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Friday 11 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 7 September 2026
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Andre-Driussi, Michael
(1962- ) US scholar and author best known for his elucidative bibliographical, lexicographical and archaeological investigations into the decipherment of the more difficult texts of Gene Wolfe. His illuminating guide to Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun sequence in Lexicon Urthus: A Dictionary for the Urth Cycle (1994; exp 2008) – see Checklist below for ancillary pamphlets later integrated into the ...
Startling Stories
1. US Pulp magazine, 99 issues January 1939 to Fall 1955, published by Better Publications January 1939 to Winter 1955, and by Standard Magazines (really the same company) Spring to Fall 1955; edited by Mort Weisinger (January 1939-May 1941), Oscar J Friend (July 1941-Fall 1944), Sam Merwin Jr (Winter 1945-September 1951), Samuel ...
Smith, Stef
(? - ) Scottish playwright, several of whose plays edge into the fantastic, including Human Animals (performed 2016; 2016), where the Ecological crises created by Homo sapiens are seen through an unconcerted but threatening Invasion of urban areas by wildlife. Of more direct sf interest is Girl in the Machine (performed 2017; 2017), in which mandatory ...
Brouwer, Sigmund
(1959- ) Canadian author, mostly of nonfantastic work for Young Adult readers, and of detective fiction, active from around 1985, much of this work being couched to advocate Christian programs for the world. His sf titles, many of which explain issues of science in terms of Religious doctrine, are also numerous, beginning with his first novel, Double Helix (1959), ...
Bisbee, Eugene Shade
(1864-1933) US author whose first work of sf interest is "A Hundred Thousand Dollar Trance" for The Black Cat in 1896, though it is in fact about a hoax involving Hypnotism; The Treasure of the Ice (1898) is a Lost Race tale set at the south pole, where a civilization of waif Greeks has flourished, partly due to Eugenics; there is little argument in ...
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 ...