A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978)
Written by: Madeleine L’Engle
Series: Time Quintet #3
Genre: Science Fantasy/Young Adult
Pages: 304 (Paperback)
Publisher: Macmillan
Why I Chose This: My 2018 Resolution Project for Speculative Chic was to read and review both the novel and film versions of A Wrinkle in Time. But I’m a completionist, so it should come as no surprise that I’d have to continue on this magical journey I somehow missed when I was a teenager.
The Premise:
Fifteen-year-old Charles Wallace and the unicorn Gaudior undertake a perilous journey through time in a desperate attempt to stop the destruction of the world by the mad dictator Madog Branzillo.
They are not alone in their quest. Charles Wallace’s sister, Meg — grown and expecting her first child, but still able to enter her brother’s thoughts and emotions by “kything” — goes with him in spirit.
Charles Wallace must face the ultimate test of his faith and his will as he is sent within four people from another time, there to search for a way to avert the tragedy threatening them all.
Minor spoilers below!
If someone had told me this book involved a time-traveling unicorn, I’d have read it DECADES ago.
Instead, I’m coming to the stories as an adult reader in 2018. This makes the opening of the book especially poignant, as the United States is under threat of nuclear war from an unhinged dictator from a small country. (Perhaps L’Engle had a time-traveling unicorn herself?)
We’ve jumped a bit forward in time from previous books. Meg Murry has grown up but returned to her childhood home to celebrate Thanksgiving — she is expecting her first child with her husband Calvin O’Keefe, though he is out of the country at an academic conference. Charles Wallace is now 15 years old, but still incredibly intelligent and intuitive, as evidence by his immediate connection with Meg’s mother-in-law, Mrs. O’Keefe.
While I enjoyed both A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door, I read them to accomplish a goal, so the time spent on the texts felt a bit like work. In contrast, I tore through A Swiftly Tilting Planet in the space of a single evening. I am a huge fan of time travel, which this book had aplenty, but the appeal was more than that. L’Engle has taken her previous ventures regarding science and brought them to an entirely new level here. Something about the delicate balance of science with faith and mysticism made all of these things intriguing yet accessible. I especially enjoyed how she used music as her descriptive metaphor for Gaudior the unicorn’s method of traveling on the winds of time.
However, though Charles Wallace is traveling through time (with Meg accompanying him mentally), he is not a time-traveler. Instead, he inhabits other people through different points in time, creating a series of stories within stories that link a long family line, which may or may not have anything to do with the unhinged dictator mentioned previously. With Meg assisting with research on her end, Charles Wallace and Gaudior must find the purpose of their journey, as charged by Mrs. O’Keefe. Instead, they find that Mrs. O’Keefe has more to do with things than appears on the surface. I found the intertwining tales and evolving names fascinating, and I admire L’Engle’s plotting ability for keeping everything flowing smoothly for the reader.
In the end, however, it was not clear how much Charles Wallace actually changed the past to influence the future. From one perspective, he and Meg could very well have merely been witnesses to changes the characters themselves made having been given an unknown second chance. Either way, the world shifts just enough for the better.
In conclusion: This was a highly enjoyable read featuring all the twisty timey-whimeyness a reader could possibly want. The ending feels solid unless you really squint. But don’t squint too hard. You wouldn’t want to disappoint the unicorn.
Featured image source: Wallpaper Abyss
No Comments