Many Waters (1986)
Written by: Madeleine L’Engle
Series: Time Quintet #4
Genre: Science Fantasy/Young Adult
Pages: 352 (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:
Some things have to be believed to be seen.
Sandy and his twin brother, Dennys, are the practical, down-to-earth members of the Murry family. They have never paid much attention to their scientist parents’ talk of highly theoretical things like tesseracts and farondalae. But now something has happened to Sandy and Dennys that drastically stretches their powers of belief. And, when disaster threatens the oasis where they have made their home, can they find a way back to their own time?
Minor spoilers below!
As I noted in my 2018 Resolution Project post, I may not have read A Wrinkle in Time growing up, but I can’t tell you how many times I devoured its companion Many Waters. If fact, I was fairly concerned when I picked it up this year, having not read it since at least early high school, whether it would live up to such fond memories.
Good news. I adored this novel just as much at 34 as I did at 11. Enough time had passed that I remembered the scope of the book but not all of the specific details. It’s fascinating what things stick with you and which fade with time, but that’s a subject for a completely different sort of review.
Chronologically, Many Waters is set before the third book in the Time Quintet, which makes me want to squint at some of Sandy and Dennys’ contributions to A Swiftly Tilting Planet. However, this book can be read as a stand-alone from the rest of the series (as should be obvious from my history with it). Coming to it through the context of the series as a whole, with the added bonus of another 20+ years of voracious reading and obscure knowledge under my belt, I definitely have a different perspective on the book even as I enjoyed reading it just as much. (This means I binged the last two-thirds of the book in bed one evening and then tried to explain how amazing it was to my patient husband through the happy tears of a massive book hangover. He is used to these bizarre occurrences.)
After all, what’s not to like, whether reading this as an adult or a young adult? It starts with accidental time travel via retro computer, and with Sandy and Dennys, you’re soon thrust into a world filled with miniature mammoths! Quantum entanglement unicorns! Plot-device manticores! Shape-changing angels and their not-so-angelic brethren! This is classic portal fantasy featuring danger, drama, and exotic people and animals, told through the dual perspectives of two relateable young men who are similar enough to be an effective team but with voices unique enough to not get muddled.
The setting of the story is grounded in a famous Judeo-Christian biblical tale, but this is not a “religious book.” A few of the characters might be familiar, but they are not who readers might remember from Sunday School. I might even credit this novel as a great influence on how I view religion and religious text. In particular, a scene in which one of the accidental time travelers discusses time paradox and the historical record with an angel had me nodding along as my brain went “Yes. This, exactly.”
Despite the relative youth of the twins, this novel includes more “adult themes” than previous installments of this series, including family and interpersonal relationships. It also features probably the least annoying love triangle to ever exist in fiction, while still remaining completely romantic.
In conclusion: This book is accessible to readers of all ages and backgrounds, regardless of how they feel about A Wrinkle in Time. The ending is abrupt yet satisfying, but the real ending is how the details continue to create connections in your mind after the fact, setting bits of current reality in a brand-new light.
I also loved this book as a kid, and re-read it over and over again. I did read the rest of the Wrinkle in Time books too, but my favorites were Many Waters and A Wind in the Door. I should pick it up again and revisit the story.