Review: A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle

Title:A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Author: Madeleine L'Engle
Source/Format: Won, Paperback Omnibus
More Details: Middle Grade, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Square Fish, July 1978

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

When fifteen-year-old Charles Wallace Murry shouts out an ancient rune meant to ward off the dark in desperation, a radiant creature appears. It is Gaudior, unicorn and time traveler. Charles Wallace and Gaudior must travel into the past on the winds of time to try to find a Might-Have-Been - a moment in the past when the entire course of events leading to the present can be changed, and the future of Earth - this small, swiftly tilting planet - saved.

A Swiftly Tilting Planet is the third book in Madeleine L'Engle's classic Time Quintet...

If there’s one thing I always enjoy about the Murry family’s adventures, it’s the fact that science is blended perfectly with fantasy to create a consistently enjoyable story. And a Swiftly Tilting Planet, the third book of the Time Quintet by Madeleine L’Engle, is done in much of the same way. This book opens with the Murry family reunited on Thanksgiving—with the addition of Meg’s mother-in-law Mrs. O’Keefe—practically on the eve of an impending disaster. The simple call added a touch of tension early on in the story, and from there the plot took off. This time, it was Charles Wallace who was mostly on his own as he attempted to find a solution to the problem, with the occasional help from Meg. The adventure was just as dangerous, but ultimately the story was easy to get into. The setting, as always, was interesting. It began at the Murry’s house again, but quickly shifted focus as the story took its course, spanning across several When’s scattered across time. So in that aspect the concept of time travel was handled really well. Overall I really enjoyed A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and eventually I want to get the rest of this series to see how it all ends.

The Friday 56 (30) A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

For my 56 this week, I selected a quote from a book I recently read. (A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle)

Synopsis from Goodreads...

When fifteen-year-old Charles Wallace Murry shouts out an ancient rune meant to ward off the dark in desperation, a radiant creature appears. It is Gaudior, unicorn and time traveler. Charles Wallace and Gaudior must travel into the past on the winds of time to try to find a Might-Have-Been - a moment in the past when the entire course of events leading to the present can be changed, and the future of Earth - this small, swiftly tilting planet - saved. A Swiftly Tilting Planet is the third book in Madeleine L'Engle's classic Time Quintet...

"Charles Wallace wrapped his arms about himself as though for warmth. "And you wonder that I'm frightened?" 

"Of course you're frightened. I'm frightened, too.""-- A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle

What classic novel(s) have you read recently?

The Friday 56 (22)

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

"Meg said, "Ok, Charles, I don't doubt your dragons any more.""--A Wind in the Door by Madeline L'engle




What's on your page 56 this week? 

Review: A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle

Title: A Wind in the Door 
Author: Madeleine L'Engle

Souce/Format: Won, Paperback

More Details: Middle Grade, Science Fiction, Fantasy

Publisher/Publication Date: Square Fish, May 1, 2007 (first published 1973)

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Summary from Goodreads...

It is November. When Meg comes home from school, Charles Wallace tells her he saw dragons in the twin’s vegetable garden. That night Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace go to the vegetable garden to meet the Teacher (Blajeny) who explains that what they are seeing isn’t a dragon at all, but a cherubim named Proginoskes. It turns out that C.W. is ill and that Blajeny and Proginoskes are there to make him well – by making him well, they will keep the balance of the universe in check and save it from the evil Echthros...

So I dived into A Wind in the Door knowing that I loved the previous novel, A Wrinkle in Time—my expectations were a little high because of this. And thankfully, I enjoyed this book as much as the first one.

Most of the characters from the previous book were back, and I enjoyed their relationships with one another. Meg was a great older sister, she cared about Charles Wallace and went to certain lengths as she tried to help and protect him. Calvin was about the same—caring and supportive—so there isn’t much to say about him. But I really enjoyed how they interacted with one another.

Once again I was impressed by Madeleine L’Engle’s use of science combined with fantasy. The elements played a large role in what happened to Meg, Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin. as was true with the previous story the beginning was a little slow, but it didn’t bother me enough to make me put the book down. In fact, I liked the gradual build up that the plot followed before the exact details of what was really happening was revealed. Just like in A Wrinkle in Time I really enjoyed the setting. It begins in the small town but ends up entirely different for a good portion of the second half of the book. As always, the setting paired nicely with the plot, and the writing was nice and descriptive. Needless to say, I look forward to reading A Swiftly Tilting Planet to see what happens next.

Review: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Title: A Wrinkle in Time 
Author: Madeleine L'Engle
Source/Format: won, 50th Anniversary Edition
More Details: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Middle Grade
Publisher/Publication Date: Square Fish, first published 1962

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Before I get started, let me just say that I completely forgot that this review even existed. Its just been sitting unpublished for a few months and it wasn't until recently when I was going through my drafts that I realized this mistake. Anyway, moving on to the forgotten review. (This one only covers the first book in the edition I have.)

Before I won the 50th anniversary edition I never actually considered reading A Wrinkle in time by Madeleine L'Engle.  Despite the fact that I've heard about it I honestly didn’t think that it would interest me. But I’m glad to say that I didn’t pass it up because I actually ended up enjoying this book.

 A Wrinkle in Time is a deeply imaginative story about friendship, the bonds between family no matter how far apart you are, and absurdly cool science fiction themes that contrasted nicely with the story. The setting was numerous places and spanned across different, often times strange—sometimes drastically methodical—worlds that were so unlike the one we all know. It all began in a small town but gradually shifted once the Tesseract’s meaning was revealed. A Wrinkle in Time was easily an enjoyable, entertaining novel that’s one of my favorites. The characters were wonderful—they were well-written with a number of flaws to make them different from one another—and it was interesting to see how those characteristics would play into the events of the plot.

While I did find the beginning to be a little slow—as it did take some time to introduce the characters and setup the plot—things did pick up quickly after that and the pacing ended up having a nice flow. The ending was quick, but nice, and it wrapped up a lot of the plotlines introduced in A Wrinkle in Time. All in all, I look forward to reading A Wind in the Door.

The Friday 56 (12)

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

"Suddenly two eyes seemed to spring at them out of the darkness; it was the moonlight striking on Mrs Who's glasses."--A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle


What's on your page 56 this week?