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Sunday 11 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.
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Edwards, Malcolm
(1949-2026) UK editor, critic and publisher, educated at Cambridge, where he graduated in anthropology. Active in UK sf Fandom in the 1970s and early 1980s, he published the first complete text of James Blish's "The Science in Science Fiction" (May 1951-May 1952 Science Fiction Quarterly) in his Fanzine Quicksilver #2 in 1971; edited the ...
O'Brien, Flann
Pseudonym of Irish author and civil servant Brian O'Nolan or Ó Nualláin (1911-1966), who also wrote – mainly for his 1940-1966 Irish Times newspaper column "Cruiskeen Lawn" ["The Little Overflowing Jug"] – as Myles na Gopaleen ["Myles of the Little Horses" or "Myles of the Ponies"], sometimes rendered Myles na gCopaleen. The Irish Times columns are classics of often fantastic Humour; various selections have been published [see ...
Wells, Hal K
(1899-1979) US author, in active service during World War One, who began to publish work of genre interest with "The Brass Key" in Weird Tales for February 1929. Much of his sf work – like Zehru of Xollar (February 1932 Astounding; 2008 ebook) – was Space Opera for Pulp journals, with a tendency to the lurid. Some of his ...
Farnsworth, Christopher
(1971- ) US screenwriter and author who came to wide notice with the President's Vampire sequence beginning with Blood Oath (2010), which features episodes from the life and work of Nathaniel Cade, a Vampire who, on being captured in 1867, is pardoned by President Ulysses S Grant on condition that he swear to use his powers on behalf of American Presidents from that time onward. The first tale deals with his more or less ...
Meteor
Film (1979). American International Pictures, Meteor Joint Venture, Palladium Productions. Produced by Arnold H Orgolini, Theodore R Parvin (credited as Theodore Parvin), and Run Run Shaw. Directed by Ronald Neame. Written by Edmund H North and Stanley Mann from a story by North. (Partial cast) Cast includes Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Brian Keith, Martin Landeau, Karl Malden and Natalie Wood. 108 ...
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 ...