The Time Quintet by Madeleine L'Engle--Starting February 9th with A Wind in the Door

[Natalie]

Chapter 1 (view spoiler)[
We seem to have gone a bit backwards in the timeline. Meg is currently at university and Sandy and Dennys (who seem to be the protagonists of this one) are definitely not in university yet, like they were in the last book. Plus, Charles Wallace is described as not looking any older than six - whereas in the last novel he was 15.
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And after tinkering with something they shouldn't've (don't all teenagers do that? :P) they've ended up travelling through time and/or space, to what is either a far off planet, or Earth but many years ago. Wonder whether the journey of this novel is some kind of "we must save X" or if it's more "Sandy and Dennys REALLY need to get home" :P (hide spoiler)]

[Dr. Andy]

Natalie wrote: "Chapter 1
We seem to have gone a bit backwards in the timeline. Meg is currently at university and Sandy and Dennys (who seem to be the protagonists of this one) are definitely not in university y..."

I totally didn't realize the age differences between the books omg :O

And it's kind of a mix of both??

[Natalie]

I thought the ages seemed a little weird, after reading the last one ;D Then I realised it was because, despite this being a sequel of the previous, it actually happened BEFORE the third in the series. Super weird o.O

Chapter 3 (view spoiler)[The names of some of these characters seem to be biblical... Aariel, Enoch and Methuselah all sound very familiar. And with the inclusion of both seraphium and nephilim, it definitely COULD be partially biblical in nature...

I mean, this Nephilim seems to be attempting to "tempt" Yalith, and the Seraphim is attempting to present her "straying" with said Nephilim....
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...Wait... are Yalith and the rest of the dwellers "early" humans? It certainly seems that way...
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Poor Dennys ._. Sandy definitely lucked out as far as "hosts" go - He's getting taken care of, but Dennys is being treated like yesterday's trash >.> Hopefully whats-his-name (Yalith's sister) will come to his rescue... and soon? (hide spoiler)]

[Natalie]

Ch5 (view spoiler)[Oh my gawd it’s Noah. As in Noah’s Arc. I KNEW THERE WERE BIBLICAL REFERENCES. I was NOT just seeing things! They referenced Genesis and the Garden of Eden, the names are super biblical sounding and there are references to mammoths, seraphim and nephilim!
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And now we also have a reference to the Tower of Babel.
(hide spoiler)]

[Natalie]

Ch9 (view spoiler)[Really Sandy, you should think more. Tiglah is not genuine at ALL and she is trying to deceive you on behalf of the Nephilim!
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“Too much? How can anything be too much? What is there in life except pleasure, and the more the better! How can you talk of too much?”
Well Tiglah is clearly a hedonist. Maybe that's what the Nephilim has been preying on... those with hedonistic tendencies... making the hedonism more prevalent within the society - and thus leading to the "primitive people" who didn't care about anything or anyone but themselves (and their own pleasure)
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So El (or God) first told Grandfather Lamech about the flood... and the reconciling of Noah and his father appears to have been what prompted El to spare them - at least in this version.
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...Was Sandy just kidnapped by the people that threw Dennys down into the rubbish dump near the beginning of the novel? (hide spoiler)]

[Dr. Andy]

Natalie wrote: "Ch5 [spoilers removed].."

Lol a lot of the references went right over my head O.o

[Dr. Andy]

Natalie wrote: "Ch9 [spoilers removed]..."

(view spoiler)[ Oh man I hated Tiglah with a passion!!! Lol I think I spelled every character's name wrong too except for Sandy (hide spoiler)]

[Natalie]

Completely fair c: I was raised in a Christian household so a lot of this is stuff I learned about as a kid XD;;

[Dr. Andy]

Natalie wrote: "Completely fair c: I was raised in a Christian household so a lot of this is stuff I learned about as a kid XD;;"

My mom was raised Catholic and went to catholic school as a kid and now she doesn't want anything to do with it.

[Natalie]

That does tend to happen, personally I've never really understood Catholicism ._.

[Natalie]

Finished Many Waters! Not a bad ending actually (and a FAR better conclusion than the previous book had!)

I’m pretty happy with it overall actually c:
(view spoiler)[Really enjoyed the throwback to the Enoch thing they mentioned earlier in the novel, and how Yanith was "not" and taken to be with El and that that was why she wasn't mentioned as being present in the Arc once the flooding came.

I'm a little disappointed that Sandy and Dennys weren't there when the family went into the Arc as I would've been interested to see how the author described that scene, but I liked how the Seraphim and unicorns took Sandy and Dennys home. (hide spoiler)]

Going to read The Woman Who Rides Like a Man and then I’ll read the last in the series here XD (I’m having fun alternating honestly :P)

[Dr. Andy]

Natalie wrote: "Finished Many Waters! Not a bad ending actually (and a FAR better conclusion than the previous book had!)

I’m pretty happy with it overall actually c:
Really enjoyed the throwback to the Enoch th..."

Wooo!! I'm so excited to finally finish the Song of the Lioness quartet. I've read the first one many times but never started the others

[Natalie]

I think I MAY have read the entire series as a kid, but I'm actually not sure XD;; I know I loved her books but I also know that my town didn't have the best library so I've probably read random novels all over the place :P

[Natalie]

...and back to reading the rest of this series - and starting An Acceptable Time today/tonight for about a chapter before bed :P
5% (view spoiler)[Okay, already I have to say that I’m not sure how I feel about introducing an entirely new character and having them be the main focus. I want more Charles Wallace, dang it! And I’m not sure I’ll be getting that ;-;

I do find it interesting that Louise the Larger is back though... are they to be the mentor of Polly and Zach? And these Pham stones... they seem to reference the people that Charles Wallace went “within” in book three... the same time and place at least (I think). I’m intrigued and reserving judgement for now :P (hide spoiler)]

[Natalie]

32%
(view spoiler)[I’m not sure what it is about this novel, maybe it’s partially to do with the completely new character but it’s just really hard to get into and super boring and long winded .-.

Haven’t really had a whole lot happen so far, aside from Polly going back and seeing “Annie” 3000 years ago and a LOT of talking between different characters on what seem (to me) to be pretty dull subjects and just more talkingggg.... plus Zach seems a real downer :/

At least Bishop has explained some of the whole time gate thing? ._.

And Polly has now spoken with another from 3000 years ago, who invited her to their Samhain celebration? Eh. Having a bit of difficulty following this - mainly because it’s just so dull in comparison to the others ;-; (hide spoiler)]

[Natalie]

45% (view spoiler)[So that was a massive and long-winded chat over whether or not they should sacrifice Polly to “the mother” in the hopes of rain and a good harvest. (hide spoiler)]

I’m determined to finish this series, but WOW this book is dull ._.

[Natalie]

58% (view spoiler)[some action! It’s a miracle!

I did wonder whether the Bishop has gone back to see Anaral when they couldn’t find him that morning, so it’s nice to see I was correct on that account.

It’s also extremely nice to have something in this novel that isn’t talking... or especially explaining concepts...

Zach seems like a bit of an idiot, so I’m not sure how I feel about him at this time... but the new dog seems nice :|

There’s honestly not really much to comment on aside from YAY ACTION. Even if it was only for a few paragraphs and was pretty much over before it truly started XD hopefully there’ll be some more interesting scenes in the rest of the book? ._. (hide spoiler)]

[Natalie]

73% (view spoiler)[So Zachary has betrayed them all to the “enemy” tribe, and also assisted in the kidnaping of Polly. Really showing what a stand-up guy he is! ._.

If Zachary and Polly end up together I’m going to be really mad. I realise he’s supposedly dying and all but that’s no excuse to betray those that care about you and are trying to help you :/

I’m hoping his being a douche will lead to a good outcome though - maybe the two tribes coming together as one? (hide spoiler)]

[Natalie]

89% (view spoiler)[I thought that Zachary was just an idiot and avoiding reality but he actually knows... he knows that They’re planning to sacrifice her and doesn’t seem to care at all - is completely avoiding any responsibility for it too.

He’s actually willing to have her sacrificed so that he can live, even if he ends up living 3,000 years in the past as a result.

I really hope he gets what’s coming to him (though not death because that would be awkward for Polly and her family...) by the end of this novel :| (hide spoiler)]

[Natalie]

95% (view spoiler)[So Zachary realised his idiocy too late... which turned out not to be too late after all... and is now healed in body if not in spirit.

That’s nice too I guess. But please make him not an ass for the remainder of the novel ._. (hide spoiler)]