An Acceptable Time by Madeline L'Engle

An Acceptable Time is the fifth book in the time series by L'Engle.  But it's also a part of the 2nd generation (O'Keefe) series and there's even a little bit of the Chronos series that plays into it.  And as such, without reading the rest of those books, you'll be kind of lost in this book I think.  So it's a hard one for me to suggest someone read unless they're a big fan of L'Engle.

Polly O'Keefe is visiting her grandparents when a time gate opens on the property.  She, the retired bishop and a friend named Zachary Gray are swept three thousand years in the past, and some people from the past are also able to visit them in the future.  But there's trouble three thousand years ago in the form of a drought.  And that drought is making the people think they need a sacrifice, and Polly seems like the perfect candidate to them.

Polly was hard to connect to in this book.  It could partially be because I haven't read the O'Keefe series in awhile and didn't get to be refreshed on her history.  But I also think that she was maybe a little too perfect and didn't do anything wrong.  She didn't seem very real.  In contrast, Zachary was as big of a jerk as ever.  It seems that he doesn't have any redeemable qualities and even his pick up lines are the same they used on Vickie Austin in the Chronos series.  He hasn't changed at all despite aging.  Which was slightly disappointing and it made it predictable what he would do.  The Bishop was interesting, he wasn't your traditional religious figure.  L'Engle uses him to speak her religious beliefs, which are unconventional and interesting.

The plot was ok.  I liked the idea of time circles, but I wasn't as fond of the execution.  Aside from Polly just doing weird things for someone supposedly so intelligent, the other characters weren't very developed with the exception of the Bishop.  And the book just didn't flow with the usual grace that L'Engle had.  The science and magic was still there, but it was disjointed.  I still think that her writing is beautiful, but maybe by the time this book came around she was wearing out a bit.  She's also a religious writer, for those not familiar with her works, and depending on your branch of religion or feelings towards religion, she could be a bit preachy for some.  I personally find her beliefs on religion to be interesting and definitely non-mainstream.

Not one of her better ones but a bad book by L'Engle is still pretty good compared to a lot of books out there.  As said before, if you are a big fan, read this book.

An Acceptable Time
Copyright 1989
343 pages

Many Waters by Madeline L'Engle

When it comes to the Time series by L'Engle, I'd have to say that this is my least favorite. It's not that it isn't well written, L'Engle has a beautiful way with words, but this one doesn't inspire that passion and love of reading that her other works can.

Sandy and Dennys are the normal ones of the Murray family. While the rest are odd geniuses, they are highly intelligent but average twin boys. Well, at least until they stumble into one of their dad's experiments and end up in a strange place. Even worse, they end up brutally sunburned and are only saved by the short race of people living in an oasis in the desert they are dropped in. But as they heal, they see that not all is what they think. There are strange creatures here, and a man named Noah who's story they are very familiar with.

For character development, this is one of the better books of L'Engle. We never see much of the twins in the other books and they are the main characters of this one. And L'Engle really takes the time to describe them and their personality, and most importantly their differences as they are twins. And the people they encounter; Noah, his father, his daughter, they are all bright examples of the goodness a person can be while still ultimately being human. Even the Seraphim and Nephilim were interesting concepts introduced to this book. And the mammoths were incredibly adorable and made me wish they were real.

The plot, as you may have guessed, centers around the Biblical flood. And as such, this book has a religious tone to it, although not in the usual way. L'Engle likes to combine fantasy with science and religion and her style is very unique. But this one definitely was more religious than a great many of her other books. And I did find the writing in this one to be a little less beautiful than in the others. Before she would include poetry and detailed descriptions of lovely things. This one she just told the story. And it even had some sexual undertones to it which was another thing I wasn't used to seeing in her books. It's not bad, just not her usual.

I dearly love L'Engle's books and always feel a sense of home when I read them. Just because this one isn't my favorite doesn't mean it's not a worthy read. I strongly encourage any reader to try out a book of L'Engle.

Many Waters
Copyright 1986
310 pages

A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeline L'Engle

It's hard not to like L'Engle's books. They all have such poetry and imagination that you can really escape into them. And this one, a sequel to "A Wrinkle In Time" does that first book justice and continues the story of the Murry family who are all special in their own way.

It's Thanksgiving and Meg and her brothers are back at the family home to be together. Meg is heavily pregnant and resting while her husband is away and has even invited her strange mother in law to join them as well. But it is at this dinner that her father gets a call from the President saying that a dictator in Vespugia is threatening war and bombing. Her younger brother Charles Wallace is set to a mission and using a verse that Meg's mother in law gives him, he must travel through time with the help of a unicorn to try to tweak the past and change the future.

I didn't feel as connected to the characters in this book as I did in Wrinkle of Time. I think its because everything bounces around so much and from time to time to different whens and wheres that it's hard to get a read on the characters. Meg is a constant, but she is just an observer telling Charles Wallace's story so we don't get much of a sense of her in this. Being that previously she was always a child, I had somewhat looked forward to learning of her as an adult, but alas, that is just not for this book. Charles Wallace is so many different people during his travels in time that he too is not described greatly aside from being brave in a unique sort of way. But the people he is in the past all have interesting stories, and there is a chain that ties them all together through history.

I liked the concept of the time travel and the tweaking of certain events to get a better future. I think L'Engle handled it excellently, as she does will all scientific and mythological combinations. She just has a way of weaving unlikely things together in a beautiful way. Combine that with the poetry and legend she incorporates into her book and it's hard to be disappointed when reading something of hers. There is a little bit of religion incorporated into her works as well, but it was actually pretty light in this book as compared to some of the others. And her version of Christianity is so peaceful that it doesn't come across preachy like so many other authors do. As for this book tying in to the others of the quartet, it probably could be read alone. There isn't much mention of the other books and no important details are left out. In fact, reading it, it almost seems as if the other books didn't exist at all.

I beautifully written book with a lot of interesting topics and concepts, A Swiftly Tilting Planet is appropriate for all ages. With a little more character development, I think this could have been right there at the top of fiction.

A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Copyright 1978
278 pages

A Ring of Endless Light by Madeline L'Engle

This is one of my favorite books.  Has been since I was a child and continues to be so today.  It's beautifully written, has some strong messages, and is very relatable, especially for teenage girls (of which I was one when I first started loving the book).  It's actually a part of a series, but is easily a stand alone book.  If you want more background on the characters, it might be better to start with the first book though.

Vicky Austin and her family have come to their grandpa's home on an island to spend the summer with him.  He is dying of leukemia and while it's a tough time for all, they know where it is supposed to be.  While on the island, a friend of theirs, Captain Rodney, suffers a heart attack while rescuing a boy from a capsized sailboat.  His death, combined with their grandfather's deterioration sets a pall on the whole island.   When Vicky learns that the teenage boy rescued is a friend from the past, that just adds to the confusion.  And if she didn't have enough with that, Captain Rodney's son, Leo is interested in her as well.  The third boy she encounters, Adam, likes her for the help she provides with his dolphin project, but keeps her at an arm's length, unwilling to trust her.  All of these feelings are bubbling inside  Vicky and there just doesn't seem to be a fair outlet.

Vicky is a very relatable protagonist.  She has her normal problems, and while I didn't have three boys ever after me at once, I feel like I could be her sometimes.  She's more of a dreamer than a scientist, and loves to write.  For the three boys, I didn't really care much for Leo, he didn't add anything.  Zach made a good source for problems throughout the book.  And Adam, Adam is a good guy, and I've read some of the other books with him in it so I was already a little attached to him.  He's my favorite out of the three anyway.  I like Vicky's parents too; they are calm and insightful and add a lot to the story.

When we get right down to it this book has a lot of romance in it as Vicky shares time with the three boys.  But there is nothing inappropriate, and Vicky is strong enough to set her limits with all of them.  The real theme of this book is sorrow and death, and learning to accept the inevitability's of life.  I really like the message carried throughout and even though there is an undertone of religion in the book, it is done very well and doesn't seem preachy in the least.  I also like the incorporation of poetry and think that L'Engle always makes good choices in the verses she includes in her books.  I also like the sub-plot with the dolphins and Vicki's interactions with them.  It was an interesting concept and one that was completely believable to me.

Definitely one of my favorite books. I would always recommend it, and many other works by L'Engle.

A Ring of Endless Light
Copyright 1980
324 pages

Troubling a Star by Madeline L'Engle

L'Engle's books always seem to have such poetic names. Troubling a Star, isn't that fantastic? Unfortunately the book wasn't quite as wondrous as the book title, but it was still pretty good. After all, L'Engle is a terrific writer.

Vickie (from the Austins series of which this is book 5) is still trying to find herself in the world. She recognizes that she loves to write, and more specifically loves to write poetry and is taking steps to improve this talent. She also has started visiting with her somewhat boyfriend Adam Eddington's Aunt, who is an interesting lady herself. Aunt Serena once had a child also named Adam who explored the Antarctic before disappearing and being declared dead. Now, Vicky's Adam is also headed to Antarctica to do research. After spending more time with Aunt Serena, Vicky is surprised when her birthday gift from her is to take a trip to see Adam there. But it will be much more dangerous than she thinks as there are people there that think she knows too much information.

Vicky is always a great character. She is so real that I think just about any teenage girl could identify with her. While she may not be "modern" because of the time this book was written, her thoughts are timeless. And she's a nice person. She has her faults but she just tries to be good and enjoy the world around her. Adam confuses me a bit more. I like him, but he's very changeable in his demeanor and thoughts and it can be unsettling. All the other characters are great as well though. Aunt Serena is charming and her cook Cookie is mysterious but kind. They each fill their own role quite well.

I wasn't as amazed by this plot though. Sure it was exciting what with the trip to Antarctica and the side-plot about Vicky in danger. But as well as those two things meshed I just didn't feel engaged in the book and it was a slower read because of it. I guess there was a lot of description I had trouble with, including the two countries that L'Engle made up for the purposes of the story. I can understand why she did make them up, but it made it harder to read as everything else was based in reality. Some of the plot ideas seemed to be resolved too easy too and the ending seemed rushed. It just wasn't the well paced story I've come to expect from L'Engle. But it still is highly appropriate for young adults and it's hard to find any fault with the language of this book.

A nice book and I do like L'Engle. Just not the best of this series or her work as a whole.

Troubling a Star
Copyright 1994
296 pages

The Arm of the Starfish by Madeline L'Engle

Madeline L'Engle is a brilliant writer. That being said, this is one of her works that I just don't particularly care for. It's still good, but when you compare it to some of her others, it just isn't as good as those, and that is why I only rate it three stars.

Adam Eddington is a smart guy. He's going to be studying marine biology and is offered the chance to go to the island of Gaea to study with Dr. O'Keefe who has been doing research on regeneration in starfish. But Adam's not the only one who's interested in O'Keefe's work. He finds himself in the middle of a lot of intrigue and mystery and can't really be certain who the good guy is and who the bad guy is. And a beautiful girl just clouds his mind even more.

Adam is a decent character. A little naive but he is unfairly thrown into a whole bunch of turmoil that he just isn't capable of dealing with. I did think it was a little beyond the realm of possibility what his character was asked to do, but this is fiction after all. The O'Keefe's didn't really get to be a big part of this story, at least not to me. Poly did, but she was about the only one we really get a good glimpse at. And at least she was entertaining. For all he is mentioned in the book, I still don't think I know much about Dr. O'Keefe. The bad guys are appropriately menacing and sneaky, and I did appreciate their underhanded ways.

The plot went too quick and too slow in this book for me. All the interesting aspects of the plot seemed to be glossed over and hurried while the stuff I didn't really care about, such as Adam's time spent with Kali seemed to take up a huge amount of the book and was less interesting. It is a young adult book, which could account for the pace, but her other ones just seemed to be so much better. This is part of a series though and I do think it is important to read this book before reading some of the others. You'll lose out on interesting tidbits that could be useful in the coming stories. And as said before, L'Engle is a good writer so this book is much better than some of the other books out in the young adult market right now. It has the building of characters and coming of age themes that seem to be quite popular.

A decent read, and a definite part of the series. I recommend reading if you want to read the rest of the series.

The Arm of the Starfish
Copyright 1965
240 pages

Dragons in the Waters by Madeline L'Engle

I love L'Engle, she's one of my favorite writers. And most of her novels are quite good. So when I rate this one three stars, really it is in relation to her other works, not that it is actually a mere average book. It simply isn't as good as her other ones.

Dragons in the Waters introduces us to Simon. Having lived with his 90 year old great aunt for several years, Simon has grown used to being poor, but rich in education as she is a very smart lady. But now she's releasing him to go on a trip with a cousin who has bought an expensive heirloom painting from them. Simon doesn't trust the cousin much, but he'll get to experience a little bit of the world and have some adventure. Along the way he meets Poly and Charles O'Keefe who will be traveling on the same boat. They become fast friends which is fortunate when dangerous things and murder start happening on the boat. Simon is in trouble, but being stuck at sea there really isn't a lot he can do about it.

Simon was ok as a character. It was hard to connect to him compared to L'Engle's other characters in her books. He was likable I guess, just not relatable. Poly was a little better. She was a bit of a show off and just seemed like one of those really good friends you roll your eyes at once in awhile. Charles, like most of L'Engle's characters named Charles, was just a bit different with a "gift" of sorts. All I can say is, whoever the real Charles was must have been a very special person. The bad guys weren't around much in this book. They stayed in the back story and as such weren't as menacing as they could have been.

This book kind of drug on a little bit. Sure there was some excitement, but a lot of things were just implausible. For instance, I never really could figure out why the cousin even wanted to take Simon along. And the explanations in the book just didn't really cover that well. The dialogue between all the characters was just a little more stilted as well, although I love how L'Engle has the children talk like real people with a brain in their heads. It's refreshing. The plot was decent, it involved a lot of intriguing facts and ideas that aren't commonly used in books. I appreciate the uniqueness of it.

Not a bad book by any means but not one of L'Engle's better ones. I still enjoy reading anything by her though.

Dragons in the Waters
Copyright 1976
330 pages

The Moon By Night by Madeline L'Engle

I think it's very hard to find a book by L'Engle that is bad. And this book just furthers that point along, it is very very good for being a young adult novel. There's just so much information and wisdom packed into the series that it's hard not to like them.

The Moon By Night is the 2nd book in the "Meet the Austins" series. I've read all the books out of order and as stand-alones (A Ring of Endless Light was perhaps my most favored book through my teenage years) and it's never really bothered me or kept me from enjoying the book. That being said, I always do recommend reading books in order. This particular book has the main character Vicky as a fourteen year old going on a camping trip with her family. Along the way she meets the exciting and terrible Zachary Gray who dazzles her and frightens her all at the same time. Her family doesn't approve of the friendship, but quietly lets her sort things out as she is trying to grow and figure herself out at this point in her life. And the camping with her family too brings them a sort of closeness and respect that makes her appreciate them more.

Vicky is a great character. And she's so great because she's real and she reminds me of myself at that age. It's hard not to feel special in a family as unique as hers, and even more difficult is learning to appreciate yourself for who you are. She also has a natural appreciation and innocence about her that is refreshing. So even though her teenage years are happening during the 60's in this book, she feels like she could be your best friend in any time period. Zachary I'm not as fond of, but I don't think he's supposed to be a likable character. Girls are attracted to the troublesome dark type of guys and he fits the bill for that. I've been guilty of falling for a few guys like that myself until I realized I much prefer a sunny personality. Her family seems close-knit and while there is one sexist comment in regards to her father preferring that women don't wear pants, I excused it as the time period of the book and tried not to dwell on it too much.

The plot is simplistic. It's a camping trip with a family and a somewhat love story. But what I think really makes this book stand out is that the theme of growing up is predominant in it. It could allow someone the same age as Vicky to really relate with her and get inside her head. And that's what makes it a valuable read. The writing is good, although there is quite a bit of religion incorporated into the book and I got tired of it in parts, but there was also a lot of poetry thrown in and I did appreciate that. I'm not much of a poetry person but L'Engle always seems to find poems that fit perfectly into her books.

A very good read, as is the rest of the series. I highly recommend all of the books for Meet the Austins and some of L'Engle's other works as well.

The Moon By Night
Copyright 1963
255 pages