Johnson, Owen
The coming of the Amazons by Owen Johnson is a satirical speculative novel written in the early 20th century. It imagines a time‑traveling gentleman thrust into a future matriarchy where science, social engineering, and female power have reordered civilization. Guided—and desired—by a formidable scientist named Acquilla, he discovers a depopulated, tightly regulated world that treats men as ornamental dependents, setting up a sharp comedy of manners and ideas. Expect brisk technological marvels, gender‑war polemics, and a triangle that pits the cool strategist Acquilla against the magnetic diva Dianne, all filtered through the narrator’s wry, old‑world charm.The opening of the novel follows John Bogardus, a 1929 clubman who, after a speculative lunch with biologist Dr. Sachaloff, submits to an experiment in induced catalepsy and refrigeration—and awakens in 2181. Revived by towering, blonde “Amazons” on an aerodrome three miles above a rebuilt Manhattan, he is claimed by Acquilla, who ushers him through a world of silent aircraft, weather control, machinot servants, immersive home theatres, and thermostatic baths. Over dinner and demonstrations, she explains that male civilization destroyed itself in colossal wars, after which a matriarchal order depopulated and reorganized the planet, disenfranchising men and regulating birth. Bogardus is shocked to find laughter absent, cuisine perfected, and theatres replaced by lifelike transmissions; he falls for the soprano Dianne after…
These books are free to read. Each is in the public domain in the United States; check your own country's rules before you copy or share one.
