SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Sunday 10 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.
Site updated on 4 May 2026
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Conway, Gerard F
(1952-2026) US author informally known as Gerry Conway who began his career in Comics, writing some non-fantastic scripts for Marvel Comics, and editing the short-lived 1973 weird fiction magazine The Haunt of Horror and writing for the 1973-1975 anthology Comic Worlds Unknown. He also worked extensively for ...
Brereton, Captain F S
(1872-1957) UK soldier and physician, in active service as such during World War One, and children's author on the model of G A Henty (1832-1902), most of both authors' works being historical fictions for boys; the sometimes repeated claim that these two authors were related is false. Brereton usually signed his books as by Captain Brereton, though he was eventually promoted beyond that rank. The Great Aeroplane: A Thrilling Tale of Adventure ...
Chapbook
In the early nineteenth century this term described a pamphlet on any of a wide range of subjects – from sermons to sensational tales, often illustrated with woodcuts – sold not through bookshops but by "chapmen", who hawked their wares. In the later nineteenth century, the term began to acquire a contrived antiquarian air, and was used to designate a small book or pamphlet produced for collectors. Although the fake antiquarianism attached to the term has since faded, chapbooks in ...
Garnett, Richard
(1835-1906) UK librarian and author, Chief Keeper at the British Museum, father of Edward Garnett, grandfather of David Garnett. His The Twilight of the Gods and Other Tales (coll 1888; exp 1903) is a well-known collection of fables and other fantasies, some of which touch on sf themes. [JC]
Psychotic
US Fanzine, edited by Richard E Geis; begun 1953; after 20 issues retitled Science Fiction Review for three issues in 1955; then stopped publishing. Geis resumed it with Psychotic #21 in 1967, then again changed the title to Science Fiction Review from #28. It was by this time printing more serious reviews and Interviews, though its main feature remained Geis's amusing, rambling, ...
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 ...