SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Monday 13 January 2025
Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Fourth Edition. Some sample entries appear below. Click here for the Introduction; here for the masthead; here for 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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Joker
Film (2019). Warner Bros Pictures in association with DC Films, Joint Effort, Bron Creative and Village Roadshow Pictures. Directed by Todd Phillips. Written by Phillips and Scott Silver. Cast includes Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Robert De Niro and Joaquin Phoenix. 122 minutes. Colour. / This origin story for Batman's most famous nemesis (see Villains), which is technically nonfantastic, is included here for ...
Thompson, Kate
(1956- ) UK-born author, daughter of E P Thompson, in Ireland from 1981, mostly of books for younger readers and the Young Adult market. Most of her work is fantasy (a selection only is listed below), but she is of sf interest for the Missing Link sequence comprising The Missing Link (2000; vt Fourth World 2005), Only Human (2001) and Origins ...
Laßwitz, Kurd
(1848-1910) German Kantean philosopher, historian of science, author and short-story author; the German form of his surname, Laßwitz, is usually rendered in English as Lasswitz. He began to publish work of interest with "Bis zum Nullpunkt des Seins" ["To the Zero Point of Existence"] (21-24 May 1871 Schlesische Zeitung); along with a second sf novella, this depiction of life in 2371 was assembled as ...
Schongut, Emanuel
(1936- ) American artist, sometimes credited in error as Emmanuel Schongut. He was educated at New York's Pratt Institute, where he later worked as an instructor, and has applied his skills to diverse artistic endeavours including book covers, children's books, posters, and advertisements. His genre work began in the 1960s, when he painted a number of sf book covers for Doubleday, and later for other publishers. His distinctive style, usually featuring simply drawn human ...
Mellows, Suzanne
(? - ) US author of a tale of sf erotica (see Sex), The Sex-Ray (1973) (see Rays). [JC]
Clute, John
(1940- ) Canadian critic, editor and author, in the UK from 1969; married to Judith Clute from 1964, partner of Elizabeth Hand since 1996. He began to publish work of genre interest with an sf-tinged poem "Carcajou Lament" in Triquarterly for Winter 1960 [ie Autumn 1959]; he began consistently publishing sf reviews in his "New Fiction" column for the Toronto Star (1966-1967), and later in ...