The Heads of Cerberus (The Illustrated Original Masters of Modern Dark Fantasy, #11) (Modern Library Torchbearers) (Alternate Universe Novels, #1)

by Francis Stevens

Naomi Alderman (Introduction)

A rediscovered classic of science fiction, set in a dystopian twenty-second-century society where the winner takes all, a precursor to The Hunger Games by one of the genre’s first major female writers—with an introduction by Naomi Alderman, New York Times bestselling author of The Power and Disobedience

Philadelphia, 1918: Three friends—brave, confident Viola Trenmore, clever but shy Robert Drayton, and Viola’s strong and hot-tempered brother, Terry—discover a mysterious powder that transports them two hundred years into the future. The Philadelphia of 2118 is no longer a bustling metropolis but instead a completely isolated city recovering from an unknown disaster. Citizens are issued identification tags instead of having names, and society is split between a wealthy, powerful minority and a downtrodden lower class. The position of supreme authority is held by a woman, and once a year she oversees competitions to the death to determine who rules alongside her. When Viola, Terry, and Robert are forced to take part in these strange and deadly games, it will take their combined wits for them to escape this strange world and return home.

Equal parts adventure and dystopia, The Heads of Cerberus is an unjustly forgotten work of early science fiction written by a trailblazing master of the genre.

Praise for The Heads of Cerberus

“An early-twentieth-century time-travel dystopia whose vision of 2118 resonates eerily with our own century . . . a fast-paced, imaginative yarn.”—Kirkus Reviews

“An intriguing and political time-travel adventure.”—Publishers Weekly

The Modern Library Torchbearers series features women who wrote on their own terms, with boldness, creativity, and a spirit of resistance.

• ISBN10: 1984854208
• ISBN13: 9781984854209
• Publish Date: 21 May 2019 (first published 1 November 1984)
• Publish Status: Inactive
• Out of Print: 22 January 2025
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Modern Library Inc
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 224
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781984854209

Reviews

[readingwithwrin]

This was an interesting classic. I did like it for the most part. But I also found myself getting confused at times with all the changes and different things that were happening depending on where they were.

I do like alternate universe books and this wasn't didn't disappoint. It's interesting to see back before we have more modern forms of alternate universe to what they thought might happen back in the 1900s. This one did go back into time though it seems which I did find interesting since most seem to jump forward and be more futuristic and this one instead went the more strict and older times.

I didn't know as well until I read this book that the author is a woman who was the first major female science fiction writer of America. I wish stuff like that was known more because it is important to see what came before and how woman writers have always been able to create magnificent worlds because they do seem to be overlooked a lot.

See reviews first on my blog