SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Sunday 12 July 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 7 July 2026
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Mason, Colin
(1926-2020) New Zealand-born Australian journalist, politician – Senator for New South Wales 1977-1987 – and author whose Near Future sf novel, Hostage (23 July-3 August 1973 Melbourne Sun; 1973), sets the beginning of World War Three in Israel and its climax in Australia. The 2030 Spike: Countdown to Global Catastrophe (2003; rev vt ...
Meisch, Patrick
(? - ) US teacher and author whose first novel, Those the Future Left Behind (2021), envisions a Near Future Dystopia where an Overpopulation-crisis has inspired a program in which the young and underprivileged are given decent lives, on condition that they submit to early death. The tale is told by a government enforcer of this compact. [JC]
New Pathways
US Semiprozine, full title New Pathways into Science Fiction and Fantasy, 20 issues, March 1986 to Winter 1992; letter-size format, bimonthly to #6, then quarterly becoming irregular; edited and published by Michael G Adkisson from Plano, Texas, who also provided much of the magazine's artwork for the early issues. Lively, but struggling for readership, New Pathways mixed fiction, features and Comic strips, all at the ...
Pinky & The Brain
US animated tv series (1995-1998). Warner Bros. Animation. Executive producer: Steven Spielberg. Writers include Charles M Howell IV, Tom Sheppard, Wendell Morris, Earl Kress and Jed Spingarn. Directors include Kirk Tingblad, Charles Visser, Nelson Recinos and Russell Calabrese. Voice cast includes Maurice LaMarche and Rob Paulsen. 65 22-minute episodes plus 18 Animaniacs segments and 13 Pinky, Elmyra & The Brain episodes. Colour. / ...
Amazing Engine
Role Playing Game (1993). Tactical Studies Rules (TSR). Designed by David Cook. / One of a range of generic role playing systems intended to compete with GURPS (1986), Amazing Engine had a simple set of core rules, with more detailed setting specific mechanics included in the various worldbooks. The system allowed players to transform a character designed for one setting into an analogous persona ...
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 ...