Many Waters

The final book of the "Time" quartet, of which I really only loved the first two. Still, this one was entertaining and with a new approach that is, in its way, just as mind-bendingly fantastic as the others.

Twin brothers Sandy and Dennys, who have so far avoided most of the strange adventures that have ensnared their sister and little brother, are finally in for one. Poking around in their mother and father's lab, they decide to inspect one of the ongoing experiments, despite its warning sign. And without further ado, they find themselves in the middle of a desert wasteland.

So begins the proudly "normal", skeptical pair's trip through space-time, into a world that bears a startling resemblence to biblical stories. They will meet none show more other than the family of Noah himself, a tribe of desert dwellers unaware that a flood may soon be upon them. But the humans are not alone; walking this fantastic world are unicorns that can teleport and be ridden only by virgins, miniature mammoths that unerringly find water, vicious manticores that attack without warning, and shapeshifting beings straight from biblical legend: the wise and compassionate seraphim and their crafty cousins the nephilim.

The ties to religion are obviously stronger in this book than in L'Engle's other works, but somehow I didn't mind as I usually do. The characters were interesting, though not all of them were very well fleshed out, and the world itself was masterfully built. Above all, Sandy and Dennys are very different main characters than the open-minded Meg and Charles Wallace, and they're great to get to know; somehow it's even more interesting to watch 15-year-old skeptics deal with the fantastic. show less

Sandy and Dennys have always been the normal, run-of-the-mill ones in the extraodinary Murry family. They garden, make an occasional A in school, and play baseball. Nothing especially interesting has happened to the twins until they accidentally interrupt their father's experiment.
Then the two boys are thrown across time and space. They find themselves alone in the desert, where, if they believe in unicorns, they can find unicorns, and whether they believe or not, mammoths and manticores will find them.
The twins are rescued by Japheth, a man from the nearby oasis, but before he can bring them to safety, Dennys gets lost. Each boy is quickly embroiled in the conflicts of this time and place, whose populations includes winged seraphim, a show more few stray mythic beasts, perilous and beautiful nephilim, and small, long lived humans who consider Sandy and Dennys giants. The boys find they have more to do in the oasis than simply getting themselves home--they have to reunite an estranged father and son, but it won't be easy, especially when the son is named Noah and he's about to start building a boat in the desert. show less

I am realizing that not many readers of the "Time Quintet" read book #4 of the series. I am also now realizing that my mom skipped this book when she got me the series when I was a pre-teen. I loved this series and had no clue til I got older there was a story about the fabulous twins I had a crush on, Sandy and Dennys. I didn't understand why this book was so controversial, til of course I read it. "Many Waters" is probably the most adult book of the series. Taking in the time of Noah (yeah that Noah) you have Sandy and Dennys in the end experiencing first love, and first loss. This book honestly feels really similar in themes to me when compared to "His Dark Materials".

"Many Waters" has teens Sandy and Dennys at home with their show more parents when they go to the lab and mess up an experiment going on. They are both transported back to a different time to an oasis. Long story short, the twins are separated. Sandy ends up with a man named Lamech and then Dennys gets brought to a man named Noah. And the book just follows them as they grow to love the people they are living among for a whole year. And of course they both fall for Noah's daughter named Yalith.

There are a lot of themes with this one. Of course L'Engle focuses on Christianity (we have seraphim's and Nephilim's) and of course faith. You have the bad guys/and the bad women I guess who were quite okay with trying to do what they could to wreck the twins plans to help Noah. And I do think the other books in the series were heavily focused on science/souls/emotions. But this one not so much.

All readers will probably guess how this one ends, but they would be wrong I think. I thought it was an interesting way how L'Engle chose to end this. show less

15-year-old twins Dennys and Sandy accidentally transport themselves from their mother's home laboratory to the days of Noah, just before the flood. The twins are tall for their age, but they're giants compared to the humans of Noah's age. Dennys and Sandy are at first mistaken for the nephilim, the shape-shifting giants who have begun to take human wives. They soon become accustomed to other strange creatures like mammoths and the shape-shifting seraphim. The twins become part of Noah's household and they grow attached to his family, especially his young daughter, Yalith. But what will become of Yalith once the ark is built? They know the story. Only Noah, his three sons, and their wives will be passengers on the ark.

This is the fourth show more book in L'Engle's Time Quartet, but it will stand on its own. Most readers will be familiar with the basic story elements of Noah and the ark. Additional familiarity with Genesis, the patriarchal era, Old Testament theology, and biblical cosmology will add depth to the novel. L'Engle is evidently well-versed in these subjects.

This book is marketed for grade 5 and up/age 10 and up. However, there is an unusual amount of sexual content for a book for middle readers. I'd recommend it for 13 and older. show less

In an off-the-charts brilliant family with the ability to travel back and forth in time and space, Murry twins Sandy and Dennys are usually portrayed as cheerfully pragmatic, conventional boys. They go to school, play sports, try to teach their misfit savant siblings how to fit in with their peers, and they have “the twins’ vegetable garden.”

In Many Waters we meet the brothers on their own terms when, after messing with their parents’ computer, they are transported back to a time just before the Flood. To survive, they have to get back home before the rains start.

This is the most overtly biblical story of the Quintet; characters include Noah, Lamech, some good angels (seraphim), some bad angels (nephilim -anyone remember that show more X-Files episode?), and a scattering of unicorns and other supernatural beings. It’s interesting to read how L’Engle has chosen to portray the young men in terms of their reaction to hardship and their relationships with each other and with the desert beings they meet.

I view Many Waters as an outlier. I’m reasonably sure it’s the only book L’Engle wrote with male protagonists, and a hot desert here on Earth is quite the contrast to the settings of the other books. The only reason the boys are in this predicament is that they played with the computer; they were not overtly called to serve.

Unlike my experience with the first three titles, I am never compelled to revisit this story. I still believe it deserves four stars; I do recognize the beauty of the prose. show less

I read this imaginative tale set during Noah's time during the crazy-busy build up to Christmas. It was right for the level of mental energy I had available. L'Engle's depictions of seraphim and nephilim are thought-provoking, and the characters were likable.

I found myself tossed out of the story from time to time. "Seriously?" I'd think to myself, "She wouldn't... this could go so very badly." Ms. L'Engle drew me back into the story each time; the risks paid off lovingly, with aching beauty.