In this week’s ROCKETEER I’m looking at an obscure science fiction story from 1930 called, “Via the Hewitt Ray” by M. F. Rupert. It’s considered an example of early feminist utopian science fiction. But that’s not the reason I chose it for review. I’m more interested in it as a fine example of 1920’s utopian science fiction that happens to have an nearly all-female cast.
Here are some other things I like about the story.
- The author is a virtual mystery.
- This sentence: “I had dressed myself in my flying togs and strapped a 45 Colt and cartridges around me. A few clean handkerchiefs and a couple of packages of cigarettes completed my personal luggage.”
- And this one: “Oh, you are from the third dimension? I had no idea that the beings of the third dimension had evolved to the point of inter-dimensional travel.”
- And this: “The fifty women surrounding it [the Hewitt Ray machine] were directing great beams of light in all directions, forming a light barrier, which I later learned was able to stop and deflect any destructive beam which might be directed towards the machine.”
The picture it paints is charming and very visual. You can read the review here.
