"The Gathering" is the third volume of a trilogy about time travel that might conveniently be called science fiction but is more accurately described as a poet's flight into the future, in the same vein as Marge Piercy's "Woman on the Edge of Time" though unfortunately not as successful….

In volume one of this series ("Justice and Her Brothers" …) "Ticey," her twin brothers and their friend Dorian discover that they share a telepathic bond and a special mission, which will eventually draw them out of their own time. The scenes where the youngsters first test their extrasensory powers work well, mainly because the author manages to inject a bit of magic into the proceedings. In volume two ["Dustland"] when Tom Douglass wants to demonstrate his telekinetic powers, he does so by summoning up a gigantic astral projection of—what else?—McDonald's golden arches.

Now, having followed Justice and...