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Friday 2 October 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 28 September 2026
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May, Peter
(1951-2026) Scottish journalist, screenwriter and author, active from around 1970; resident in France from around 2000. During the first twenty-five years of his career as a screenwriter, he was involved in something like 1,000 television productions, all seemingly nonfantastic. He began to publish fiction with The Reporter (1978), which he serialized for the BBC; most of his later novels were crime thrillers, including the China Thrillers beginning with ...
Birds of Prey
US tv series (2002-2003). Warner Brothers Television and DC Entertainment with Tollin/Robbins Productions for the WB Television Network. Based on characters created by Gardner F Fox, Carmine Infantino, Bob Kane, Bob Layton, Paul Levitz, John Ostrander, Jerry Robinson, Jo Staton, others. Producers included Peter Giuliano, Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis. Directors included Jim Charleston, Chris Long, Brian Robbins. Writers ...
Borderlands [game]
Videogame (2009). Gearbox Software (GS). Designed by Matthew Armstrong. Platforms: PS3, Win, XB360 (2009); Mac (2010). / Borderlands is an "action RPG" (see Computer Role Playing Games), much influenced by First Person Shooters but in essence resembling a science-fictional variant of the hack and slash fantasy game Diablo (1997). ...
Ruth, Rod
(1912-1987) Working name of American artist Rodney Ruth. After growing up in a rustic area near Lake Michigan, which inspired a lifelong devotion to nature, Ruth moved to Chicago to receive artistic training at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, the Frederick Mizen School of Arts, and the Institute of Design. Some freelance work eventually led to regular employment as a staff artist for the Chicago-based Ziff-Davis magazines, which included the sf magazines ...
Visiteurs, Les
French film (1993; vt The Visitors). Gaumont. Directed by Jean-Marie Poiré. Written by Jean-Marie Poiré and Christian Clavier. Cast includes Christian Bujeau, Marie-Anne Chazel, Christian Clavier, Valérie Lemercier, Isabelle Nanty and Jean Reno. 107 minutes. Colour. / In 1123, Count Godefroy de Montmirail (Reno) is promised to be married to Frénégonde de Pouilles (Lemercier), a duke's daughter. A witch he has ...
Clute, John
(1940- ) Canadian critic, editor and author, in the UK from 1969; married to Judith Clute from 1964, partner of Elizabeth Hand since 1996. He began to publish work of genre interest with an sf-tinged poem "Carcajou Lament" in Triquarterly for Winter 1960 [ie Autumn 1959]; he began consistently publishing sf reviews in his "New Fiction" column for the Toronto Star ...