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Friday 4 September 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 31 August 2026
Sponsor of the day: David Cowhig
Murray, Will
Working name of US author William Patrick Murray (1953-2026), who showed an interest throughout his career in Superheroes of the Pulp tradition (on which he was a known authority) such as Doc Savage, about which figure he wrote the nonfiction Secrets of Doc Savage (1981 chap). In this context he had been literary agent for Lester Dent's estate since 1979. ...
Root, Albert
(1891-1990) US poultry farmer and author; his sf novel is Tomorrow's Harvest; or, Death Takes a Holiday (New York: Vantage Press, 1967), described by the author as "God-inspired" (see Religion). [JC/DRL]
Donovan's Brain
Film (1953). Alan Dowling Productions/United Artists. Directed by Felix E Feist. Written by Feist, based on Donovan's Brain (1943) by Curt Siodmak. Cast includes Lew Ayres, Steve Brodie, Gene Evans and Nancy Reagan (then Nancy Davis). 84 minutes. Black and white. / One of three films based on Siodmak's novel of the same name, the others being The Lady and the Monster (1944) and ...
Kon Satoshi
(1963-2010) Japanese Manga artist and Anime director whose brief career produced several landmark works questioning human Perception of reality (see also Metaphysics). Kon became an art assistant to Katsuhiro Ōtomo while still a student at Musashino Arts University, and was acclaimed for his early manga work Toriko ["Captive"] (1984 ...
Arabic SF
There are, of course, many fantastic motifs in medieval Arabic literature, as in the collection of stories of various genres Alf layla wa layla ["One Thousand and One Nights"] (standard text 15th century; trans by Sir Richard Burton as The Arabian Nights, 16vols 1885-1888). In this, the stories of the City of Brass and The Ebony Horse could be regarded as Proto SF. A few Utopias were written, too, including ...
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 ...