The Heads of Cerberus (SF) - Francis Stevens ****

This book in the MIT Press 'Radium Age' series somewhat stretches the 'and other stories' label as the title work is a complete novel, followed by a number of stories from Francis Stevens, real name Gertrude Barrows Bennett, written in the first 20 years of the twentieth century. Stevens' writing style is very much of the period at the popular end of the market - think Conan Doyle, for example.

This is a bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing for the series, which is supposed to explore proto-science fiction from the period before the pulp SF magazines, but after pioneers such as Wells and Verne. Although Stevens uses some of the props of science, most of the content would be more accurately described as fantasy (but I'm allowing it to slip in here).

The title novel propels three main characters (two male, one female) into a strange world that acts as a gateway to an alternate future version of Pennsylvania. It's entertainingly done, doubtless with some inspiration from The Time Machine in the socially divided society the travellers experience. However, the mechanism of travel is pure fantasy - no more scientific than the hit on the head used to travel into the past in Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. There might be a brief mention of atoms and frequencies - but used in a meaningless fashion that can't in any way be connected to the magic dust that facilitates their journey. For its age, though, it's very readable still.

Similarly, the first of the short stories, The Curious Experience of Thomas Dunbar, written when Bennett was 17, is an early version of a superhero story - but just as is the case with the comic book superheroes that would follow, a brief mention of a scientific concept is not enough to give any science fiction basis for superpowers. The source of the power here is a new and unknown element that apparently was somehow discovered but can't be again, introduced to the main character in a laboratory accident. But this is no more science than a magical spider bite or the power-giving influence of a yellow sun. This one has less punch than the novel - it doesn't really go anywhere with the super strength, as well as suffering from a touch of period xenophobia.

The rest of the stories are either fantasy or horror, sometimes with a touch of scientific dressing, but based on magic and definitely not SF, even though one has an impressively forward-looking setting of a world where women are in charge. In the end, this arguably isn't too much of a problem given these are still interesting bits of writing of the period from a pioneering female author. But whether the content is a good fit to the series is debatable.

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Review by Brian Clegg - See all Brian's online articles or subscribe to a weekly email free here