A Swiftly Tilting Planet

By: Madeleine L'Engle

Narrated by: Jennifer Ehle

Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

In this companion volume to A Wrinkle In Time (Newbery Award winner) and A Wind In The Door fifteen-year-old Charles Wallace and the unicorn Gaudior undertake a perilous journey through time in a desperate attempt to stop the destruction of the world by the mad dictator Madog Branzillo. They are not alone in their quest. Charles Wallace's sister, Meg - grown and expecting her first child, but still able to enter her brother's thoughts and emotions by "kything" - goes with him in spirit.

But in overcoming the challenges, Charles Wallace must face the ultimate test of his faith and will, as he is sent within four people from another time, there to search for a way to avert the tragedy threatening them all.

©1978 Crosswicks, Ltd (P)2012 Listening Library

Re-experience the magic

I was a precocious reader and wished to re-experience some of my fond childhood places. I found it every bit as charming as I did the first time so many years ago. Still entertaining and still enlightening.

A brilliant story superbly told!

Madeleine L'Engle always inspires me. She brings together science fiction, theology and philosophy in vivid fictional narrative. I have returned to this book often and it never disappoints!

Narration distracts from story

Story doesn't hold up as we'll over time as I expected, but even then, the narration is just not-quite-right throughout the book.

Wonderful story!

Would you listen to A Swiftly Tilting Planet again? Why?

I read this book when I was young so it was a treat to listen to it. Even after all of the years between then and now it remains a wonderful story that is full of hope and promise and some history as well. Madeline L'Engle is a fanstastic story teller.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Swiftly Tilting Planet?

All of it was great, but I particularly liked the parts where Charles Wallace entered into other characters to reveal their stories.

Have you listened to any of Jennifer Ehle???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but I really enjoyed her reading.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I wouldn't say that there was one moment, there were many - most of them dealing with the character of mankind.

Another Great Book

I am a huge fan of Madeline L'Engle's Time Quintet bells and would recommend the whole series to everybody.

Richness, depth, a sense of interconnectedness

I have just finished the first three books in the Time Quintet series. This is by far the deepest and most emotionally rich of the three. There are some cultural problems with the story which grow out of beliefs and biases from the time when the book was written - especially the over-idealization of American Indian culture as innocent and pure, which has a bit of a racist overtone. But aside from a few of these problems, the story is compelling. The book makes you feel the interconnectedness of humanity and it stresses the importance of living to heal the past and the future. Highly recommend.

Good read

Good book. Not as good as the 1st two books but still good. I would recommend it to anyone who is reading the series.

Can’t differentiate the character’s dialogue

When this woman reads this book, she doesn’t change her tone of voice at all and you can’t tell the difference between the character’s dialogue unless you’re reading along. She also doesn’t read sentences or quotes as they should be.

Well Done version of a favourite

Jennifer Ehle does a wonderful job bringing this highly imaginative and heart-warming story to life. All LEngle's books are suitable for all ages, and emphasize personal growth and responsibility while telling an exciting tale.

Intriguing multi-generational story

I feel like Madeline L'Engle is playing mind-games with me. For her third book, she took away everything I love about her previous Time Quintet books. Meg has become ordinary. Gone is her awkwardness and anger. She's dared to grow up and has become acceptably beautiful, blossoming into a perfectly pleasant, evenly-keeled woman. Gone are the unexpected Cherubim, Farandolae and shape-shifting Echthroi, we now have a perfectly ordinary unicorn. But despite taking away what I thought held me enthralled in her books, the subversion of expectation does not ruin the fact that Madeline L'Engle is a great story-teller.

Spinning a multi-generational tale, backed against the words of Patrick's Rune, the story explores a lot of themes which may in a today's context be thought of as "too adult" for children's books. The things that are kept hidden from children so as to preserve their innocence.

I really hope to be able to read this series to my children one day.

Good for those who liked the first

the story is not as challenging, and the performance a bit mannered, but both are charming and worthwhile.

AMAZING!!

I love this story. It is amazing. The history aspect is incredibly detailed. Ananda seems to be a lot more than just a dog

Very good, a little confusing

Very good, lots of similar character names which are probably easier to deal with when seeing them written down.

Not at all like the previous two books

The story is confusing, hopping between the minds of historical characters. Not at all like the previous two books in the series. Some wonderful moments and images.

A poor delivery

I suspect that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I might have done, because Jennifer Ehle's reading was truly awful.