O pardal
Este romance, de Mary Doria Russell, apresenta um padre jesuíta que vai a um planeta alienígena e está seriamente desiludido com o que ele encontra lá.
O título, claro, é uma referência bíblica:
Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings1, and not one of them is forgotten before God?
Luke 12-6, KJV
Existem duas "castas" alienígenas, mas elas são espécies realmente diferentes , uma das quais presas por outro:
When the Earthlings meet a member of the culture which produced the radio transmissions, he proves to be of a different species from the rural natives, a Jana’ata. An ambitious merchant named Supaari VaGayjur sees in the visitors a possibility to improve his status, while the crew hopes to find an alternative source of fuel in Supaari’s city, Gayjur. Meanwhile, the crew begins to grow their own food, introducing the concept of agriculture to the villagers. These seemingly innocent actions and accompanying cultural misunderstandings precipitate events which lead to a slaughter. Though not closely related, the Jana’ata have evolved by aggressive mimicry to physically resemble the Runa, who are in fact their prey species. The human intervention leads to a Runa baby boom which is harvested by the predatory Jana’ata.
Entre outras coisas, o padre é sujeito a alguma desfiguração indesejada :
Sandoz becomes a slave/pet of a famed poet-songwriter, whose broadcasts first alerted Earth to Rakhat’s existence. Sandoz is physically disfigured. In that culture, it is considered an honour to be dependent upon another, and likewise to have a dependent, a mutilation analogous to the practice of foot binding. The flesh between Sandoz’s metacarpal bones is cut away to make it seem that he has long elegant fingers like the hasta’akala plant (which grows on a stronger tree and is thus dependent). The disfiguration starts at Sandoz’ wrists, and with which he cannot even feed himself.
Recebeu muitos prêmios e foi adaptado para a televisão
1: Na verdade, um como