... (Goodreads)

  12. Perdido Street Station

    by China Miéville
    A thrilling adventure through a captivating and unique city, filled with danger and magic.

    Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin is a scientist living in the city of New Crobuzon. He is approached by Yagharek, a member of a birdlike species known as garuda , who has had his wings removed as a ... (Wikipedia)

  13. The Magicians

    by Lev Grossman
    A coming-of-age story of a young man's journey to a magical world, learning to wield its power.

    The, New York Times, bestselling novel about a young man practicing magic in the real world, now an original series on, SYFY,“,The Magicians, is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a ... (Barnes & Noble)

  14. The Left Hand of Darkness

    by Ursula K. Le Guin
    A diplomat's mission to a distant planet, exploring themes of gender and identity.

    The protagonist of the novel is Genly Ai, a male Terran native, who is sent to invite the planet Gethen to join the Ekumen, a coalition of humanoid worlds. , Ai travels to the Gethen planetary system ... (Wikipedia)

  15. The Eyre Affair

    by Jasper Fforde
    An eccentric literary detective, in an alternate 1985, uses time-travel to save kidnapped characters from classic novels.

    In a parallel universe , England and Imperial Russia have fought the Crimean War for more than a century; England still has a parliamentary government, although heavily influenced by the Goliath ... (Wikipedia)

  16. A Canticle for Leibowitz

    by Walter M. Miller Jr.
    A post-apocalyptic tale of a world struggling to rebuild after a devastating nuclear war.

    After 20th century civilization was destroyed by a global nuclear war , known as the "Flame Deluge", there was a violent backlash against the culture of advanced knowledge and technology that had led ... (Wikipedia)

  17. Oryx and Crake

    by Margaret Atwood
    An exploration of a post-apocalyptic world, and the power of human nature.

    The novel focuses on a post-apocalyptic character called "Snowman", living near a group of primitive human-like creatures whom he calls Crakers . Flashbacks reveal that Snowman was once a boy named ... (Wikipedia)

  18. Neverwhere

    by Neil Gaiman
    A mysterious journey through a hidden realm of London, filled with danger and unexpected allies.

    Neverwhere is the story of Richard Mayhew and his trials and tribulations in London. At the start of the story, he is a young businessman, recently moved from Scotland and with a normal life ahead. ... (Wikipedia)

  19. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

    by Max Brooks
    A collection of interviews recounting tales of the zombie apocalypse.

    It has been nearly twenty years since the start of the apocalyptic worldwide pandemic known as the Zombie War, and about ten years since the war has ended in humanity's victory. The framing device ... (Wikipedia)

  20. Speaker for the Dead

    by Orson Scott Card
    A search for the truth about an alien species, uncovering secrets of the past.

    Now available in mass market, the revised, definitive edition of the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning classic. In this second book in the saga set 3,000 years after the terrible war, Ender Wiggin is ... (Goodreads)

  21. Stardust

    by Neil Gaiman
    A fantastical journey of discovery, romance and adventure in a magical world.

    On the outskirts of Wall, a small town in rural England, the Faerie Market is held every nine years on the other side of the wall dividing Faerie — a mystical realm of magic — from our world and for ... (Wikipedia)

  22. Wool Omnibus

    by Hugh Howey
    Uncovering the truth behind a post-apocalyptic world, where society is hidden beneath a giant dome.

    The story of Wool takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth. , Humanity clings to survival in the Silo, a subterranean city extending one hundred forty-four stories beneath the surface. The series ... (Wikipedia)

  23. Cloud Atlas

    by David Mitchell
    A dynamic narrative spanning centuries, exploring the interconnectedness of humanity.

    The book consists of six nested stories; each is read or observed by a main character of the next, thus they progress in time through the central sixth story. The first five stories are each ... (Wikipedia)

  24. Leviathan Wakes

    by James S.A. Corey
    Space adventure of two unlikely allies in a fight to save humanity.

    The ice hauling ship Canterbury (nicknamed the Cant by Belters) is en route from Saturn's Rings to Ceres Station when it encounters a distress signal . Five members of the Cant 's crew are dispatched ... (Wikipedia)

  25. Ender's Shadow

    by Orson Scott Card
    A boy competes in a battle school to save humanity from a deadly alien race.

    Welcome to Battleschool. Growing up is never easy. But try living on the mean streets as a child begging for food and fighting like a dog with ruthless gangs of starving kids who wouldn't hesitate to ... (Goodreads)

  26. Lilith's Brood

    by Octavia E. Butler
    Humanity's struggle for survival in a post-apocalyptic world, amongst a new species of aliens.

    Lilith Iyapo is in the Andes, mourning the death of her family, when war destroys Earth. Centuries later, she is resurrected – by miraculously powerful unearthly beings, the Oankali. Driven by an ... (Goodreads)

  27. The Year of the Flood

    by Margaret Atwood
    A dystopian tale of survival as humanity faces a new plague, and two women fight against a powerful corporation.

    The Year of the Flood details the events of, Oryx and Crake, from the perspective of the lower classes in the pleeblands , specifically the God's Gardeners. God's Gardeners are a religious sect that ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Foundation

    by Isaac Asimov
    Exploring the possibilities of a galactic empire in a future driven by science and technology.

    For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future – to a dark age ... (Goodreads)

  29. The Forever War

    by Joe Haldeman
    A soldier's story of the horror of war and its consequences in the far future.

    The monumental Hugo and Nebula award winning SF classic— Featuring a new introduction by John Scalzi,The Earth's leaders have drawn a line in the interstellar sand—despite the fact that the fierce ... (Barnes & Noble)

  30. Neuromancer

    by William Gibson
    A hacker's journey through a dystopian cyberpunk world, searching for a way to survive.

    Henry Dorsett Case is a low-level hustler in the dystopian underworld of Chiba City , Japan. Once a talented computer hacker , Case was caught stealing from his employer. As punishment for his theft, ... (Wikipedia)