A review by rhiannoncs
The Time Quartet Box Set by Madeleine L'Engle
3.0
I really enjoyed A Wrinkle in Time when I was a kid. On rereading, I discovered that I had definitely forgotten the way Christian symbols and metaphors kind of beat you over the head in this book. It and A Wind in the Door (which, like the other three books in this omnibus, I had never read before), could definitely benefit from some subtlety. Both books are fun, but also frustrating.
A Swiftly Tilting Planet really made up for this, though. The symbolism and overarching themes are balanced by an awesome story. I love the way the time travel elements are used, and the common threads among the generations Charles Wallace visits and their ties to mythology are handled really well. I also felt like the message of " 'gifted' people are a completely separate species from the rest of humanity and will never be accepted by 'normal' people" was tempered in this story.
When I started reading Many Waters, I had a real "what the hell" reaction when I realized what the primary story was going to be about. But I really enjoyed it. The twins are fun characters and more accessible than Meg and Charles Wallace ever are, to me at least. Her treatments of the seraphim and the nephilim really appealed to me, and I thought she dealt well with issues of puberty and sexuality here.
Overall, I really enjoyed the second two books and I really liked seeing the development of writing style and themes over the course of many books and much time.
A Swiftly Tilting Planet really made up for this, though. The symbolism and overarching themes are balanced by an awesome story. I love the way the time travel elements are used, and the common threads among the generations Charles Wallace visits and their ties to mythology are handled really well. I also felt like the message of " 'gifted' people are a completely separate species from the rest of humanity and will never be accepted by 'normal' people" was tempered in this story.
When I started reading Many Waters, I had a real "what the hell" reaction when I realized what the primary story was going to be about. But I really enjoyed it. The twins are fun characters and more accessible than Meg and Charles Wallace ever are, to me at least. Her treatments of the seraphim and the nephilim really appealed to me, and I thought she dealt well with issues of puberty and sexuality here.
Overall, I really enjoyed the second two books and I really liked seeing the development of writing style and themes over the course of many books and much time.