Ahira's Hangar

One of my favorite (and first) science fiction and fantasy books when I was young was L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time.

I never knew until a few months ago that it was actually the first in a four book series!

So I tracked them down.

Here they are:
A Wrinkle in Time
A Wind in the Door
A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Many Waters

I found Many Waters, which was about the teenaged twins, to be particularly interesting. You get to see Meg and Calvin as adults, and the adventure itself was an interesting one through time... ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
<i>Edited by: Duchess of Malfi at: 9/22/05 11:38 pm
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I am pretty sure that Many Waters comes before A Swiftly Tilting Planet.

In Many Waters, Meg is in college. In A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Meg and Calvin are adults, and I believe the twins are in college.

I found A Swiftly Tilting Planet to be the most fascinating and complex of the Time books. I love the way she shifts back and forth between stories and time frames.

I didn't really care much for A Wind in the Door, though - it just didn't grab me. I think part of it was that I found the plot too unrealistic, from my viewpoint as a biologist.

We (mainly Foamy and I, though Shlomo read some of them) read all of these books, and also L'Engle's intersecting series about The Austins. The Austin series has a separate sequence of event and stories, but some characters move between the series. There are more stories about the Murry family that are not part of the Time Quartet - they take place later chronologically.

Our copy of Many Waters had a genealogy showing how the characters are related and what books they appear in, and I used that as a guide to buy further books of L'Engle's about the Austins and the Murrys. Many are not readily available, and I had to order them.

You can find a complete list of L'Engle's books at her website:

www.madeleinelengle.com/books/ "Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?"<i></i>

I have never heard of the Austins -- what are those books about?

I did not care for A Wind Through the Door as much as the others, either. If that is the one where the kids become tiny, tiny and go into Charles Wallace's cells? It was a lot more of a stretch for me to suspend disbelief in that one. Maybe like you, I have had too many biology classes. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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A self-described L'Engle fan wrote a nice description of the books about the Austins and the Murrys and a bit about how the stories overlap.

You can find it here, on the Amazon website.

I believe there are a couple more books that reviewer doesn't mention because they are geared toward younger readers. "Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?"<i></i>

Thanks MsMary -- and I realized why I got confused about the order -- I read the four books in the wrong order. It's easy to find A Wrinkle of Time by itself, but I did not find it so easy to find the other three books. I eventually found them in a big omnibus edition -- and the publisher does have Many Waters in it as the last book. in the omnibus

When I sat down and looked closer, you were indeed correct -- it was Swiftly Tilting Planet where Meg and Calvin were adults. I think I got confused because I read Many Waters fourth, so bits of the third (to me) book bled over into it.

I will have to sit down and read the four in the correct order one of these days.

Publishers can do odd things with omnibus editions sometimes. My little son has an omnibus of Lewis's Narnia books, and they are the wrong order in that, too. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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Your omnibus must have put the books in order of publication. Even though Many Waters comes 3rd chronologically in the storyline, it was published many years later.

The books and their publication dates:
A Wrinkle in Time, 1962
The Wind in the Door, 1973
Many Waters, 1986
A Swiftly Tilting Planet, 1978
"Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?"<i>Edited by: MsMaryMalone  at: 6/28/05 12:58 pm
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It's been many many years since I read the post-Wrinkle books. I remember thinking they were not nearly as good as Wrinkle, but I don't remember anything specific. Maybe I should read them again. I'll add them to the list. LOL ____________
Highdrake's mastery of spells and sorcery was not much greater than his pupil's, but he had clear in his mind the idea of something very much greater, the wholeness of knowledge. And that made him a mage.<i></i>

In a couple more years your eldest daughter will be old enough for you to read Wrinkle in Time to her, Highdrake.

A great book for children. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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I have read many L'Engle books, as Foamy and I went through a phase during which we bought one after another. My favorites are still A Wrinkle in Time and A Swiftly Tilting Planet, but the others are worth reading, IMO. "Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?"<i></i>

I got a couple of beaten up old used copies of a couple of the Austin books for free. And I loved then when I recently read them!

A RING OF ENDLESS LIGHT by Madeleine L'Engle is a young adult book filled with beauty and wisdom. The Austin family is spending the summer on an island off the coast of New England in the home of the wise and gentle grandfather, who is terminally ill. The young and sensitive poet and heroine of the story, Vicky, is destined to learn about death that summer. What could have been maudlin and depressing is very life affirming and beautiful - as graceful as the leap of a dolphin swimming free in the sea.

TROUBLING A STAR by Madeleine L'Engle is another lovely young adult novel following the life and learning and adventures of the young poet Vicky Austin. In this, Vicky is given the gift of a lifetime - a trip to Antarctica, where she becomes endangered and has to learn a lot about politics and environmentalism.

I enjoyed both those books very much.

Funny there is a topic about re-reads. I forgot about this series, it gets a re-read every once in a while. I loved them as a kid, and I still read them to this day. I think my last re-read was about 2 years ago.