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Wednesday 11 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.
Site updated on 9 February 2026
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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 ...
Wein, Len
(1948-2017) US Comics writer and editor, initially freelancing for DC Comics from 1968 and Marvel Comics from 1970. For DC he co-created Swamp Thing with artist Bernie Wrightson in 1971; after becoming editor-in-chief at Marvel in 1974 he revived that imprint's The X-Men with artist Dave Cockrum in 1975. Later, employed as a DC writer ...
Offin, T W
(1834-1913) UK author of How the Germans Took London: Forewarned, Forearmed (1900 chap), a late contribution to the Battle of Dorking subgenre of Future War tales hinging on the Invasion of an unprepared Britain. Mrs Grundy's Zoo: A Political Play (1908 chap) is a Satirical sketch. [JC]
Wallace, Irving
(1916-1990) US screenwriter and author, active from before World War Two with a series of bestselling novels beginning with The Chapman Report (1961). His first of several works of sf interest is The Three Sirens (1963), a tale with Lost Race implications set in an unknown Polynesian Island whose inhabitants are descendants of an Englishman. His embrace of the mores of those he meets (see ...
Purple Claw, The
US Comic (1953). Minoan Publishing Corp. 3 issues. Artists include Ben Brown and David Gantz. Script writers include Charles Kuhn. 36 pages per issue, with three long strips (all featuring Dr Weir with the Purple Claw), a short text story and 1-2 short strips (some non-fiction). / Dr Jonathan Weir is severely injured when his plane crashes in an African jungle, but is cured by a local witch doctor using the purple claw, which is worn like a gauntlet; his ...
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 ...