SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Friday 28 August 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 24 August 2026
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Metropolis [2]
Japanese animated film (2001; vt Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis). Based on the Manga by Osamu Tezuka. Madhouse. Directed by Rintaro. Written by Katsuhiro Ōtomo. Voice cast includes Yuka Imoto, Tarô Ishida, Kei Kobayashi, Hiroaki Okada, Junpei Takiguchi and Kōsei Tomita. 108 minutes. Colour. / Duke Red (Ishida), a ...
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
1. US Comic strip conceived by John Flint Dille for the National Newspaper Syndicate Inc., written by Philip Francis Nowlan, based on his novel Armageddon 2419 AD (stories August 1928, March 1929 Amazing; fixup 1962). Buck Rogers appeared first in 1929 in daily newspapers, illustrated by Dick Calkins, and ...
Harrison, Helga
(1923- ) UK author whose sf novel, The Catacombs (1962), depicts with some irony a Ruined Earth Britain, long after a nuclear World War Three, in which "Crishuns", having persuaded themselves that they warrant special attention, await salvation, while dodging the oppressive Communes, which are governed by a garrulously domineering dictator. [JC]
Rotsler Award
Annual juried award for life achievement in Fanzine art, named for William (Bill) Rotsler in his capacity as a much-loved and highly prolific fan artist. Presented since 1998, the award is sponsored by SCIFI, the Southern California Institute for Fan Interests, and is normally announced at the annual Los Angeles Convention Loscon; it currently comes with a $300 honorarium. / The inaugural ...
Total Recall
1. Film (1990). Carolco. Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Written by Ronald Shusett, Dan O'Bannon, Gary Goldman, based on a story by Shusett, O'Bannon, Jon Povill, inspired by "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" (April 1966 F&SF) by Philip K Dick. Cast includes Ronny Cox, Michael Ironside, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone and Rachel Ticotin. 113 minutes, cut to 109 minutes. Colour. / ...
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 ...