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Friday 3 April 2026
Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Fourth Edition. Some sample entries appear below. Click here for the Introduction; here for what we mean by Science Fiction; here for the masthead; here for some Statistics; here for the Acknowledgments; here for the FAQ; here for advice on citations. Find entries via the search box above (more details here) or browse the menu categories in the grey bar at the top of this page.
Site updated on 1 April 2026
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Francis, Richard
(1945- ) UK academic and author, who added to some books an empty middle-initial "H" to distinguish himself from Dick Francis (1920-2010), the thriller writer. His first novel, Blackpool Vanishes (1979), tells the quirky, extremely English story of what happens when microscopic Aliens kidnap the town of Blackpool. In Whispering Gallery (1984) the Invention of a link between bacteria and ...
Bolivia
Science fiction in Bolivia is permeated with indigenous Myths of Origin (see Mythology) [see also The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below] and references to national culture. The Bolivian sf genre may be divided into two spheres, respectively relating to the Fantasy world and to sf as a genre that seeks to address both the mythical universe and indigenous heritage. / ...
Blanchard, Charles Elton
(1868-1945) US doctor and author whose The Nut Cracker and Other Human Ape Fables (coll 1911) contains at least one Apes as Human tale, and one involving a Lost Race; A New Day Dawns: A Brief History of the Altruistic Era (1930-2162 A. D.), A. E. 200 (1932) is a Utopia in which the humane suasion of science increasingly benefits humanity. Blanchard's ...
Plokta
UK Fanzine (1996-2011). The name is a computer acronym, "Press Lots Of Keys To Abort"; the fanzine, subtitled "The Journal of Superfluous Technology", was edited and published by the "Plokta Cabal" comprising Alison Scott, Steve Davies, Mike Scott alias Dr Plokta, Sue Mason, Giulia de Cesare, Steven Cain and – more recently – Marianne Cain, Jonathan Cain, and Flick Christian. There were 41 issues from May 1996 to April 2011. / Originally A4 format but ...
Greider, George Michael
(1944- ) US author of Forever Man (1995), whose Technothriller elements are soon swamped in speculative forays into territories metaphysical and secular, and by a plot which focuses on a Pariah Elite of Immortals, and upon the deaths they cause. [JC]
Langford, David
(1953- ) UK author, critic, editor, publisher and sf fan, in the latter capacity recipient of 21 Hugo awards for fan writing – some of the best of his several hundred pieces are assembled as Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man (coll 1992 chap US; much exp vt The Silence of the Langford 1996; exp 2015 ebook) as Dave Langford, edited by Ben Yalow – plus five Best Fanzine Hugos ...