SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Monday 2 November 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 2 November 2026
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Williams, Missouri
(1992- ) UK editor, playwright and author, now in Prague, whose first novel The Doloriad (2022) focuses primarily on a family composed both of survivors of and those born with Mutations after a Near-Future series of planetary Disasters. Incest seems necessary, as they may be the only humans left. But the matriarchal head of the clan sends the protagonist, who was ...
Pakenham, Ivo
(1903-1980) UK interior decorator, antiques dealer and author whose one novel, Fanfaronade (1934), is a tale involving Timeslip from 1928 to France in 1474. The protagonist, who has lost his Memory (see Amnesia), spends some adventurous years in this world, until recovering his memory he awakens again in the contemporary world. [JC]
Clement, Hal
Working name used for his sf by US author Harry Clement Stubbs (1922-2003); he used his full name for science articles, and painted as George Richard. He held degrees in astronomy, chemistry and education, and was long employed as a high-school science teacher. His first books were very well received; he fell out of favour in his middle years, but his last decades saw him enjoy an Indian summer. He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 1998, ...
Littell, Jonathan
(1967- ) US author, raised partly in France (he writes in French and English), resident mostly in Barcelona, Spain. His sf novel, Bad Voltage: A Fantasy in 4/4 (1989), depicts a Cyberpunk Paris with confused verve. The young protagonist (he is Black, though the cover of the first edition depicts him as white) moves from criminal activities Underground to the upper world of the rich, which mirrors ...
Frankenstein
Film (1931). Universal. Directed by James Whale. Written by Garrett Fort, Robert Florey, Francis Edward Faragoh, based on an adaptation by Florey and John L Balderston of the play by Peggy Webling, based in turn on Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818; rev 1831) by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Cast includes Mae Clarke, Colin Clive, Dwight ...
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 ...