Many Waters is the last of Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quartet books to be published and the only one to focus on the Murry twins, Sandy and Dennys. After an accident in their parents' lab, they are transported back to ancient times, where 4-foot-tall humans coexist with mammoths and seraphim. They are saved from certain death in the desert by a young man named Japheth and his family, headed by stern patriarch Noah (yes, that Noah). Stuck in the ancient desert for now, Sandy and Dennys adapt to their harsh environment.For the inhabitants of the oasis, the twins' arrival is just the beginning of many changes. Noah receives messages from the being "El" that troubled times lie ahead, including a great flood. Sandy and Dennys have to find a way back to the present before "many waters" flood the desert.
Tropes contained in this work:
A Man Is Not a Virgin: Actually played straight. Although the twins' virginity turns out to be a good thing, many times, the oasis' inhabitants comment on how it (as evidenced by their ability to be near unicorns) is proof of how young they are; Elisheba saying that they are little more than babies.
Artistic License - Religion: Many of the names used for the wives and women are actually in the Bible... as male names.
In addition, if you add up the Bible chronologies, it becomes clear that, at the time of the Flood, Methuselah was still alive, and Lamech had died five years previously. Given the father-son conflict, this could be justified by Rule of Drama.
Asshole Victim: Given how the people in the oasis act (especially Tiglah's family), it's quite clear we're not meant to feel sorry for them.
Be Careful What You Wish For: The twins command the computer to take them somewhere warm and sparsely populated, thinking of a beach.
The Bible: Of course, the main source of the Flood narrative, but the author uses plenty of quotes from elsewhere in the Bible (such as the Song of Songs quote for the title throughout the story.
Continuity Nod: In the first chapter, we find that Meg did not outgrow her one-sided intellect: being able to discuss advanced scientific material, but seemingly unable to spell very basic words.
A Day in the Limelight: For Sandy and Dennys, who are minor characters in the other three novels.
Dark Is Not Evil: Downplayed with Oholibamah. She's almost certainly the daughter of one of the evil nephilim, and she has black eyes and hair, but she's also extremely kind, gentle, and understanding, perhaps the least ambiguously "Good" of Noah's daughters-in-law.
Empathy Pet: Higgaion. Mammoths in general are very intelligent, kinda like the Bible Times equivalent of Lassie.
Actually, higayyon is the Hebrew word meaning "reason" (modern) and "cogitation" (ancient).
Foregone Conclusion: If you are familiar at all with The Bible, you already know how this goes. The only characters whose fates are left in doubt are Sandy, Dennys, and Yalith.
Good Wings, Evil Wings: The seraphim (good) and the nephilim (evil) all have feathered wings, but the seraphim's wings are all in warm shades ranging from red to gold, whereas the nephilim's wings are colored in cool, dark shades of blue and purple.
Literal Genie: The computer-ish-thing that sends the twins to the desert in the first place. They type in, "Take us someplace warm and sparsely populated."
Love Makes You Evil: Especially if you fall in love with the nephilim. On the other hand...
Love Redeems: Anah is redeemed by marrying Ham; Yalith, who is tempted by Eblis, is saved by her love of the twins and the (platonic) love of Aariel; and Sandy, tempted by Tiglah, is saved, amongst other things, by love of Yalith.
Love Triangle: Sandy/Yalith/Dennys, sort of. The twins both love Yalith, but they don't fight over her and, in the end, neither of them gets her.
Two non-romantic (on one side), but still competitive examples: Ugiel/Mahlah/Alarid and Aariel/Yalith/Eblis.
Not So Different: After being kidnapped by Tiglah's family, Sandy reflects upon the similarity of the people of the oasis to people in modern times, including terrorists who hijack planes and take hostages.
Older Than They Look: People in this era age really slowly. They reach adulthood around 100.
Our Angels Are Different: In contrast to Progo, the seraphim and nephilim are more like what a contemporary audience would think of as angels. The seraphim are basically servants of God on earth and usually have eyes and wings coloured in warm shades of gold or silver, or sky blue. The nephilim, which are implied to be fallen angels, have eyes and wings of darker colors like vivid reds and violets. They are all immortal, and not outright antagonistic with each other, but the nephilim are trapped on earth whereas the seraphim can return to heaven. Also, each one has an animal form he can change into — the seraphim are usually mammals or birds while nephilim take the shapes of worms, snakes, dragons, and other ugly things.
World Half Full: Yes, Humans Are Bastards and always will be, but just as there will always be bad people there will always be a handful of truly good people.
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