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Friday 13 February 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.
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Carver, Jeffrey A
(1949-2026) US author who began publishing sf with "... Of No Return" in Fiction Magazine for 1974. His first novel, Seas of Ernathe (1976), which serves as an introduction to the loose Star Rigger sequence of Space Operas, showed early signs of a love of plot and thematic complexity which would take him some time, and several novels, to control. The continuation, Star Rigger's Way (1978), for instance, combines quest ...
Mullen, Thomas
(1974- ) US author whose first novel, The Last Town on Earth (2006), clearly references but does not directly employ sf topoi in its depiction of the fate of a small town on the Pacific Rim which, faced with a dread Pandemic (in this case the "Spanish" flu), totally isolates itself from the rest of the world (see Horror in SF; Keep). An intruding soldier, unconsciously ...
O'Riordan, Robert
(1943- ) Canadian teacher and author whose Cadre sequence of Space Operas comprising Cadre One (1985), Cadre Lucifer (1987) and Cadre Messiah (1988) follows the career of orphaned space cadet Pol Tryees into adventurous adulthood across the Galactic Empire, which he comes to understand and perhaps to rule. [JC]
Elliot, John
(1918-1997) UK author, primarily for television, who collaborated with Fred Hoyle on two serials, A for Andromeda and The Andromeda Breakthrough, and the subsequent novelizations under the same titles (1962 and 1964 respectively). He is not to be confused with the John Elliott (note different spelling) who wrote the anti-Chinese/Soviet political thriller ...
Blumgarten, James
(1920-2005) US screenwriter and author, most notably in the former capacity as the author of scripts for The Stranger (1954-1955) featuring a Mysterious Stranger who suddenly appears in stories when he is desperately needed; of its five episodes, only one apparently survives. The Astronaut (1974) comprises a quest in retrospect for the secret behind Tom Beckworth's troubled life and mysterious disappearance in space. [JC]
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 ...