Many Waters (1986)

by Madeleine L'Engle

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: The Time Quintet (4)

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▾LibraryThing recommendations

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Same series: The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy (Chronicles of Narnia: Chronological order)
The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander (1966)
Same series: Taran Wanderer, The Black Cauldron (The Chronicles of Prydain)

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Showing 1-5 of 28 (next | show all)

It's been a long time since I read the first three books in this series, so I have relatively vague memories of the various kids. Still, I recalled enough to know that this is the first time the twins Sandy and Denny get to enjoy the spotlight. In this story, the twins are sent back in time to live with Noah and his relatives, pre-ark. It's a pleasant read that nicely straddles both the line between child and adult, and between religious faith and scepticism. It is by nature a religious story, but not so much that it hits you over the head. The twins themselves seem unconvinced by the end of the book.

All in all, a nice read that doesn't so much continue the Murry story's family, as send two of its characters on a tangential adventure. (

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BMorrisAllen | May 14, 2013 |

I preferred it to A Swiftly Tilting Planet quite a lot, maybe not quite as much as A Wrinkle in Time...but close. It was an odd jump backwards in time, but I suppose I should have expected that eh? I read it rather quickly, which is a good sign. But, I started the last book in this series already and it seems a bit log she's flogging the proverbial dead horse at this point. Hopefully my 13 year old niece will enjoy it more, I've been passing them down to her as I finish them. (

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Ameliapei | Apr 18, 2013 |

I've got no memory at all of this, though I could have sworn I read it. I liked seeing Sandy and Dennys away from the rest of the Murry clan, and I really enjoyed what can only be called a Biblically-inspired romp in the desert. I found L'Engle's take on the supernatural beings interesting, and I'd love one of those pocket mammoths.

And yet there wasn't any blood here. No juice. No essence. No matter the faults of the other Murry books, they are juicy and full of life. This one struck me as extraordinarily dry. Also, what's with all the rosy breasts? Every single breast in this book was rosy.

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satyridae | Apr 5, 2013 |

This is one of the few L'Engle novels that I don't love. I think it has to do with my lack of Biblical knowledge ... there are a lot of references in here that I just don't get. Still good though - Sandy and Dennys (the Murray twins) really did need their own story. (

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purplehena | Mar 31, 2013 |

Retelling of the flood from Genesis. Interesting conjecture. (Very good author!) (

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nycnorma | Mar 30, 2013 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Madeleine L'Engle	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Lee, Jody	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Nelson, Cliff	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Sis, Peter	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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Is contained in

The Time Quartet by Madeleine L'Engle

The Time Quintet by Madeleine L'Engle

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Series (with order)

The Time Quintet (4)

Canonical title

Many Waters

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1986

People/Characters

Dennys Murry

Alexander "Sandy" Murry Jr.

Important places

Important events

The Flood

Related movies

Awards and honors

ALA Best Books for Young Adults (1987)

Epigraph

Dedication

For Stephen Roxburgh

First words

A sudden snow shower put an end to hockey practice.

Quotations

Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

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Wikipedia in English (10)

A Wrinkle in Time

Calvin O'Keefe

File:ManyWatersCover400px.jpg

File:ManyWatersCrop.jpg

Madeleine L'Engle

Major characters in the works of Madeleine L'Engle

Many Waters

Meg Murry

Sandy and Dennys Murry

Time Quartet

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Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0440405483, Paperback)

We've all done it. In the frigid depths of winter we've wished we could be magically transported to someplace warm and sunny. But most people don't have genius parents who just happen to be working on a scientific experiment with time travel at the moment of our wish. Sandy and Dennys Murry, the "normal" boys in a family of geniuses, suddenly find themselves trudging through a blazing-hot desert, seeking a far-off oasis for shade. Their desperate wandering brings them face-to-face with history--biblical history. Soon they're feeling right at home with Noah and his family. Even so, the urgent question is, how will Sandy and Dennys get back to their own place and time before the floods--the many waters--come? As they begin to cross the invisible border into adulthood, the twins must confront their ability to resist temptation and embrace integrity.

In Many Waters, Madeleine L'Engle continues the Murry family saga, which includes A Wrinkle in Time; A Wind in the Door; and A Swiftly Tilting Planet, which won the American Book Award. L'Engle's mystical mix of science fiction and fantasy, time and space travel, history, morals, religion, and culture once again urges her many adoring readers to stretch their minds and hearts to understand why the world is the way it is. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter

(retrieved from Amazon Sat, 05 Jan 2013 07:06:06 -0500)

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▾Library descriptions

The fifteen-year-old Murry twins, Sandy and Dennys, are accidentally sent back to a strange Biblical time period, in which mythical beasts roam the desert and a man named Noah is building a boat in preparation for a great flood.

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