A Swiftly Tilting Planet
First edition cover
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| Author | Madeleine L'Engle |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Leo and Diane Dillon (first ed.) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Time Quintet |
| Genre | Young adult, Science fiction |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
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Publication date
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July 1, 1978 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 304 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 167766231 |
| Preceded by | A Wind in the Door |
| Followed by | Many Waters |
A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978) is a science fiction novel by Madeleine L'Engle and illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon, the third book in the Time Quintet.
The book's title is an allusion to the poem "Morning Song of Senlin" by Conrad Aiken.
The book opens on Thanksgiving evening, 10 years after the events of A Wind in the Door. Meg is now married to Calvin and is expecting their first child. Calvin has become a scientist and is in Britain at a conference; and Meg's family is joined for Thanksgiving dinner by Calvin's mother, Branwen Maddox O'Keefe. When they receive the news of impending nuclear war caused by the dictator "Mad Dog Branzillo", Mrs. O'Keefe lays a charge on Charles of "Patrick's Rune": a rhyming prayer of protection inherited from her Irish grandmother.
Charles Wallace goes to the star-watching rock, a family haunt, where his recitation summons a winged unicorn named Gaudior, who explains to Charles Wallace that he must prevent nuclear war by traveling through time and telepathically merging with people who lived in the locale of the star-watching rock at points in the past. They are threatened along the way by the Echthroi, the antagonists introduced in A Wind in the Door, who now seek to alter history in their favor. Gaudior and Charles Wallace's travels bring them to Harcels, a Native American boy at least 1,000 years in the past; Madoc of Wales, a pre-Columbian trans-oceanic traveler; Brandon Llawcae, a Welsh settler in puritan times; Mrs. O'Keefe's brother Chuck Maddox, during their childhood; and Matthew Maddox, a writer during the American Civil War. Throughout their journey, Meg connects with Charles Wallace from home through "kything", the telepathic communication she learned in A Wind in the Door. Gradually, it is revealed that Branzillo is a descendant of Madoc through all Charles' other alter-egos, and of Madoc's treacherous brother Gwydyr; and ultimately, Charles' manipulation of Branzillo's various ancestors, results in the re-union of Madoc's line, and the transformation of the present Branzillo into an advocate of peace, to prevent the war.
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