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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 ...
Kirkbride, John
(? - ) UK author, not to be confused with the UK singer-songwriter John Kirkbride (1946- ); his Young Adult novel, Life on Urth (1994), carries its young protagonists to a Parallel World that turns out to be a comic Parody of Earth. Adventures accumulate winningly from this point. [JC]
Beahm, George
(1953- ) US author and photographer who began to publish nonfiction of genre interest with Vaughn Bodē Index (1976 chap) as George W Beahm with Vaughn Bodē, followed by Kirk's Works: An Index of the Art of Tim Kirk (1980) with Tim Kirk. He moved to literary studies with The Stephen King Companion (1989); several further books on Stephen ...
Frewin, Anthony
(1947- ) UK publisher and author, who also worked for five years as an assistant to the film director Stanley Kubrick. His One Hundred Years of Science Fiction Illustration: 1840-1940 (graph 1974) has a well-chosen selection of sf Illustrations, many – unusually – from the nineteenth century, with a full chapter on Albert Robida. [PN]
Invaders from Space
Japanese/US film (1965). Shintoho. Directed by Teruo Ishii. Written by Ichiro Miyagawa. Cast includes Ken Utsui. 77 minutes. Black and white. / This film was compiled from episodes 3 and 4 of the Japanese Super Giant film series (see Tokusatsu): The Mysterious Spacemen's Demonic Castle (1957, 39 minutes, original title Sūpā Jaiantsu – Kaiseijin no Majō) and ...
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 ...