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Thursday 11 December 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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Lucas, E V
(1868-1938) UK editor, publisher (chairman of Methuen from 1924) and author who produced a huge number of "weekend" essays and sketches, many of them originally published in Punch over a span of thirty years, and also a number of tamely belletristic travel books. Typically, the Dictionary of National Biography does not refer by name to his early Parodies which, all the same, unlike the bulk of his 180 books (almost none of which are ...
Skrutskie, Emily
(? - ) US author, much of whose work has been Space Opera, including her first series, the Young Adult Abyss sequence beginning with The Abyss Surrounds Us (2016), set in a moderately distant Near Future where the "NeoPacific" houses various Genetically Engineered species. The protagonist represents ...
Ham, Bob
(? - ) US author of the Overload sequence of Post-Holocaust series of Military SF adventures comprising Overload #1: Personal War (1989), Overload #2: The Wrath (1989), Overload #3: Highway Warriors (1989), Overload #4: Tennessee Terror (1989), Overload #5: Atlanta Burn (1990), ...
Shumway, Harry Irving
(1883-1974) US author whose The Wonderful Voyages of Cap'n Pen (coll 1929) comprises a set of tales told within a Club Story setting, and clearly fantasticated. "The Voyage of the Good Ship Luna" ostensibly carries the Captain to the Moon by Rocket, but a misfire may make this outcome doubtful. Most of the tales are nautical. [JC]
Shipway, George
(1908-1982) Indian-born soldier, teacher and author, in the UK from childhood, most of whose works were historical novels. Of sf interest is The Chilian Club: A Diversion (1971; vt The Yellow Room 1971), set in a Near Future Britain threatened by trade unions (see Politics), which are (it is here presumed) run by Communists. A cadre of retired soldiers takes things in hand by eliminating the union leaders; ...
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 reviews on BBC Radio from 1974 and ...