Ethical Encounters of the Third Kind: Aliens, Jews, and the Dilemmas of First Contact in the Work of Mary Doria Russell and Ruthanna Emrys

First contact novels offer a perfect place for authors of science fiction to explore ethical dilemmas. In The Sparrow duology by Mary Doria Russell and A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys, alien cultures present as accepted fact ideas that humans may reject – that it is okay for one type of sentient being to eat another, and that it is necessary to abandon your planet of origin in order to live safely in space, respectively. The characters in these books struggle to respond ethically, and in each case main characters draw on Judaism to help them define and shape their reactions. The authors’ portrayal of Judaism differs, though: a centering of belief, text, and history in Russell’s texts versus a focus on social relationships, ethics, and narratives in Emrys’ novel. This change is consistent with changes in Americans’ understandings of how and why people are religious even in a “secular” society.