According to an interview on
NPR's
The Diane Rehm Show, Russell was trained as a biological
anthropologist, making the race encountered on her fictional planet of Rakhat especially realistic. Interestingly, she was raised
Catholic, became an
agnostic, and then decided to raise her children in the
Jewish tradition. She's done a lot of thinking about
faith as well as
science. This blend makes her background for writing
fiction unique and her work fascinating to people of all different persuasions.
I recommend The Sparrow highly to anyone who would like to try science fiction but is afraid they won't like it. You will love this book, and you'll want to read the sequel!