Many Waters

Meg Murry's twin brothers, Sandy and Denys, the normal ones of the family, the regular ones, the ordinary ones, go on an adventure of their own. The two run across unicorns and seraphim and nephilim, but it is only after they meet Noah that they dimly recall a story told to them at church...and they realize what is soon to come.

Good, interesting tale. I like the way the Yalith part was taken care of. I was worried about her.

This is technically the fourth book written in Madeleine L'Engle's Time series, but in the life of the Murry family, it takes places third, so that's when I always read it. Rather than really exploring much of a scientific angle as Wrinkle and Wind do, the actual space-time travel element just kind of happens, and the majority of the book is focused on Sandy and Dennys's experience where they travel. As usual with L'Engle's books, I think the premise of this one is fascinating: Sandy and Dennys are taken to Noah's family before the flood and discover that although Noah's sons are in the biblical story, Noah also has daughters, one of whom because very special to both of them. Beyond the premise, though, I don't actually love this story. Sandy and Dennys are not only very vanilla, they also describe themselves that way, in a very stilted manner, continually referring to themselves as just being the normal ones in their family. The book stirs up some interesting questions, but it all just seems to be an elaborate setup to examine those questions, and even the minimal dramatic tension in the story (will the twins make it out before the flood? What about Yalith?) is wrapped up in fairly anticlimactic ways.

Despite this being a story about Noah and the flood I enjoyed it. I liked hearing what the story could have been. The love and bonds the twins made with the family was sweet and made me care more for them too. I would have liked to read more about Oholibamah and Japheth both before and after the flood. They were probably my two favorite characters and I felt like there was so much more to say about Oholibamah than was told.

“There have been many times of last days,” he said, “and they mark not only endings but beginnings.”

 



“Is there a pattern to it all?” Sandy demanded. “Or is it all chaos and chance?”

I spent way too much time reading this book and stressing out over the well-being of mammoths.

It's been a long time since I read the first three books in this series, so I have relatively vague memories of the various kids. Still, I recalled enough to know that this is the first time the twins Sandy and Denny get to enjoy the spotlight. In this story, the twins are sent back in time to live with Noah and his relatives, pre-ark. It's a pleasant read that nicely straddles both the line between child and adult, and between religious faith and scepticism. It is by nature a religious story, but not so much that it hits you over the head. The twins themselves seem unconvinced by the end of the book.

All in all, a nice read that doesn't so much continue the Murry story's family, as send two of its characters on a tangential adventure.

Short Review: This is the first time I have read this book. The first three I have read many times. This one feels different. They are visiting biblical Noah. It is focused on the twins instead of Meg and Charles Wallace. It feels like an older book, with slightly older themes. But I think it is not my second favorite book of the series so far.

My longer review on my blog is at http://bookwi.se/many-waters/

Yup, I still love this series! This is at least the third time I've read this one. (2011, 2015, 2018)

Wow I was harsh on this book ten years ago, but it kinda deserved it. Sandys and Dennys aren't well-developed characters and don't make good protagonists (honestly they barely added anything to the previous books, and I didn't miss them one bit in the Wrinkle in Time movie). The plot is still pretty much Christian nonsense, although there's a thing about them falling in love with the same girl that's... sort of... weird?

I also can't get over the fact that they come back and then conceal their adventure from their family. WTF.

— original review below —

Pointless, boring and kind of inane. Sandy and Dennys are not very good characters, and the plot is a rambling, irritating jumble of nonsense. Reminds me of the worst of the Narnia books.

This is an excellent book. The twins make for significantly more interesting characters than Meg and CW, who always felt like Mary Sues, and as such, were hard to care about. The ideas and storytelling here are fantastic, though L'Engle's writing falls ferociously flat whenever the twins talk to each other. She uses it to present exposition to the reader, but it comes off forced and unnatural; they're identical twins for fuck's sake, these are guys who share a lot of knowledge. Writing them as fish out of water works in the context of the story, but not in the context of their relationship. Anyway, great book, go read it.