How do I get started with Sparql as a .NET Developer?

I'm trying to parse Project Gutenberg's large RDF file. Another member of my team is pretty stuck, having tried Semweb and a python library.

Being a little naive about rdf, I tried to write a plain ol' xml parsing script in Ruby. I soon realized it was too complex to really work.

I've downloaded Intellidimension's tool and am thinking of using it.

I guess I don't understand how to use SPARQL. It seems there is a parser in Java called Jena. Is there something like that in .NET?

Sorry for the obvious question....I'm just not sure where to write the SPARQL queries. Is there a library that would allow me to build a query using strings, similar to Data.SQlClient and then execute against some Sparql processor?

What do you execute Sparql against?