I enjoyed this scifi novel. It's an interesting take on scifi and worth the read. A good scifi book makes one stop and think and this does.

I've always enjoyed the intersection between science fiction and religion because they make such uneasy bedfellows (one of my favourite novels is The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell for this reason). Pilgrims has at its heart a great (silly?) idea: an advanced alien race who have been surveilling Earth for thousands of years, witness and record the resurrection of Christ and therefore use it as proof that God (who they already believed in but thought was disengaged with His creation) had picked humanity as his vessel so the religion built up around Christ was the one true religion. At this point, you kind of have to go with it as you have already taken a lot on faith (hah!) so they in particular are Catholic aliens who wish primarily to be take Eucharist with the Pope, and swank around talking Latin (the Independence Day moment when they start to broadcast globally in Latin would be well worth it). The book has a twisted logic that plays well to believers and non-believers alike, and Leonard does spin out much of it to certain logical conclusions.

The world building around this is a little shakier. As humanity discovered the alien shops coming to Earth five years previous, and there had been no contact, there is a mixture of wishful thinking (the Premise - if they've come here why would they want to destroy us), mixed with a fascistic paramilitary organisation in the US which is mainly there for abstruse satire points and the lurching on of the plot by the US armed forces continually doing the dumbest things. I also wasn't sure initially about the in media res opening which could be read as very anti-Muslim (which it is from an alien Catholic perspective). Leonard's cowardly sinning lead is a bit of a tough sell, though important for the story that's being told: we spend a little bit too long with him before its clear why he's our viewpoint character, though again once the reason is clear it makes a refreshing change. What I most appreciated is the degree to which it can be read as a satire, and daft sci-fi romp and yet also work for a believer with a redemption arc that is all about how the Catholic Church should run rather than necessarily how it does. And that's an impressive trick to pull off.

I love a good sci-fi book, but I can’t say I’d ever read one before that blended ideas of Catholicism into a story about aliens! I just couldn’t pass this one up. It’s supposed to be a modernized retelling of Augustine’s “Confessions,” but as I’ve never read that one, I will not be pointing out any parallels.

We get one prologue scene that takes place during the invasion – and then zip backwards to start the real story a few days before. Folks on Earth have known about a ship heading their way for a few years now, and have been anxiously making preparations. Most of the preparations are militaristic in nature, even while the talking heads are telling the public to assume the aliens will be friendly until we know otherwise.

We meet our main character, Austin, while he is desperately trying to hold it together for these last few days. He fully expects that humanity will end with the aliens’ arrival, so he has nothing to lose. He messes up at his job, tries helping a couple of thieves pull off a heist, and eventually steals all his mom’s money – and still doesn’t get what he wants. But, he does get caught by the authorities.

He gets some relief when a high-ranking official recruits him to translate the aliens’ Latin. Austin, the General, and a priest even get to visit the mothership – eventually more than once – and are taken care of while there by a robot called Virgil.

We learn that the aliens have been watching Earth for centuries, and actually witnessed – via recording devices they had here – the Resurrection. So, they became believers right then, and started plotting a long journey to visit Earth. The actual aliens are taller and have three legs. The humans dub them “Pilgrims” because they are on a religious journey. They are helped by robots, dubbed “Diplomats,” who are closer to the humans in size and do most of the interacting with humanity on the Pilgrims’ behalf. (Virgil is one of these.)

Though the Pilgrims theoretically come in peace, chaos ensues. Initially, these battles are human vs. human. Many are converted by the Pilgrims’ steadfast belief in Christianity, and others are still suspicious of them – and think the converts are feeble-minded. But, the only human authority the Pilgrims really recognize is the Pope. So, when he is taken out in an attack on the Vatican, the Pilgrims retaliate, and things escalate quickly from there.

There is a lot of allegory here, as you can probably already pick up on. There is a lot of action, which will appeal to fans of traditional space/alien science fiction. But there is also a lot of religious talk, which may not be for everyone. (Blending Catholicism and action might be having a moment right now – see “Conclave.”) The only other caveat I might put on this one is that a few choices might seem less than “politically correct” in our current climate – but is war ever really politically correct?

I, for one, really enjoyed this one. But then again, I regularly read books within both the spiritual and sci-fi genres. It does deal with personal redemption, but also bigger themes like whether or not war is ever justifiable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blue Castle Press for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Pilgrims by M.R. Leonard is one of the conceptually coolest yet misguided books I’ve read in some time. The premise is absolutely fascinating: Aliens are enroute to Earth. Humanity is shaken. When they arrive, they reveal themselves to be… Catholics!

Talk about being rich with potential. Science and faith always makes for a fascinating dichotomy. And there are some really compelling nuggets in M.R. Leonard’s debut. There are also significant problems.

The actual writing is surprisingly assured for a debut. Leonard has a strong command of prose and the pacing is consistent. You will fly through it like airport fiction and I do not mean that disparagingly. This is an entertaining book which I often associate with good airport fiction.

The opening chapter is a true stunner. It sets the stage for where the story is headed and it’s one of those scenes where you feel like the author is grabbing you by the shoulders and keeping you in place. It’s intense and violent and feels dangerous on an intellectual level, disruptive even. I like that. There are some moral and philosophical conundrums established early on here that portend a story that feels confident, deliberate. It grips you by the throat and I was so engaged and ready to see how Leonard would get us back to this point — to the events that lead us to this scene.

Sadly, it never gets better than this. And that would be okay if the novel wasn’t intent on making what amounts to something that I think many readers will ultimately dismiss as “Christian Fiction”. The middle portion of the book shows its hand in a way I was really let down by because it feels so unnecessarily (and I’m sure accidentally) arrogant.

The greatest sin Pilgrims makes is the way it elects to talk down to the reader, rather than inspire discussions on the notion of faith. In fact, it attempts to remove the very concept of faith altogether, gaslighting the reader by arguing that the tenets of Christianity are not a matter of faith but rather historical record (added to which there is virtually no push back from these claims). Belief… made easy! For a book that echoes the leap of faith scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, this is confusing messaging.

The most interesting aspect of the “religion vs science” juxtaposition is the way faith can be a middle and common ground the way it is in Carl Sagan’s Contact. This makes Leonard’s decision to largely remove the element of faith from the equation and not replace it with anything compelling deeply disappointing.

This is a book that treats the Catholic faith as the true faith. This is fine. There are countless films I love that do so in a way that is inclusive and fun. The first and aforementioned third Indiana Jones movies come to mind. I have not read The Exorcist by Peter Blatty, but William Friedkin’s film adaptation is a masterpiece. There is a successfully subversive, fantastic thriller called Frailty that will knock your socks off. And one of my favorite reads this year was Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman which is about a Catholic pilgrimage by way of medieval horror. But none of these works ever feel evangelical or alienating. None of them feel smug. And there is at least one chapter in Pilgrims that does feel this way and that is unfortunate.

It’s made all the more unfortunate because the science fiction elements are quite good! I won’t reveal too much but the way Leonard takes us through the alien ship and it’s various components was really well done and you can tell the author was having a great time dreaming up some of this stuff. For me this was the strongest part of the novel.

But there are other issues here. While the story is well paced, there are some clumsy elements, starting with the main character. The story being told is is a retelling of The Confessions of St. Augustine by Augustine of Hippo. I think this was an interesting choice but it didn’t land with me, primarily because the lead character, Austin, just isn’t compelling enough. Leonard draws up his motivations well but he lacks any sort of depth so his behavior never feels organic, it feels contrived to service the story being told. For example, Austin is so easily influenced by other characters, constantly changing his mind from one scene to the next to the point of absurdity. He appears completely unable to parse information or consider the sources of said information which is especially eye-rolling given how mustache-twirling the main antagonist is in this book. This was not a character worthy of Augustine’s journey.

Other characters fare a little better. Virgil, the robot diplomat for the aliens who interacts with Austin, is far and away the best and most interesting character in the book. But even his arc is established and wrapped up in one chapter. We never really get to experience his journey. Nonetheless, I really liked him. I also enjoyed Father Ambrose, a representative for the Vatican with a background in astronomy. There isn't much we learn about him, but he's at least likable.

I would like to address one last critique. I truly appreciate that the ultimate message in Pilgrims is one of tolerance, acceptance and love, which should absolutely be central to the teachings of Christ. But if you are going to broach some of the powder keg subjects here such as potential Holy Wars and forced baptisms under morally complex circumstances, you serve the reader best by treating those subjects with the weight and dignity that they deserve because if you don’t, the result is something that feels borderline exploitive. Let me be clear: I love when books are audacious enough “go there” into some dark, morally and philosophically complex places. Let’s get messy. But a great work matches audaciousness with thoughtfulness. It navigates these fragile, dangerous topics with a deft touch. But alas, this is not a great book.

2.81 / 5 stars

This book had the feel of a Chuck Wendig book. Aliens land over the Vatican and begin speaking Latin. They want an audience with the Pope, and the Americans insist on sending one of their own as well. They send a military general as well as Austin DeSantis, an out of work Latin professor, to translate for them. This book is billed as a sci-fi retelling of Augustine's Confessions. I personally am unfamiliar with that, but I found the cover & premise intriguing, and was not disappointed. The book moved at a very rapid pace, and was a testament to extremism, good versus evil, religion, people choosing to either throw it all away and break the law with no fear of consequences or going to the other extreme and wanting to be baptized and embracing Christianity when they believe their days are numbered. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

This could have been a fascinating book. Unfortunately it's a book insistent on Christianity as Correct which means I can't like it. I'm sorry but I can't sit through a book preaching to me, I dealt with enough of that for the first two decades of my actual life.

I never expected to find a story about Catholic aliens so utterly gripping - in fact, I'd never imagined finding such a story existed! But that is the premise of 'Pilgrims', a novel I read out of irresistible curiosity and was more impressed by than I'd expected. It opens with a shocking chapter that guarantees the reader is hooked: a Catholic priest defends children in a hospital against alien killer robots. The story then moves to focus on central character Austin DeSantis, a pretty sketchy choice of hero. Austin is more pathetic than evil, but his behaviour is very bad all the same, even for saying he and the rest of humanity at the time are braced for the arrival of aliens who have been approaching for the last five years. When they do finally turn up, the aliens reveal themselves to be Catholic pilgrims, and Latin-speaking Austin finds himself appointed as translator to the American delegation. Soon he is caught up in a battle between the American military, the church, and extra-terrestrials - with the future of humanity at stake.

As you'd expect, the story has an overtly Christian message, but I found it much less glib and simplistic than I might have imagined. About halfway through I thought I knew how it would turn out, and I was wrong. I personally have no religion, and this didn't convert me, but it did bring a better understanding of the beliefs of religious people in general and Catholics in particular. I found Austin a more sympathetic protagonist as the story went on, and I loved the saintly Father Ambrose - if every priest adhered to the principles of their faith as he did, the church would have a better reputation.

It was also interesting to read an alien story where people had had time to prepare for the arrival - most books I read about such invasions, the aliens simply appear out of nowhere. Mostly the preparation consisted of appointing totalitarian governments, stockpiling, and building up arsenals of weapons - which is all too plausible. In fact the behaviour of humanity throughout the book was disturbingly believable, Rather than finding the whole thing ridiculous, I was really fascinated and by the end was emotionally invested enough to shed tears.

I would recommend to readers who enjoy science fiction and are looking for something a bit different.

Decidedly in the "not for me category." I'm sure there are plenty of people who will love this, but the darkness of the opening chapters was so bleak I almost gave up. I'm glad I continued with it, but it is hard for me to recommend this to everyone due to the ugliness and darkness of the world it writes about. I do understand what the author is trying to get across, and the imitation of the world of St. Augustine of Hippo (in a lot of ways, at least). There are bright spots - Ambrose and Virgil are wonderful - but I just couldn't get beyond the pessimistic take on how the world would react to both "Catholic aliens" or aliens in general. Nevermind that the premise of Austin being the only person who can speak Latin conversationally is utterly ridiculous. Latin may be a "dead language" in many respects, but there are plenty of people who can speak it without problems.

YMMV, of course. It simply wasn't for me. 2.5 stars out of 5.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blue Castle Press for an opportunity to read an advance copy of this. You can preorder it here. Out November 15th.

When I chose this book on NetGalley, it was based on the amazing book cover. I didn’t even bother to read the description. So I had to laugh when my request was approved, and I discovered the significant Catholic theme to the story - aliens arrive and they are Catholic! But I am non-religious. So it doesn’t give me any more cause for concern to read about Catholic aliens than it does to read about Darth Vader.

I had to look up Augustine’s Confessions. It is one of the first known auto-biographical works. Augustine’s Confessions consist of 13 books written between 397 and 400 CE. The first nine are Augustine’s confessions of his sins before becoming a Christian. The last four books are more philosophical nature.

And so first and foremost Pilgrims is a redemption story. When the book begins, Austin is a mess. An “out-of-work Latin teacher and borderline alcoholic Austin DeSantis is determined to spend his final days in the arms of a prostitute.” But due to his dire circumstances and ability to speak Latin - the language the aliens use - Austin becomes the pawn of a cynical, American general. And this allows him to get to know Virgil, an ambassador of the aliens.

The author, M. R. Leonard is a very good writer. The varied main characters - Austin, the general, a Catholic priest, and Virgil - are multi-faceted, believable, and interesting. It’s easy to follow each turn of events, and the author left no plot holes. Lastly, the story was fun and a real page turner. It’s an incredible first book.

So why just a rating of 4 and not 5? While I was able to suspend disbelief and enjoy the premise that the aliens were Catholic, I rather doubt that religious, non-Christians would feel the same way. Intentionally or not, Pilgrims was not written for everyone. And while it could be argued that no book is - horror books will not appeal to those who dislike reading horror - it is the reader who decides whether they will read horror or not. But Pilgrims selects its readers by eschewing non-Christians in the premise. Now, I can’t know the author’s intent. Did he just think a modern retelling of Augustine’s Confessions would be a fun book to write? Or is he truly writing for primarily Christians alone? There is no way for this reader to tell.

Here is the bottom line, if you’re not put off by the religious theme, this is a fun sci-fi read.

Though this danced on that razors edge of being too heavy-handed and therefore absurd more times than I was comfortable with, ultimately, there is Grace here.

I'd call it speculative scifi & when i describe it it sounds ludicrous.

Earth is under oppressive martial law awaiting a coming alien invasion.

The aliens land. The aliens are devout Catholics.
Sounds like satire. It is not.

Our main character is a Latin teacher that discovers studying Classics in college was a crackerjack major after all.

From there you're on your own, readers!

When I initially read a description of this book, I was instantly intrigued. First contact with aliens and they're Catholic? Sign me up! Having read Pilgrims I have to say I was not disappointed. A fast-paced, well written story, that at it's heart is a story about faith: in yourself, in life and in your fellow man. The perfect blend of sci-fi, religion and (I'll call it) "philosophy". Overall, I'd give the book 4 out of 5 stars. Would definitely be interested in hearing about what the author comes up with next.

A very good book, strong Arrival (movie) vibes. Easy to read, nicely paced, very engaging, I read it in one sitting. Very interesting concept, and it would be a great movie!

I am not religious, and I was afraid I may find the book to be to Churchy for my taste. I am glad it is not and that while it's a lot about Christianity, it was presented in such a positive and enjoyable way. It showed all best parts of religion and made me wish reality was just like it.

I found plot to be very realistic for such setting until

-----SPOILERS------

Rome bombing. That didn't feel so probable, though events that followed decently did. I still wish it was less violent and that Virgil didn't die. But sad reality is that it's very realistic with such turn of events. I am also glad aliens didn't just attack them and saw that violence is not the way.

I am glad it was clearly explained how aliens came to be Christians and that it was done early enough in the book. I also liked the explanation.

-----END OF SPOILERS------

I hope many people will read this book, as it really deserves it.

I really enjoyed the premise of the book. It had me interested throughout the entire story. Such a unique plot and I loved how the author created such a unique story. The prologue grabbed me and lured me in. I loved reading along to discover why the scenario took place like it did. Highly recommend.

I love this futuristic type of read! I do think it was way too heavy on the religion theme here though. I am not fan of that. It could have been a lot better with less religion. I liked the other aspects, but it was hard to read.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and especially the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review of the book!!

From the beginning of this book it's very somewhat clear what is going to happen, but we have no idea which road we'll take to get there. This makes you want to continue reading, keeps you grasping for every little bit of information you can find. I found the obsession of our main character to be quite tedious in the beginning, but as we got further into the book this disappeared.

This book was everything it promised! Entertaining, in the near future, elements of “Red Rising” and “the Visitors”.

I really enjoyed my time with this book a lot! The perfect beach read for anyone in love with science fiction space stories.

Pilgrims by M. R. Leonard is a quick read and it kept my attention for the full five hours that it took me to read it. It felt like a book written along the lines of Chuck Wendig and Stephen King...in the beginning. It is an ambitious and interesting concept...Aliens coming to Earth for religious reasons and not war. Very idealistic! I loved Virgil the AI, and Austin...interesting that Mr. Leonard choose the last name of DeSantis for his hero..
Yet as the story progresses, it just begins feeling off due to all the religious context. I kept thinking wow, would all the people on Earth be annihilated if they didn't believe? the same??
All in all, I enjoyed the book and I look forward to reading more novels by M.R. Leonard.

I wasn't particularly enthused with this book. I get the concept but it fell flat for me and I did not finish it.

I received this ebook for free through NetGalley

I loved the premise of this book and how unique it was. Definitely glad I came across it. Thanks for the read and looking forward to what happens next.