SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Saturday 22 August 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 17 August 2026
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Crowley, John
(1942-2026) US teacher and author who also worked in documentary films and television for some time beginning in 1966. His sf novels have had a considerable impact on the field, and his fantasies established him as a figure whose work courteously but deeply stretched the boundaries of genre literature. / His first novel, The Deep (1975), is set on a flat discworld (see Flat Earth) resting on a pillar that extends beyond measurement into the ...
Parker, Benson
(? - ) US author of sf interest for The Adventures of Little Fuzzy (1983 chap), notionally with H Beam Piper, a brief (43pp) Children's SF adaptation of Piper's Little Fuzzy (1962). [DRL]
Julian, Harry
Pseudonym of the unidentified author (? -? ), presumably US, of Aliunde; Or, Love Ventures (1877 anonymous; vt Love Ventures: A Novel Within an Affidavit 1888), a Lost Race tale set on a South Pacific Island whose inhabitants clearly descend from a higher state of civilization "from another place". [JC]
UFO
UK tv series (1970-1973). Century 21 Pictures Ltd Production/ITC. Created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill. Executive producer Gerry Anderson. Produced by Reg Hill. Script editor Tony Barwick. Directors included Anderson, David Tomblin, Alan Perry, Dave Lane, Ken Turner. Writers included Barwick and Tomblin. Special effects Derek Meddings. 26 50-minute episodes. Colour. / Before this series the ...
St John, J Allen
Working name of American artist James Allen St John (1872-1957). After a peripatetic upbringing with wealthy parents, St John settled in New York in 1891, received artistic training with the Art Students League, began painting portraits and landscapes for prominent figures in New York society, and briefly taught at the New York School of Art. In 1904 he relocated to his hometown of Chicago, wrote and illustrated one book, The Face in the Pool: A Faerie Tale (1905), and was soon ...
Nicholls, Peter
(1939-2018) Australian editor and author, primarily a critic and historian of sf through his creation and editing of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction [see below]; resident in the UK 1970-1988, in Australia from 1988; worked as an academic in English literature (1962-1968, 1971-1977), scripted television documentaries, was a Harkness Fellow in Film-making (1968-1970) in the USA, worked as a publisher's editor (1982-1983), often broadcast film and book ...