SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Saturday 15 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 10 August 2026
Sponsor of the day: David Cowhig
Crowley, John
(1942-2026) US teacher and author who also worked in documentary films and television for some time beginning in 1966. His sf novels have had a considerable impact on the field, and his fantasies established him as a figure whose work courteously but deeply stretched the boundaries of genre literature. / His first novel, The Deep (1975), is set on a flat discworld resting on a pillar that extends beyond measurement into the circumambient galactic Deep, in which very few stars ...
Ekpeki, Oghenechovwe Donald
(? - ) Nigerian editor and author who has also punctuated his name as Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald; he began to publish work of genre interest with "The Witching Hour" in Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Stories for 23 April 2018. Most of his work can be understood as Horror, though it is clear that some traditional generic distinctions are "sorted" very differently in the Afrofuturism to ...
Spotswood, Christopher
(1813-1890) Indian-born author, in Australia from before 1848; the protagonist of his only known publication, Voyage of Will Rogers to the South Pole (1888 chap), while whaling in the South Seas, is dragged by a whale even farther southwards, into the heart of the Antarctic, where the climate is mild, and a Lost Race inhabits the fertile land of Bencolo. With no issues of scarcity to "civilize" them, they have created a mild-mannered ...
Manhunter
Videogame series (from 1988). Evryware. Designed by Dave Murry, Barry Murry, Dee Dee Murry. / The Manhunter games incorporate the reflex-based gameplay of two-dimensional action games into the puzzle narratives of graphical Adventures, an unusual (and ultimately unsuccessful) combination. There is typically little overlap between the group of Videogame-players who appreciate intense, ...
Barnwell, William
(1943- ) US author whose most interesting foray into the sf/fantasy genre was his well-written Blessing Trilogy, consisting of The Blessing Papers (1980), Imram (1981) and The Sigma Curve (1981). Set in Eire (here called Imram), this complex quest through a Ruined-Earth world, where some sort of grand design by mysterious powers is operating, at first appears lively but conventional ...
Clute, John
(1940- ) Canadian critic, editor and author, in the UK from 1969; married to Judith Clute from 1964, partner of Elizabeth Hand since 1996. He began to publish work of genre interest with an sf-tinged poem "Carcajou Lament" in Triquarterly for Winter 1960 [ie Autumn 1959]; he began consistently publishing sf reviews in his "New Fiction" column for the Toronto Star ...