Mizora (1890) is a novel by Mary E. Bradley Lane. Originally serialized between 1880 and 1881 in the Cincinnati Commercial, the novel was rediscovered a decade later and printed by prominent editor Murat Halstead. While little is known about Lane, she seems to have been a dedicated feminist and a gifted writer who nevertheless, by the time Halstead reached out to republish her work, seemed to want nothing to do with the appearance of Mizora in novel form. Regardless, Mizora remains a pioneering work of feminist utopian science fiction and an early example of the hollow earth subgenre of science fiction and fantasy. “Overhead, clouds of the most gorgeous hues, like precious gems converted into vapor, floated in a sky of the serenest azure. The languorous atmosphere, the beauty of the heavens, the inviting shores, produced in me a feeling of contentment not easily described. To add to my senses another enjoyment, my ears were greeted with sounds of sweet music, in which I detected the mingling of human voices.” Princess Vera Zarovitch has lived a tragic life. Born into wealth, she studied in Paris and gained an understanding of the world beyond Tsarist Russia. Imprisoned for criticizing the state after witnessing her friend’s murder at the hands of Russian soldiers, she escapes with a party of smugglers toward the North Pole. Following a devastating shipwreck, their party takes refuge with the local Eskimo, who care for the captain until his death from exposure. Abandoned by the men tasked with bringing her to safety, Vera is lost in a storm. When she awakens, she finds herself in the underground world of Mizora, where an advanced society of women has eliminated war and poverty altogether. This edition of Mary E. Bradley Lane’s Mizora is a classic of feminist utopian science fiction reimagined for modern readers.
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