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| Review Summary |
Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quartet is opened by the Newbury Award winning 'A Wrinkle in Time'. 'A Wind In The Door', published in 1973, is the second in the series. The title is a near-quote from Sir Thomas Malory's 'Le Morte d'Arthur'. In this adventure of inner space travel and worlds of virtual reality, Charles Wallace Murry is now six years old, and he is dying of an unknown disease of the mitochondria. (Mitochondria - singular, mitochondrion - being the minute structures carrying the biochemical energy processes of all complex living cells, including human cells. See textbooks for further details.) Meg, his older sister, must save him by completing three tasks to complete his healing - a fight which is but one battle on Earth in the long universal war against the shape-shifting Echthroi. The first task, helped by Calvin her boyfriend and a supportive dragon and snake, is to save her brother's school principal from his lifetime of self-loathing. In the process she deepens her powers of self-control and her understanding of love by loving the unlovely. The second task takes place within the deep structure of a mitochondrion in one of Charles Wallace's bodily cells. Shrunk to a molecular scale, Meg, Calvin, the principal, and the dragon, meleé with the enemy in an exciting battle of mental powers. The third task involves the sad loss of one of the party.
If you enjoy Harry Potter, The Hobbit/LOTR, or The Narnia Chronicles, you will enjoy the Time Quartet. This story takes the series to higher heights and deeper depths, and it is too good to ever be made into a film, so you will have to read it.
Michael JR Jose, Resident Scholar
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The sequel to "A Wrinkle in Time" focuses again on the touching relationship between Meg Murry and her undersized brother, Charles Wallace. Charles' mitochondria, (a theoretical and miniscule part of his immune system) are being attacked by diabolical forces, cleverly named the Greek word Ecthroi. Charles is dying. A cherubim, Meg and others wage a battle that transcends our normal perception of space/time, a battle which shows us how important a single human being can truly be.
Daniel, Resident Scholar
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 30%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%
Tone of book
- sensitive (sigh....)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- fantasy story on current Earth
Inner Struggle
Yes
Plotlet:
- search for identity/new understanding
- coping with mental/magical powers
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Kid's book (ages 7-14)
Religious overtones?
Yes
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- student
Age:
- a teen
Has magical/special powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character:
- mind reading
- mind control
- can read emotions
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- average physique
- healthy but a geeky weakling
Main Adversary
Identity:
- an entire race
- magical being
Profession/status:
- mage/magician
Has magical powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist:
- can change shapes
- fire/thunder/weather cntrl
- mind reading
- mind control
- super strength
- can fly
- teleportation
- Invisibility
- is very quick
Eccentric:
Yes
- deluded
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
- an average amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Intelligence
- Genius (really!)
Setting
Earth setting:
- 20th century
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body:
- inhabited by friendly aliens
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Planet outside solar system?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
scientific jargon? (SF only)
- some scientific explanation
How much dialogue?
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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