Third of the Time Quintet. This one actually does a little time traveling, though not by scientific means, but supernatural. The first two books explored space-time and biological science fiction, but this one takes a turn with historical fiction using the fantasy element of a time traveling unicorn. Several years have passed and now the kids are almost entirely grown. Meg is married to Calvin and expecting their first child while the twins are in their later years of college. Charles Wallace is 15 in this book and this is his adventure primarily whereas A Wrinkle In Time and A Wind In The Door focus more on Meg as a main character with her special bond with her youngest brother being a driving factor. In this installment, Charles Wallace utilizes their bond with their telepathic ability that was developed in the previous book. On the threat of a coming nuclear attack from a South American dictatorship, he is chosen by the powers that have always been in this world to travel through time to change an event that would prevent the coming war. While he's traveling with the unicorn, Gaudior, he insist on having Meg's thoughts with him through their ability to kythe. (This way she can go on the adventure too and not compromise herself in her "delicate condition.") With only a 24 hour period to save the world, Charles travels to different times within the confines of where the star-watching rock sits on their property and he lives within people from those time periods - within other young men who were special like him - for as many days or weeks as it takes to find the information that he needs. While he's doing that time passes normally for Meg as she watches along in his mind and helps him to marshal his thoughts and figure out the clues. He unravels a legend of two Welsh brothers that settled in America before Leif Erikson, their evolving relationship with the local natives over the centuries, and how their genealogy has led to the ruthless dictator who is about to perpetrate the nuclear war. The heritage of the brothers also has a direct bearing on, not the Murray family, but the O'Keefe family strangely enough allowing another character to be introduced, Calvin's mother, which adds a level of depth and personal stake in the matter for the familiar characters.
I connected the dots faster than the characters as I watched the names of the family members evolve over the centuries and that's okay because it appeals to my love of language. I lost track of some of the significance of certain people, but I like books that are complex enough that a re-read is necessary to get the full impact. The story doesn't lose track and that's what's important, so at the end there's no confusion. I liked the flow of this one as compared to A Wind In The Door... in fact it almost seems like this one should have that name since the wind is a more prominent feature of the adventure both physically and in reference to the particular Indian tribe within. It's kind of a shame that there was a large gap of years between stories though. Charles Wallace finally does learn a little humility this time out though, which is a continuation of his personality from the first two installments. However, we missed out on Meg's growth. Meg as an adult is still a worry wort, but she's not angry and freaking out all the time like she was as a teenager and it would've been interesting to see that transition take place. But these books aren't centered on character development as much as story. The most compelling characters are the ones that are unique to the book like the Three Ladies of the first book, Proginoskes of the second, and Mrs. O'Keefe in this one. The books are connected by the unique features as well: the relationship between Meg and Charles Wallace connects the first with the second. Their new ability to kythe and the introduction of the Echthroi in the second is the connection to this third. Focusing on the Maddox twins in this book is setting up the next book which will revolve around the Murray twins, Sandy and Dennys. It's an unusual way of linking sequels that you don't see a lot of anymore. It ensures that they all can stand completely independent of each other and I think that's difficult to pull off.
I try to keep my aggravation at political landscaping to a minimum. L'Engle grew up with "duck and cover" and the general malaise of the 70's didn't help anyone at that time feel optimistic about the future, but I still have to note that this book embraces the same sort of self-loathing of humanity and a preoccupation with bad Christians that many classic science fiction novels have in the past which has contributed to the weakening of the American culture and experiment that we're witnessing today and I just wish it wasn't so. But the spirit of the adventure and the smart handling of changing events in time are enough to make me lay these feelings aside and enjoy the book. I think this is my second favorite of the set so far, but I've already started Many Waters and I'm liking it an awful lot as well. We'll see.
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