A Swiftly Tilting Planet

by Madeleine L'Engle

Book Overview

Book four in Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time Quintet. The Murry and O'Keefe Families enlist the help of the unicorn, Gaudior, to save the world from imminent nuclear war. "An intricately woven... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440401585
• ISBN13: 9780440401582
• Release Date: December 1980
• Publisher: Yearling Books
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.1" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

I read this book in grade school. I thought it was an impressive and complex plot. I really felt it

I have to say, I thought “Wrinkle” was good, and the “Wind” was okay, but this was truly great. Sometimes, I had to look back to check a detail that I had read before, and that was a first for me. It was an intricate plot, at least at my age. I look forward to having a copy again.

Sent the wrong item

I paid for a good/acceptable hardback and was sent a paperback with ineligability to return or exchange. Loved the series as a kid and was looking forward to owning the set in all hardback. Two of the four came in paperback when I paid for hardback.

It's a classic race between goodness and evil

When I was growing up in the 80s, I was always afraid of nuclear war. Watching movies on TV didn't help the fear either ... and this book, L'Engle taps into that fear in all of us. Meg Murry O'Keefe and her family had just sat down to a Thanksgiving dinner when her father gets a phone call from the president of the United States telling him that they are on the brink of nuclear war. Being pregnant, Meg couldn't go on this journey ~~ but her baby brother Charles Wallace and the unicorn, Glaudior went on an adventure racing back in time to find out what had happened to Mad Dog's ancestors ... and perhaps stop the castrophe from happening.It's a wonderful trip down history ~~ one that is just filled with historical notes and tidbits ... and visiting the planet where Glaudior is from ~~ is just pure romantic. This is a book that one couldn't just put down and forget.I highly recommend this book to everyone again ~~ one can never be too tired to sing L'Engle's praises when reading her books. She is an author that every one should read. She writes with such a flair and a talent that it makes you wish you could write like she does ... then again, we wouldn't have L'Engle to entertain us, would we? 1-23-02

Taking a stand against the "powers of darkness"

A lot of the reviews begin with the reviewers' stories of when they first read the book. Like them, I discovered "A Swiftly Tilting Planet" when I was very young, and I still love it. It is the kind of book you can read again and again as you grow up. Each new time it is read it can reveal new layers of meaning. When I first read it, I thought it was just an adventure story with a unicorn (a really great adventure story, of course). Then I began to see how it took a stand for love and against apathy. In the plot, Charles Wallace has to fight the Echthroi (evil forces). Writing this story was Madeleine L'Engle's own way of fighting the Echthroi, which really exist. Through her story, she warns us about not letting the "Might-Have-Been's" haunt us; she asks us to take a stand "in this fateful hour" against the "powers of darkness." If this is too mystical for some of you to stomach, then you probably have not entered this author's world, which, like the Christian world, is teeming with angels and demons. In this world, everyone must choose sides.This is a book that children should have on their bookshelves. It may be a little to heavy for them at first, but as they get older, the layers of meaning will begin to become apparent to them. I have given all my younger cousins copies of Madeleine L'Engle books for their libraries. That is one way I know of teaching them how to care about the past-present-future of the Universe.

Mind-Boggling, I counldn't put it down!

this was a wonderful book i coundn't put it down! I think this is the best in the L'engle series so far. everything thing was so real! i loved ananda and gaudior and the conspect that everything is interconnected with everything else and everything you do affects the future. also i have taken it apon myself to learn the beautiful rune so i end this review with this:In this fateful hour/ All Heaven in its power/ The sun with its brightness/ The snow with its whiteness/ The fire with all the strength it haths/ The lightning in its rapid wrath/ The wind with their swiftness/ The rocks with their steepness/ The earth with its starkness/ All this I place/ By God's almighty help and grace/ Between myself and the powers of darkness/

My favorite book

I read Wrinkle in Time when I was 11 and thought it was the best thing I'd ever read. Wind in the Door and Swiftly Tilting Planet were published when I was an adult. I liked Wind in the Door, but it didn't have the "agic"of Wrinkle. When I picked up Swiftly Tilting Planet, I thought that I would enjoy it, but it wouldn't be up to par with Wrinkle. Boy was I wrong!Planet was the most magnificient book I've ever read. I'm 46 years old and have read thousands of books over my lifetime, including all of Madeleine L'Engle's titles. This story is so inspirational, suspenseful, frightning, heartbreaking and joyful. It's just the best.I use The Rune when I need a little "igher power"in my life as well as traditional prayers. I recommend it to everyone. It may be complicated for some children, but Ms. L'Engle doesn't write down for anyone. It can be a joyeous experience for the imaginative child and adult as well.I think I'll sign off and go read it again right now.

This is probably my favorite of all the Time Trilogy books!

After reading A Wrinkle In Time and A Wind In the Door, (both of which are also fantastic) I had to read this one. I was blown away reading this! This IS a complicated book-many times while I was reading I turned back to some of the other parts to understand a bit better. But that was the delightful and interesting part about it! I loved the whole "mad dog" name thing and the way each of the people Charles visited were connected, and yet very different. I disagree with people who talk about how it's bad that Meg is only a pregnant housewife and Calvin is a famous scientist. It says in the later books about Poly (Meg's oldest daughter) that Meg works with mathematics, numbers and all that.I reccomend this to L'Engle or fantasy fans, especially those who've read the first Time Trilogy books. But if you can't handle complicated plots, numerous characters and different settings, wait a few more years to read this so that you can fully appreciate this book!