Many Waters
Posted: December 27, 2011 Filed under: Book of Sand 2 Commentsby Madeleine L’Engle
{ 1986 | Farrar, Straus & Giroux | 320 pgs }
So, I thought this was part of the Time Quartet, but it turns out to be the Time Quintet? I missed a book?
Anyway. I read A Wrinkle in Time in sixth grade, and it was instantly a favorite. Except for the cover art. But, given the subject matter, I can see how decent illustration is a challenge. Later I read A Swiftly Tilting Planet when it mysteriously turned up in our house, and liked it a lot. A Wind in the Door, one of the other Time Quartet/Quintet books, was the last I read, and while the writing was good, the story didn’t captivate me quite as much as the others.
So I never bothered to read Many Waters, even though I knew it existed. Several others of L’Engle’s books are near-favorites, and it didn’t seem worth the effort to read what I expected to be a mediocre book.
Well…I was sort of right. The writing was amazing, as it should be, but the story was just…hmm. Part of the problem may have been the main characters, who weren’t bad but lacked the ability to really draw me in. Interestingly, the story is about Noah and the ark, and is quite non-religious. At any rate, I didn’t quite feel like the book fit well with the others.
If you’re compelled to read the complete set, then by all means, go ahead and read Many Waters. It’s certainly better than a lot of books I’ve read in the past!
Jarom
Mika
hilleries 
Eh, I really didn’t care for this one. It was kind of an interesting story, I guess, but I’m just never really comfortable with books that are essentially a kind of bible fanfiction.
I thought it was far enough from trying to change the story that it was ok. And fantastical enough that it didn’t really seem like it had anything to do with the story anyway. Still, not one I plan to reread.