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So this really was a case of a book aimed squarely and solely at that one reader in a hundred, and even for that one reader, there was a lot that was challenging between those two covers.

The Justice Trilogy

Arguably the strongest and most successful of the three books was the second in the series, Dustland. The mostly squarely identifiable as science-fiction of the three, it picks up where the first book left off, as Justice wrests control of the group of children and unites their gifts together, with the result that they travel through time and space into a strange post-apocalyptic Earth of the far future. Human beings, as we know them, have long vanished, but their mutated descendants still exist, scraping out a hard-scrabble existence in a radioactive desert.

Here, Justice and her brothers must overcome their powerful sibling rivalries in order to survive, and make it back home.

The Justice Trilogy: Justice and Her Brothers, Dustland, and The Gathering by Virginia Hamilton

In the final book, THe Gathering , the children return to the future, where they befriend a young group of mutants, and help them defend themselves against a powerful and malevolent entity. They eventually find their way to an advanced city, where the meet a robot and a sentient computer, and learn the sacrifice they will have to make in order to heal this damaged future world. Although the series cannot be considered uniformly successful, it is richly and resonantly imaginative, filled with indelible images of striking originality. Like Samuel Delany, and Octavia Butler, fellow members of the very small society of well-known black science fiction authors, Hamilton writes more in a mythopoeic than a technological mode, crafting narratives that humanize technology and bring out the social and interpersonal aspects of her imagined futures.

Like her characters, she was ahead of her time, and this is a work that deserves to be rediscovered.

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Be that one-in-a-hundred and go read it. The final s I had this series checked out as a trilogy on my tablet -- I'm not sure that I would have read all three had I been reading on paper.

The final several chapters seemed like they were written by a different person, but I think the author just wrote them early in the writing process. Early in book three she had to figure out how to "get there. She left three openings, at the end of book 3, for sequels. Jul 23, Gloria Mccracken rated it it was ok.


  1. The Justice Trilogy: Justice and Her Brothers, Dustland, and The Gathering?
  2. Justice and Her Brothers.
  3. Learning to Run in Heels.
  4. A Life of Ones Own.
  5. .
  6. Weathering Evan.

I read this trilogy long ago. I remember being a bit mystified by it then. When it came up as a "deal" on for my Kindle, I thought I'd give it another shot.

Of course it does not help that this Kindle version reversed the order of the first two books "Dustland" first, then "Justice and her Brothers". I remembered enough of the plot that I wasn't overly confused by this, but someone coming to it for the first time might find this even more puzzling than I did reading them I read this trilogy long ago.

I remembered enough of the plot that I wasn't overly confused by this, but someone coming to it for the first time might find this even more puzzling than I did reading them in the right order. Ari rated it liked it May 05, Marci rated it did not like it Apr 12, Brandy rated it really liked it Feb 12, Lynn Calvin rated it it was amazing Feb 07, Jokerfairy Grandduchess rated it it was amazing Jul 28, Corinthia rated it it was amazing Jun 17, Malcolm Vernon marked it as to-read Feb 19, Andreia Ruiz added it May 27, Krista the Krazy Kataloguer marked it as to-read Jul 22, Andreabengtzen marked it as to-read Nov 18, Shannon marked it as to-read Jan 05, Matt marked it as to-read Jun 29, Jaison added it Jul 09, Jen marked it as to-read Aug 01, Sam marked it as to-read Feb 14, Pbj marked it as to-read Feb 24, Kate marked it as to-read Jan 07, Randall marked it as to-read Feb 26, Margaret marked it as to-read Jun 22, Tammie Sadler marked it as to-read Nov 01, Tantara Stevens added it Jan 17, Antony marked it as to-read Jan 17, Dani Pacey marked it as to-read Jan 08, Sandra Pfeifer marked it as to-read Mar 28, Amy marked it as to-read Apr 08, Felicia marked it as to-read May 11, Victoria RedsCat added it May 23, Poole marked it as to-read Jun 18, Khanh marked it as to-read Jul 09, Sarah Jordan added it Sep 16, Anna marked it as to-read Nov 25, Starr marked it as to-read Jan 13, Faith Chapman marked it as to-read Mar 01, Melonie Koenig marked it as to-read Sep 09,