07 September 2017

Review: Gloriana; or, The Revolution of 1900 by Lady Florence Dixie

PDF eBook, 350 pages
Published 1890
Read October 2013
Gloriana; or, The Revolution of 1900
by Lady Florence Dixie

I have to admit that my memory of this novel is vague at the point I write this, over three years after I read it. Published in 1890, it comes at the point where what I call "revolutionary science fiction" was really taking off-- after scattered instances in the 1880s, in 1890-93 there's just this huge outpouring of the stuff, of which Gloriana is one example. In this instance, it's a feminist revolution, starting with suffrage, but ending with all sorts of rights for women that culminate in a 1999 feminist utopia. I remember parts of it being fun, but at 350 pages, there's not enough fun parts compared to the length of the book. Still, there's interesting stuff: a woman who disguises herself as a man to become a Member of Parliament (did this book inspire Una Silberrad?), the customary early feminist tie to eugenics, an army of women marching. I've read better works of proto-science fiction from this time period, but I've read much worse.

No comments:

Post a Comment