The Sparrow characters

Appears from the start

A Jesuit priest from a hard Puerto Rican upbringing and a gifted linguist with a talent for learning languages in the field. He is the heart of a first-contact mission to a distant world. In the framing narrative set years later, he is the mission's sole survivor, returned to Earth physically maimed and psychologically devastated, his hands ruined and his faith in crisis, made to recount before a Jesuit inquiry what really happened.

Appears from the start

A warm, witty, and clear-eyed physician, older than most of the group and a beloved friend to Emilio. Married to George, she brings medical skill, blunt good sense, and deep compassion to the circle of friends who become the mission's crew, and she is one of the moral anchors of the story.

Appears from the start

Anne's husband, a practical and good-humored engineer whose technical skills prove valuable to the venture. Easygoing and devoted to Anne, he is part of the tight-knit group of friends drawn into the extraordinary journey.

Appears from the start

A young, big-hearted astronomer working at the Arecibo radio telescope who is the first to detect the beautiful alien music arriving from a distant star. Genuine and enthusiastic, his discovery sets the whole story in motion, and he becomes part of the mission it inspires.

Appears from the start

A brilliant, self-contained specialist who makes her living analyzing expert knowledge and training systems, having come up through a harsh and constrained past. Guarded and fiercely capable, she is drawn into the group and the mission, bringing sharp intelligence and hard-won resilience to it.

Appears from the start

A shrewd, plainspoken Texan Jesuit priest and mission superior who helps organize and lead the expedition. Experienced and quietly devout, with a dry humor, he holds the venture together and shepherds the friends and priests who make up its crew.

Appears from the start

A gentle French-Canadian Jesuit priest, a naturalist and artist whose eye for living things and quiet faith make him well suited to studying a new world. He is among the priests who join the mission to the distant planet.

Appears from the start

A priest and accomplished musicologist, drawn to the mission by the alien music that first announced another civilization. Cultured and somewhat reserved, he hopes to understand the songs that reached Earth from across the stars.