fjordic reviewed Many waters by Madeleine L'Engle
Review of 'Many waters' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Slow start, no character development, but it was entertaining.
English language
Published Feb. 5, 1988 by Bantam Books.
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 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 …
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 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.
Slow start, no character development, but it was entertaining.
Wow I was harsh on this book ten years ago, but it kinda deserved it. Sandys and Dennys aren't well-developed characters and don't make good protagonists (honestly they barely added anything to the previous books, and I didn't miss them one bit in the Wrinkle in Time movie). The plot is still pretty much Christian nonsense, although there's a thing about them falling in love with the same girl that's... sort of... weird?
I also can't get over the fact that they come back and then conceal their adventure from their family. WTF.
--- original review below ---
Pointless, boring and kind of inane. Sandy and Dennys are not very good characters, and the plot is a rambling, irritating jumble of nonsense. Reminds me of the worst of the Narnia books.