Many Waters can not quench my thirst for more L'Engle

Many Waters, the fourth book in the Wrinkle in Time series, is more of a companion novel than an actual part of the original trilogy. Devoted readers will no doubt miss Meg and Charles Wallace as this book focuses on the twins--Sandy and Dennys.

During a hard snow, the twins find themselves at home alone and hungry. The sandwiches are the easiest part, but they end up invading their parents' lab to find the cocoa that is usually hidden in there. While in the lab, they jokingly submit a request to their father's computer to take them some place "warm, sparsely populated and low humidity." However, as we remember from "A Wrinkle in Time", Dad's big research is in "Tessering"--the ability to move through time and space.

The next thing our twins know is that they are in a desert on a new, not yet stable, planet. They are met by Japheth who is dowsing for water with his grandfather's mammoth (that appears to be a small dog with a trunk and tusks). Japheth is the youngest son of a prosperous farmer and he tries to get the young men to his oasis before they acquire sunstroke. He has the mammoth summon two unicorns and tries to speed them along, but Dennys faints and phases out with the unicorn.

The world the twins find themselves in is a very confusing place. Lamech, who ends up taking care of Sandy, talks about some strange things "El" has been telling him. Dennys, who ends up with Lamech's son, also hears of talks with "El". A complicating factor is Yalith, Japheth's sister, who has not only both twins nearly in love with her, also has another admirer--Eblis, one of the nephilium. The nephilium, like their relatives the seraphim, are gathered on the earth. However, it is soon learned that the nephilium have reduced powers because they have turned their back on "El" whereas the seraphim have not.

Sandy and Dennys, while trying to hide their feelings from each other over Yalith, bring an end to the estrangement between Lamech and his son, Noah. With that name, most readers will realize that Sandy and Dennys have been transported into the story of Noah's Ark directly from the pages of Genesis.

With their only allies being the seraphim, the twins stay on after Lamech's death and decide to help Noah build the Ark. They are working on a way to get back home. Yalith, Noah's youngest daughter, realizes that "El" did not place her on the ark with her family, is preparing for her own demise while the twins are arguing about taking her with them to the 20th century.

More than just a book, this story gives compelling reasons on why God flooded the world in Noah's day. Most of the people are unkind and even vicious, if only in their disregard. Most of the women have some sort of association with the nephilium who are more concerned with earthly pleasures and tend to treat people like cute little disposable pets.

This story also has deep roots into Genesis and opens up a new interpretation on many passages. As always with L'Engle's work, the underlying theme is good versus evil, but it also says a lot about how we perceive different cultures and how much alike we all are no matter what. This Christmas, my stepdaughter gifted me with the four volume set because she remembered how dog earred the copies were when she read them. I have to admit, that was one of my best Christmas presents. These books can be read and re-read and shared with all members of the family. A delightful bedtime book, the family can gather and read aloud together.