SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Sunday 13 July 2025
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.
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Mission Mars
Film (1968). Red Ram Productions. Directed by Nicholas Webster. Written by Michael St Clair, based on a story by Aubrey Wisberg. Cast includes Nick Adams, Michael DeBeausset, George De Vries, Heather Hewitt, Bill Kelly and Darren McGavin. 95 minutes. Colour. / Two astronauts – Mike Blaiswick (McGavin) and Duncan (De Vries) – along with geologist Nick Grant (Adams) blast off on America's first flight to Mars, constantly in contact with NASA ...
Antiheroes
Although the name suggests a simple opposition to Heroes, antiheroes are not synonymous with Villains. They range from merely unsympathetic protagonists whose downfall or comeuppance provides satisfaction – typically at slick short story length – to figures of some stature and personal attraction who are dark complements of heroes. Satan is often viewed in genre terms as the antihero counterpart of God (see ...
Independent Games
Independent Games can be defined as games owned by their creators, rather than by a large development or publishing company which exerts some degree of control over the design. Such games are often also published by the individuals who designed them. This definition is difficult to apply precisely; games may be developed and published independently and then rereleased by a major publisher, for example. In practice, however, the distinction between games which are developed independently and ...
Scavenger's Reign
US animated tv series (2023). Titmouse Inc, Green Street Pictures. Created by Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner, based on their animated short Scavengers (2016). Directed by Joseph Bennett, Charles Huettner, Jonathan Djob Nkondo, Diego Porral, Rachel Reid, Christine Jie-Eun Shin and Vincent Tsui. Writers include Joseph Bennett, Sean Buckelew, Charles Huettner and James Merrill. Voice cast includes Sunita Mani, Pollyanna McIntosh, Wunmi Mosaku, Alia Shawkat, Bob ...
Carne-Ross, Joseph
(1846-1911) Scottish physician and author, whose Utopia, Quintura: Its Singular People and Remarkable Customs (1886), applies a Satirical edge clearly influenced by Samuel Butler to his description of an Island governed on classless but Eugenic lines by physicians, who also serve as the culture's police force, applying scientific ...
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 (1966-1967), and later in ...