I was not terribly entertained by these. M.F. Rupert does not read like a woman, what with haring off with a few hankies and several packs of cigarettes, etc. etc. So many male protagonists that it is hardly not a feminine future, just world viewed by females, which sees mostly men in lead rolls.

An anthology of early speculative fiction by women. While this is a public-domain collection, I hadn't encountered any of these stories before, and they're not all easy to find - so this is definitely a worthwhile publication.
Not only interesting for historic value; the vast majority of the selections are highly entertaining.

*** When Time Turned - Ethel Watts Mumford (1901)
An early example (if not the earliest?) of a story where a man purports to experience life lived in reverse.

**** The Painter of Dead Women - Edna W. Underwood (1910)
A vivid tale of a woman who finds herself tricked into the hands of a modern-day Bluebeard. The imagery here is strikingly beautiful, and the threat horrific. Extra points for a self-reliant heroine with a cool head and a quick mind - but an over-simple resolution keeps it from a full five stars.

*** The Automaton Ear (1873) - Florence McLandburgh
A brilliant but eccentric professor has an idea to create a device that will enable the listener to hear all the sounds of the world, by picking up on the faint echoes and waves remaining of the past's noises, both sublime and discordant. Obsession with the device and its use overtakes him, leading to decline... and madness?

**** Ely's Automatic Housemaid (1899) - Elizabeth W. Bellamy
The pitfalls of robotic domestic servants... quite a humorous piece.

*** The Ray of Displacement (1903) - Harriet Prescott Spofford
Likely influenced by H.G. Wells' 'Invisible Man' (1897). The inventor here devises an innovation that not only allows him to pass unseen - it also allows him the ability to pass right through matter. However, when he's jailed after an incident when he accidentally dematerializes an acquaintance's diamond, he refuses to walk through the walls of the jail until his reputation is rehabilitated. However, his stubbornness may have consequences for more than just himself.

*** Those Fatal Filaments (1903) - Mabel Ernestine Abbott
An inventor comes up with a new kind of telephone - one that not only transmits a person's voice, but also their unspoken thoughts. But when he tests the device in his home, he hears things from his family that aren't quite what he expected.
(Yeah, I agree with the author - this is not a device that would be adopted by the general public.)

**** The Third Drug (1908) - Edith Nesbit
When a depressed man fleeing some murderous street thugs ducks into a dark courtyard and slams the door behind him, little does he realize that he may have jumped from the frying pan into the fire. A 'good Samaritan,' his seeming savior, may have an agenda of his own (and quite a horrific agenda it is.) Shades of Frankenstein, here...

** A Divided Republic: An Allegory of the Future (1887) - Lillie Devereux Blake
As a story, this piece of writing is honestly not excellent. However, as an historical document and direct insight into political thoughts at the time of its writing - it's brilliant and hilarious.
Blake was a political activist working for women's suffrage. (I'm in favor.) She was clearly also a member of the Temperance movement. (I'm not in favor.) In this call to activism, the women of the United States take a tip from Lysistrata, and take it one step further. Until women are granted suffrage (and various other political concessions) they all remove themselves to Washington State. Without women, men sink into a disorganized and filthy mess. Meanwhile, women set up a peaceful and Utopian society full of excellent schools, free cultural events, scientific and technical advancement, and reasonable prices! (And all the homes designed by women architects have plenty of closets.)
However, both men and women are a little lonely...
There is definitely some deft skewering of newsworthy figures of the time - some of the references (Henry James, for example) I got, others went right past me.
Obviously, this piece is satirical, but it still depends on one holding the belief that women are inherently peace-loving enlightened beings, the holders of culture - while men are inherently 'low' creatures lacking natural refinements.

**** Via the Hewitt Ray (1930) - M.F. Rupert
This is a thoroughly enjoyable pulp sci-fi tale. You can freely peruse a scanned copy of the whole magazine it was first published in, here: http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=36261 (Everyone should really check out the cool illustration on page 370.)
When her father disappears, a young airline pilot, Lucile, discovers a letter left for her describing how he's used a ray to beam himself into another dimension to find out who's been sending the mysterious messages he's been picking up on his instruments.
Our airline pilot is not inclined toward physics, but luckily she has a close friend, Marion, who's a scientist. Within ten minutes, she's arrived via aircar, and the two women set out to figure things out.
With Marion's expertise, soon Lucile is travelling into another dimension with a copy of her father's ray machine, with the goal of getting him back home.
However, in a strange and alien land, it appears that Lucile and her father may have ended up on opposite sides of an incipient war.
The story is quite silly... but it's also very enjoyable. Reminded me quite a bit of an early Star Trek episode, in some ways...

*** The Great Beast of Kafue (1917) - Clotide Graves
A colonial African hunter tells his young son about his pursuit of a legendary monster, akin to that of Loch Ness.
The writing is high-quality, and the setting comes through with a vivid sense of place (even though I don't believe that the author ever visited Africa). Unfortunately, unpleasant and offensive stereotypes also some through in a couple of places in the story.
Still, the story retains its power as a discussion around the symbolism and significance of the hunt, balanced by an emerging sense of empathy.

**** Friend Island (1917) - Francis Stevens (Gertrude Barrows Bennett)
In a future where women have naturally become the dominant sex, an old salt - a weathered sailor woman - tells the tale of the time she was a castaway on a very, very unusual island.
Let's just say - the dynamic here is pretty far from Robinson Crusoe and Man Friday. Good fun, and a nice illustration of reaping what you sow.

*** The Artificial Man (1929) - Clare Winger Harris
A handsome football jock has always believed that mind and body are inextricably intertwined. His fit and attractive body indicates a fit and intelligent mind. When a double-whammy of terrible accidents destroys that body, his beliefs lead to a terrifying result. (Imagine if The Six Million Dollar Man was a horror story.)
(As an aside... I guess the 'German doctors will do anything' trope existed even before WWII!)

* Creatures of the Light (1930) - Sophie Wenzel Ellis
Sorry, but this one's a flop.
This might be the most unconvincing (and just flat-out wrong) romance ever set to paper. A man is lured in by a hunchbacked German doctor with an aim toward breeding a superior race. (Yes, again with the German doctors - I simply had no idea that this was a popular trope prior to WWII!)
The way the story is constructed; all of the characters' actions were completely unconvincing to me.
The doctor has 'improved' a random woman by use of his Life Ray, intending her to breed with the selected narrator. Upon viewing a photograph of this woman, our narrator falls instantly in love with her, and out of love with his intelligent, but not-beautiful fiancée.
However, a ubermensch created by the doctor's breeding programs also has his eye on the same woman - and will stop at nothing to seize her.
Meanwhile, a super-woman, also a result of the breeding programs, decides that she wants our narrator.
The author posits that "perfection" is unappealing, which is why neither the regular man nor the super-man want the super-woman.
However, the 'improved' woman that everyone's after isn't shown in a very flattering light. The reader fails to understand her appeal.
(We also aren't given any reason as to why she would put up with any of these plans for her, or reciprocate anyone's affection). The off-screen jilted fiancée gets short shrift.

*** The Flying Teuton (1917) - Alice Brown
Written during WWI, the author imagines a future directly after a peace accord has been reached - where a divine curse has been laid upon German naval affairs.
Told from the point of view of an American on a German mercantile vessel en route to New York, we see his confusion and fear as he and the ship he's on encounter what seem to be a series of ghost ships, which refuse to answer their hails - which indeed, seem to pass right through them as if they are nothing but spectral hallucinations.
Some very eerie moments, but I didn't feel that the resolution was as strong as it could've been.

Many thanks to Dover and NetGalley for bringing these almost-forgotten works to my attention. As always my opinions are my own. ( )

http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2015/03/review-of-feminine-future-early-science... ( )