Surprisingly wonderful! I'm not quite sure what has changed. Maybe L'Engle switched editors? I have no idea. But "A Swiftly Tilting Planet" is truly a great story. It's an actual, honest-to-goodness story. It's not just a choppy assortment of events, as the first two books seemed to me. I found myself completely interested in what was going to happen next and became emotionally invested in the characters.

Plus, any book that has the phrase "I am a mere unicorn" can't be all bad. Now, this isn't to say that L'Engle hasn't included a larger message in the story. She stays true to form on that. But instead of trying to beat you over the head with it, you learn the lesson through reading about how the actions of the characters affect the world around them. It's both delightful and fascinating.

The Echthroi have developed into the true villain of the story. They are evil entities bent on conquering the universe as young Charles Wallace sets out on a quest to stop them. What I loved about this story is how the quest takes you back in time and you follow a family generation after generation. The decisions of each generation affect the outcome of not only the subsequent generation but also the world and ultimately the universe.

Also, I was tickled at how she dropped herself into the narrative for a quick cameo. As you read, L'Engle describes a character that is an author, Matthew Maddox. Mathew has written a book with a story line resembling "A Swiftly Tilting Planet", going as far as to say, "There was also a unicorn in the story, who was a time traveler." L'Engle refers to Mathew as a writer who “…had an uncanny intuition about the theories of space, time, and relativity…” Clearly describing, I think, how she feels about herself. A bold move, and I liked it ☺

With "A Swiftly Tilting Planet", she has redeemed herself in my eyes. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

So yes, when I read A Swiftly Tilting Planet (which is the third instalment of Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quintet series) late last night and early this morning, it was quite an experience.

I not only sped through L'Engle's presented text with lightning speed (at least for me), but I also found the basic plotline of A Swiftly Tilting Planet to be wonderfully engaging and entertaining.

Fifteen-year-old Charles Wallace Murry travels through time astride the flying unicorn Gaudior to alter aspects of the past and save Planet Earth from a nuclear war threatened by a crazed South American dictator.

Meg, now married to Calvin O'Keefe and pregnant with their first child, accompanies her brother in spirit via kything.

Part of the reason I enjoy the basic premise so much is that it's one of the few time-traveling middle grade novels where going back in time to change the past is depicted as both possible and necessary.

L'Engle clearly describes the present as being dangerously tainted by cosmic evil, the etchroi, and in need of adjustment that can only occur by altering the past.

However, as an adult reader, I unfortunately found some rather problematic textual issues.

For one, when Dr. Murry gets the call from the Pentagon about the impending nuclear holocaust, the lack of emotion from him and the others gathered for Thanksgiving seems strange and disconcerting.

Surely, in the face of such a threat, some emotionality and a bit of fear and dread would be more realistic.

Secondly, the ease and uncomplicated nature of time traveling in this book, compared to A Wrinkle in Time, feels like a textual let-down.

It's as if L'Engle is running out of steam.

And finally, the main reason the rating for A Swiftly Tilting Planet can't be higher than three stars for me is that I don't understand why it takes a genius like Charles Wallace Murry so long to figure out the obvious links between the similar-sounding first names of the Branzillos throughout the generations.

It really makes me shake my head.

4.5 Stars

Time-travel, evil dictators, Unicorns, and impending nuclear doom. Oh my! It sounds like a wild and improbable combination, doesn't it? When you break it down to its basic parts, it really doesn't seem like this story could possibly work. And yet, somehow, it does. It may not be perfect or without some name-related confusion. But what it sometimes lacks in clear logical progression, it makes up for in sheer wonderment, empathy-building, and that strong Murry family bond which readers have, by this point, come to know and love.

In the first book of this series, the focus was on travel through outer space. The second book centered on traveling through inner-space. And this, the third book, revolves around the space-time continuum. There's a bit of space travel in this one as well, as we take a little detour to the Unicorn homeworld. (Yes, I just wrote that!) The entire story takes place over the course of a day, but spans hundreds of fictional years and many generations.

L’Engle’s writing shows a growth in complexity within this book that makes it stand out a bit above the first two books, in this reader’s opinion. As ever, her style is perplexing yet somehow lovely. And the emotional depth she achieves by giving us a glimpse into Mrs. O’Keefe’s background is absolutely moving. I had thought I was quite content in not liking that woman. But the author didn't allow her to continue on as a one-note side character, and I love her for that.

I keep seeing reviewers raging at the fact that Meg is pregnant in this book, seeming to resent her biological state and claiming she “doesn’t do anything” in this story. Sorry, (not sorry) but I call malarkey on that assertion. Yes, she’s now married to Calvin and a bit encumbered by being late-term preggers. Yet, it’s that very condition that makes her an ideal candidate for telepathically aiding Charles Wallace in the general save-the-world endeavors. The premise of this book is all about protecting the future by going back and repairing a past that has been sabotaged. It’s about legacy and lineage. And it effectively drives the stakes higher to be constantly aware that it’s not just the entire impersonal world population that’s theoretically in peril—it’s our brilliant beloved Meg, and the unborn baby she may never get a chance to meet.
(Also, Meg has been the main active character for the first two books. The girl deserves a break. And considering he’s now 15, Charles Wallace certainly deserves his own coming-of-age opportunity.)

So far, this has been my favorite book in this fantasy/sci-fi series. It combines elements of adventure, science fiction, and family drama in a way that is both engaging and thought-provoking. I can't wait to see what else the series has in store.

I listened to the audio version of this, which I wouldn't recommend doing.

The narrator was fine, but so many of the names in the book are similar in pronunciation that it was extremely difficult to keep the characters straight.

For example, there were several names that sounded almost identical, and it became quite confusing as the story progressed.

If I had been able to see the variations in spelling, it would have undoubtedly made for a much smoother experience for me.

I could have easily distinguished between the different characters and followed the plot more clearly.

The story itself, however, is truly beautiful.

It has a captivating storyline and well-developed characters.

I found myself completely immersed in the world that the author had created.

Despite the challenges with the audio version, I would still like to read it again someday in the hard copy.

This way, I can fully appreciate the nuances of the story and enjoy it to the fullest.

I didn't love this one as much as the first two.

However, I still had a certain degree of affection for it nonetheless!

It was more difficult to get into compared to the first two installments in the series.

But as I delved deeper into the story, the more I found myself invested and engaged.

The only aspect that I didn't particularly like was the major time skip.

Thankfully, there were no problems with anything else.

I'm really looking forward to reading the next one!

I'm eager to see how the story will unfold and what new adventures and challenges await the characters.

The anticipation is building up inside me, and I can't wait to pick up the next book and continue this exciting journey.

Okay, this book was truly weird.

Charles is nearly grown up as he's already a whopping 15 years old. The twins seem to be in med school or something similar. Meg is married to Calvin and they're expecting a baby, which makes me fangirl and swoon. I'm not overly disappointed that Meg and the twins weren't in this book as much, or that Meg didn't go on the adventure. After all, Charles didn't really get to go on the last one, so it kind of balances out, right?

Now, the strange part was when Charles went to his star-watching rock. Evil echthroi were attempting to catch him, and then he randomly found a unicorn and flew back in time. I'm sorry, but what on earth just happened? From that point on, there was a jumble of confusion because I truly had no clue who was speaking. So, I just assumed it was Charles talking to himself the entire time. Yup, it made the book more interesting, I must admit.

The adventure was just okay. The confusion was extremely baffling, and it didn't help that I was completely exhausted today. I really don't understand why he even went on a trip with a unicorn in the first place. I also don't understand why he was being chased. I simply didn't understand a whole lot of this book. I have no idea what the next book will hold, but I hope it's less confusing.

Overall, the first book was probably the best and is likely my favorite. However, I'm still withholding judgment because there are two more books in this series. Let's see what happens!

I have a significant issue with this book. However, since it has almost nothing to do with the plot and events, I will save it for the end of this review.

When the story commences, we learn that a crazy South American dictator (this was written in 1979, so dictators were a common occurrence in this region) is menacing the US with a nuclear missile (don't overthink this). Thus, Charles Wallace's mission is to travel back in time and figure out how to resolve this entire mess. He is called to this by Meg's mother-in-law, Mrs. O'Keefe (I TOTALLY KNEW IT!!!), who recites a magical rune that has been in her family for centuries.

When I mention "time travel," I don't mean just two months before; I mean centuries ago. Charles Wallace travels to medieval Wales and North America to follow a magician/prince who fled from Wales to America to escape his evil brother. The brother locates him, and they have an epic confrontation, after which the evil brother flees to South America. Then he travels to Puritan-era NA, 19th-century New England, and Patagonia, all in an effort to solve the whole mess and change Branzillo's ascendency.

Charles is inserted into different people in these various times and must influence the events in their eras. And these events always involve one descendant from the good Welsh prince and a descendant from the evil one. The ultimate objective is to make Branzillo a descendant of the former rather than the latter.

As in the previous novels in this series, one of the main themes is how people can impact the entire world. And even before Charles Wallace begins his journey, we have Mrs. O'Keefe acting on her own to defend the world. It's a very powerful moment because all we've learned from Calvin previously is that she's a lousy mother. In this book, we discover why, and it's heart-wrenching.

The aspect I didn't like about this book was Meg's behavior. In previous books, she was always the heroine (she kicks butt), but now she's married (to Calvin, of course) and heavily pregnant. Naturally, this prevents her from joining her brother in this adventure, and she can only participate through kything, their telepathic-like form of communication. I understand it's because of her pregnancy, but I wished she had been more active instead of transforming into a nurturing mother figure.

Still… Calvin and Meg are a thing. My fangirl heart exploded and died.

Overall, it's a good book, although it doesn't quite reach the same level as the other books. It's still an enjoyable read and very entertaining. And the point about the Welsh settlement in Patagonia was rather cool. I'm not sure if there were settlements like that there, but I do know that some Welsh (and Welsh-descendant) explorers did explore this area. My mother's family is from Wales, and many of her ancestors traveled through the south in the 19th century.

So, here's my big, huge, enormous, great complaint about this book.

There's a moment when the characters mention that Patagonia is warmer than New England, where the Murrys live.

I'm aware that this book is supposed to be fantastical, and the fact that there's no country between Chile and Argentina also indicates a different geography. But the Patagonia I know is closer to the South Pole than to the Equator. So, unless we have upside-down geography (and Brazil is closer to Antarctica), I don't see how this would work.

I'm really sorry to burst the bubble for you, Northern Hemisphere People: there's more to Latin America than just beaches and bananas. There's actually a great deal of variety in climates, vegetations, and cultures. This is what Patagonia looks like in reality.

Totally the place for a daiquiri and beach volleyball, isn't it?

I grew up in a place not too far from the Chilean Patagonia (a little to the North, actually, but the tourist merchandise usually adds the word "Patagonia" to our town's name). You can imagine that reading it was "warmer" than New England made me suspend my suspension of disbelief for a moment. My town is usually very cold, with long winters and lots of rain. Imagine how it is further South.

I'm addressing this here because it's not the first time this has happened. There was a movie with Hilary Swanks a few years ago that started with the caption: "Concepción, Chile". And the city shown had coconut trees and people wearing colorful Hawaiian shirts (the police, for some strange reason, wore blue instead of green). And it was incredibly sunny!

This is how Concepción actually looks like:

When you see the coconuts, please let me know.

My complaint here is directed at how people in other countries don't even bother to research a little about other places, especially when writing about them. Instead of assuming that all South American countries look like Colombia or Brazil (or assuming that those countries look like their fictional versions), try to obtain information. It's not that difficult, really.

And what L'Engle does here is what in my major is called "othering". She's not bothering with us but adds this country and invents a climate that doesn't exist solely because it sounds exotic. And the fact that this is in a series that repeatedly states that everyone is important and matters to the world is just odd.

I won't say anything about the plot of the South American dictator because when this was written (1979), it was kind of the truth. I wonder how Branzillo, Videla, and Pinochet got along, actually.

Incredibly interesting till the end.

This statement holds true for many things in life. It could refer to a captivating book that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. Or perhaps it's a thrilling movie that maintains its excitement throughout.

Even a conversation with a fascinating person can be incredibly interesting till the end. Their unique perspectives and engaging stories draw you in and make you eager to hear more.

Whether it's a form of entertainment or an interaction with someone, the quality of being incredibly interesting till the end is highly desirable. It leaves a lasting impression and makes you want to experience it again.

So, the next time you come across something that is incredibly interesting till the end, cherish the moment and let yourself be fully immersed in it.

It was good, but not as good as the rest of the series.

I absolutely adored "A Wind In The Door" and have fond memories of "A Wrinkle In Time". However, in this one, Charles Wallace and Meg have very little to do with the plot. Meg is just a pregnant woman, and Charles Wallace just rides the unicorn.

I enjoyed Gaudior the most, as I usually do enjoy the fantasy creatures in this series. Unlike in the other books, in this one Charles just goes within the main players and observes. We are never told what he does to change anything. And then in the end, nuclear war had still been threatened, just not by the president of Vespugia?

The only reason Gaudior had come to stop earth from being destroyed was because it would affect his planet, galaxies and galaxies away. So there should have been more of an effect, right?

Overall, the writing itself was okay, but the plot made little sense when put together. It seemed disjointed and lacking in a clear direction. There were elements that were interesting, like Gaudior and the idea of Charles Wallace observing, but it just didn't come together in a satisfying way. I was left feeling a bit disappointed, especially compared to the other books in the series.

Perhaps if the plot had been more developed and the actions of the characters had been more clear, this would have been a better book. As it is, it's an okay read, but not one that I would highly recommend.

L'Engle's Time Quartet seems to lose its cohesion with each successive installment. It's unclear whether this is due to the author's own underdeveloped writing or perhaps the publishing house's overly hands-off and imprudent editing following the huge success of A Wrinkle in Time. Whichever the case may be, the end result is a disappointment. L'Engle has previously demonstrated her ability to produce visionary and engaging writing, and the Wallace family that populates these stories is undeniably charming. So, it begs the question: why such a lackluster and half-baked outcome? It's a mystery that leaves readers feeling a bit let down, especially considering the potential that was present at the outset of this quartet. One can't help but wonder what could have been if more care and attention had been given to the development and editing of these subsequent books.

I nailed it on 4 stars.

This is because, um, I really want to see more of Charles Wallace and Gaudior.

And don't miss this amazing part. In the middle of the journey of this book, you're going to have the wonderful experience of drinking starlights and moonlights.

That's it. Just like me, have a great time, peeps♡. This book offers a unique and enchanting world that draws you in from the start. The characters, especially Charles Wallace and Gaudior, are truly captivating. Their adventures and interactions keep you on the edge of your seat, eager to see what will happen next. The description of drinking starlights and moonlights is just one of the many magical moments in the book that makes it a must-read. So, don't hesitate to pick up this book and embark on a journey full of wonder and excitement.

I am on a mission to read all five of the Wrinkle in Time series books and have just completed A Swiftly Tilting Planet. This science fiction book, in my view, appears to be a blend of Greek Mythology and the Bible, skillfully stitched together by the incredibly talented and imaginative Madeleine L’Engle.

To be honest, this particular installment had not only a plethora of characters but also many characters with similar yet unique names, which made it a bit more perplexing for me. (Did anyone else have the same thought or was it just me?) I mean names like Zillah, Zille, Gwydyr, Branwen, Maddox, Maddoc, Maddog, and even Dutbert Mortmain! One character, Llawcae....I don't know how I noticed, but it is composed of the same letters as Wallace (Charles Wallace), just shuffled around. I wonder if Madeleine did that deliberately? Such things intrigue me.

The story commences on Thanksgiving Day with the Murry family assembled. Meg and Calvin (from the previous books) are now married and Meg is expecting their first child. (Yes, that seemed rather odd to me as well.) But Calvin’s mother, Mrs. O’Keefe, is present and behaving strangely when the president calls Mr. Murray, the scientist, to caution him about the potential destruction of the world. Thus begins the adventure with Charles Wallace to save the world.

He encounters a unicorn and inhabits the bodies (or lives within?) several individuals from past generations in order to discover his “purpose.”

This one was not my favorite so far (with 2 more to go!), and with Meg married and pregnant, I had the impression that perhaps Madeleine L’Engle intended for this book to be the final one in the Wrinkle in Time series. (This is just my opinion; I have no clue.) However, how could I not like a Madeleine L’Engle book? She is so brilliant and seemed to pen books ahead of her time with such concepts that (for me) are sometimes difficult to fathom, but it simply compels me to keep reading the ongoing saga of the Murry’s and the O’Keefe’s.