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Saturday 18 May 2024
Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Fourth Edition. Some sample entries appear below. Click here for the Introduction; here for the masthead; here for 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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Corman, Roger
(1926-2024) US film-maker, a number of whose films are sf. Born in Los Angeles, he graduated in engineering from Stanford University in 1947, and spent a period in the US Navy and a term at Oxford University before going to Hollywood, where he began to write screenplays; his first sale was Highway Dragnet (1954), a picture he coproduced. He soon formed his own company and launched his spectacularly low-budget career. From 1956 he was regularly associated with ...
Wiernik, Bertha
(1884-?1951) Lithuanian-born translator, poet, playwright and author, in US from 1887; beginning with her first publications in 1899, she also wrote as by Shulamit. Much of her work appeared in Yiddish publications in America, some of it in conjunction with the work of her brother, Peter Wiernik (1865-1936); after his death she gradually fell silent. Though some of her plays may have elements of Fantastika, most – like Destruction (first performed 30 ...
Fifth Element, The
Film (1997). Gaumont. Directed by Luc Besson. Costumes by Jean-Paul Gaultier. Written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. Cast includes Maïwenn Besco, Ian Holm, Mila Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Chris Tucker and Bruce Willis. 126 minutes. Colour. / 1914. An archaeologist discovers strange hieroglyphs in a hidden Egyptian tomb. Deciphered, they indicate that the Underground chamber has for almost 5000 years concealed a great ...
Cahill, Matt
(1970- ) Canadian film production manager, psychotherapist and author, active in film work from around 2000. He is of sf interest for his first novel, The Society of Experience (2015), whose bereaved protagonist is recruited by the eponymous organization, members of which may claim to be Secret Masters, to undergo an experiment in Time Travel. Interpenetrations of ...
Wright, W George
(? -? ) UK author of fiction for boys, who also wrote as by Howard Grant and Paul Quinton. In The School in the Air: A Splendid Long Complete Story of Schoolboy Fun & Adventure All Over the World (28 October 1922-6 January 1923 Pluck; 1924 chap) and Wings of Adventure: An Exciting Yarn of Schoolboy Travel & Adventure on an Air Trip to Africa (13 January-14 April 1923 Pluck; 1926 chap), both as by Paul Quinton, a ...
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 ...