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Saturday 12 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 7 September 2026
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Sexton Blake Library
Sexton Blake, a long-running fictional detective sometimes known as the poor man's Sherlock Holmes, shares (though not in his earliest incarnations) several Holmes characteristics including residence in London's Baker Street; his adventures, however, are substantially more melodramatic. Created in "The Missing Millionaire" (December 1893 The Halfpenny Marvel) by Harry Blyth writing as Hal Meredeth, the character developed ...
Mirage Press
US Small Press publishing primarily fantasy-related material and taking its name from Mirage, a successful 1960s Fanzine published by Jack L Chalker. Chalker began issuing books under the Mirage logo in 1961, beginning with his own The New H.P. Lovecraft Bibliography (1961 chap) and including A Figment of a Dream (1962 chap) by David H ...
Bobrov, Gleb
(1964- ) Russian-Ukrainian author, poet, journalist and memoirist, who first found fame with a number of works based on his years serving as a sniper during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Beginning with his magazine story "Chuzhiye Fermopily" ["An Alien Thermopylae"] (2005 Zvezda #12) he began to inject increasing notes of fiction and myth-making, imagining Afghanistan as a precursor to yet more dramatic ...
Return of Sherlock Holmes, The
Made-for-tv film (1987). CBS Entertainment Productions for CBS-TV. Produced by Nick Gillott. Directed by Kevin Connor. Written by Bob Shayne. Based on characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle. Cast includes Margaret Colin, Barry Morse and Michael Pennington. 100 minutes. Colour. / Modern-day private detective Jane Watson (Colin) must sell the UK estate that belonged to her ancestor Dr Watson. On her final visit, a lawyer gives her an old letter ...
Purkey, Ruth Angell
(1926-2011) US playwright, two of whose several dramas are of some sf interest. Hangs Over my Head (first performed 1956; in The Best Short Plays of 1955-56, anth 1956) is set just before an increasingly likely World War Three; a cast rehearsing a play, lacking any script to deal with their private and public dramas, accost a Mysterious Stranger in search of a plot (see Luigi ...
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 ...