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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. ...
Moltruhn, Maximilian
Pseudonym of the unidentified UK author (? -? ) of a Future War novella, The Other Side at the Battle of Dorking [for full title see Checklist] (1871 chap), in which a German participant in the Invasion of the UK tells his story; the tale preserves the main thrust of the Battle of Dorking scenario: the defeat of the unready British. [JC]
Leimbach, Marti
(1963- ) US author, almost entirely of nonfantastic novels, often with a focus on Medicine and the complex traumas of illness, with an emphasis on neurological conditions. The best known of these tales are probably Dying Young (1990) and Daniel Isn't Talking (2006); both were filmed. Leimbach is of sf interest for the Near Future Young Adult ...
AVP Alien vs Predator
Film (2004). Twentieth Century Fox presents a Davis Entertainment Company/Brandywine production. Directed by Paul W S Anderson. Written by Anderson, from a screen story by Anderson, Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, based on the Alien (1979) characters created by O'Bannon and Shusett and the Predator (1987) characters created by Jim Thomas and John Thomas. Cast includes Raoul Bova, ...
Comic Inferno
A more or less self-explanatory item of Terminology coined by Kingsley Amis in New Maps of Hell: A Survey of Science Fiction (1960), describing sf which cheerfully extracts Satire or outright black Humour from a scenario rooted in Dystopia. Examples cited by Amis include Anthony Boucher's ...
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 ...