Book om två främmande kastar, utomjordisk hand modifiering

Sparrowen

Den här novellen, av Mary Doria Russell, har en jesuitpräst som går till en främmande planet och är allvarligt desillusionerad av det han finner där.

Titeln är givetvis en biblisk referens:

Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings1, and not one of them is forgotten before God?

Luke 12-6, KJV

Det finns två främmande "castes", men de är riktigt olika arter , varav en av dem är preys å andra sidan:

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.

Prästen är bland annat föremål för någon ovälkommen disfiguration :

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.

Det har fått många utmärkelser, och anpassats till tv

1: Egentligen en som.