An Acceptable Time (Time Quintet #5) by Madeleine L’Engle

"Healers, Druids, Bishops, Teenagers who understand Quantum Mechanics/Time Lapses, Tesseracts. Let it all stew with angsty guilt-ridden YA romance and you have the conclusion to one of the most unique series I’ve ever read.”

⭐

Pros: I did like imagining the woods and surorundings, it had a very New England but eerie, misty Stonehenge vibe//There was a Dog/The connection with the land and the “Presence” was marginally interesting.

Cons: Goodness me, did L’Engle love her Apochrypha/Scripture, it was appreciated in an academic sense but as a storytelling device, it fell flat for me//I felt distant from Polly, the protagonist from the start, she was just kind of there at her grandparents with no explanation. It felt like a failed reboot/This book could've easily ended 100 pages earlier.

Full Review:

Polly, Meg's daughter, is living with her grandparents, the Murray's. She's been sent there since the local educaiton system was lacking and she's inherited her mother's genius so, she's learning more from her former physicist Grandparents then any school could hope to offer. Also she gets to wander the surrounding lands. She sees the Star watching rock, the large black snake, Louise the Larger and also bumps into her grandparents old friends, Dr. Louise and her Brother, the Bishop Colubra.

As random happenstance would have it, Polly and the Bishop have the unique ability to travel back and forth through a time lapse that was opened by the tesser-act (I think, my brain kind of staticked out). Also, Polly's randomly runs into an old school-mate/friend, Zachary. He admits that his heart's bad, that he's dying and he just, he wants her to promise that she'll try and help. Like, no pressure.

It all leads to a ecrebral but literal journey 3,000 years into the past where Zachary, Bishop Colubra and Polly have to help the two tribes across the Lake try to find a way to live in peace.

I think I was hoping for a satisfactory, logical conclusion, or at least, a sense of cohesion to the series, in this book. That's not what I got. Through the series, each Murray child gets to have their own adventure, in a sense. So, I think I was hoping this book would connect all the threads but, I think it was all just lost on me. This was definitely a unique series but I think the first book will always outshine the rest.

Comments

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

“Rick Deckard is a Bounty Hunter who's on the trail of six "Andys" (Androids) who have come to Earth illegally. His job is to track them down and "retire" them. Something he found easy to do until he met her, Rachael Rosen. The Android that does the impossible, passes the "Voight-Kampff" test. The story quickly devolves into a slow, drawn out and frankly boring mystery that was putting me to sleep by the end." ⭐⭐ Pros: I was more interested in comparing it to the film, "Bladerunner."/At first I kind of liked the drab, dreary atmostphere but it soon became soporific. Cons: I had no real idea what was going on with Mercerism/The end there had me blinking in bewilderment, like with Herbert's 29th Dune Book/There was a lot of idle chit-chat while they were in murderous/intense situations, it just seemed odd. Full Review: Rick Deckard, a Bounty Hunter, contracted with the San Francisco Police Department hunts down and retires rogue ...

Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury

"Obviously targeted to writers but honestly, anyone could benefit from Bradbury's practical yet poetic advice, this was a collection of esasys by Bradbury about his writing process and reflections on some of his greatest works." ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pros: Bradbury, duh, though I'm biased, to me, the man's prose is pure poetry, every word beautiful/Since writing is not my career, it was an interesting way to view Bradbury's life. Writing was his job and he was the only income. If he did not produce material, he would not get paid. It help put things into perspective. Cons: The man can go on for a bit 😂/Bradbury's insane work ethic and endless endurance to just produce story after story seems insane and overwhelming but then again, this was his livelihood, so I'm sure it was insane and overwhelming. If he didn't write and get paid, they'd starve, so, it was a life or death situation. Full Review: This was essentially a collection of essays written by Bra...

The Glutton by A. K. Blakemore

"Though dark, disturbing and at times, truly disgusting, Blakemore has created an unforgettable character in Tarare and his sad, sordid tale. This is a book that will stay with me for a long time for many different reasons and to me, that's a sign of a great read." ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐ Pros: Tarare wasn't a monster, it just seemed that the world was against him/I liked Lozeau and his strange band of misfits/Dr. Dupuis seemed like a genuinely good person, or at least, he had his moments. Cons: Some of the timeline/people of the French Revolution were just white noise to me/Courville was a despicable man. Full Review: The Bottomless man, the Glutton of Lyon, Tarare the Terrible. The man who has many titles but who's name is simply, Tarare, is dying in a hospital in Versailles. Citizen Doctor Tissier has written to his friend, Dupuis, in hopes that he'll be able to cure this mysterious illness that plagues Tarare. For now though, he lays, chained to his bed and waits for...

All the Books.

Search This Blog