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Saturday 5 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
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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. ...
Adaf, Shimon
(1972- ) Israeli editor, musician, poet and author; born to Moroccan immigrant parents, he grew up in Sderot, a poor town situated some five kilometres from Gaza City and populated by mostly Moroccan Jewish immigrants. His childhood experience shapes much of his fiction. / Adaf has won several awards for his Poetry, which is widely translated. He moved to Tel Aviv after his military service, where he became the ...
Stair, Bill
(1938-1991) UK author and screenwriter who was credited as "design and story associate" for John Boorman's Zardoz (1974) and with Boorman co-wrote the novelization Zardoz (1974). [DRL]
Patel, Carrie
(? - ) US games designer and author whose first novel, The Buried Life (2014), set deep Underground underneath a Ruined Earth surface, long after a planetary Disaster; the tale is set in the great City of Recoletta, which has become a centrally-controlled Dystopia, its starkness ...
Arkham Sampler, The
US "little" magazine, review size (9 x 6 in; about 230 x 150 mm), quarterly, eight issues, Winter 1948 to Autumn 1949, published by Arkham House, edited by August Derleth. An offshoot of Arkham House's book-publishing activities, Arkham Sampler was as much a literary review as a fantasy magazine, incorporating both essays and reviews as well as fiction, a small amount of which was reprinted from obscure sources. Amongst ...
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 ...