''Anno Domini 2000, or, Woman's Destiny'' (1889) is usually regarded as New Zealand's first

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel. It was written by former

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Sir Julius Vogel. It anticipated a utopian world where women held many positions of authority, and in fact New Zealand became the first country to give women the vote, and from 1998 to 2008 continuously had a female Prime Minister, while for a short period (2005–2006) all five highest government positions (

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Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

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and Chief Justice) were simultaneously held by women.

Plot summary

The novel describes the exploits of Hilda Fitzherbert, a 23-year-old Undersecretary for Home Affairs in a future where the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

has achieved both female suffrage (which New Zealand granted in real life in 1893) and become an Imperial Federation, which also included

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and coastal territories along the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. However, Sir Reginald Paramatta, a villainous Australian republican, has his eyes set on the abduction and wooing of Miss Fitzherbert. Miss Fitzherbert foils the Republican plans and falls in love with Emperor Albert, the dashing young ruler of the Federated British Empire. Unfortunately, their plans hit a snag when the Emperor refuses the hand of the female US president's daughter, which precipitates an Anglo-American war, which the Empire wins, leading to the dissolution of the

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, its reabsorption into the Empire, and the ensuing marriage of Hilda and the Emperor. Several years later, the Emperor and his Empress find that their opinions about male primacy in royal succession have reversed themselves, when faced with a brilliantly competent princess and bookish, scholarly prince as prospective heirs apparent to the throne.

Reception

There are large slabs of intrusive detail about the intricacies of finance and federal imperial politics, and the novel did not sell well initially. It has attracted posthumous recognition for its uncanny representation of New Zealand's female-dominated political, judicial and corporate executive hierarchies in 2000. It was reissued in 2001, and the University of Hawaii Press published its first American edition in 2002. An ebook version was published in 2013 by

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with a retrospective chapter describing the origins of the book and the early newspaper reviews.

Editions

*Sir Julius Vogel: ''Anno Domini 2000 Or A Woman's Destiny'': Auckland: Longman: 1889. *Sir Julius Vogel: ''Anno Domini 2000 Or A Woman's Destiny'': Auckland: Exisle: 2001: *Sir Julius Vogel: ''Anno Domini 2000 Or A Woman's Destiny'': Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press: 2002: *Sir Julius Vogel: ''Anno Domini 2000 Or A Woman's Destiny'': New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
Full text freely available online
*Sir Julius Vogel: ''Anno Domini 2000 Or A Woman's Destiny'': Cambridge, New Zealand: Hurricane Press: 2013: (ebook version with retrospective review) 1889 science fiction novels Novels by Julius Vogel New Zealand science fiction novels Novels set in New Zealand Dystopian novels Fiction set in 2000 19th-century New Zealand novels {{1880s-sf-novel-stub