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Wednesday 20 May 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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Adams, Norman
(1933-2014) US illustrator, active from the early 1950s, often signing his work Adams, which has occasionally led to some confusion with the work of Tom Adams, as both specialized in trompe l'oeil effects, in both cases sometimes startlingly effective. Adams may be best known for his cover for the first edition of Larry Niven's World of Ptavvs; the image itself closely replicates his cover for an 1963 UK reprint, as ...
McDowell, Emmett
(1914-1975) US author who also wrote as Robert E McDowell, beginning his career after service in World War Two with The Happy Castaway (Spring 1945 Planet Stories; 2020 ebook). His work as author in other genres is various; he published several mystery novels, beginning with Switcheroo (1954 dos), none listed here, and as an historian specialized in regional studies of Kentucky. In his sf – ...
Stewart, Fred Mustard
(1932-2007) US author who specialized in psychological Horror novels at the edge of sf and/or fantasy, like The Mephisto Waltz (1969), a story of supernatural Identity Exchange which was filmed as The Mephisto Waltz (1971). Star Child (1974), about an Alien in the Near Future, and ...
Unknown Island
US film (1948) Albert Jay Cohen Productions/Film Classics Inc. Produced by Albert J Cohen. Directed by Jack Bernard. Written by Robert T Shannon, Jack Harvey from an original story by Shannon. Cast includes Richard Denning, Virginia Grey, Barton MacLane and Phillip Reed (as Philip Reed). 76 minutes, cut to 75 minutes. Colour. / Adventurer Ted Osborne (Reed) convinces his fiancée Carole Lane (Grey) to finance a search for a legendary Island in the ...
Bannister, Jo
(1951- ) UK journalist and author, principally of crime fiction, long resident in Northern Ireland. She is of sf interest for her first three novels, all initially published by Robert Hale Limited: The Matrix (1981), a Far-Future Space Opera, and two adventures with a flavour of Planetary Romance: ...
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 ...