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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 ...
Wyman, L P
(1873-1950) US author, mostly of boys' books, including nonfantastic series like The Golden Boys and The Lakewood Boys sequences; he is of sf interest for a late Airplane Boys series, The Hunniwell Boys sequence beginning with The Hunniwell Boys in the Air (1928). Their adventures in an aeroplane powered by electricity are modestly extravagant, and their exploit in The Hunniwell Boys' Nonstop Flight Around the World ...
Ship of Fools
A traditional Fantasy theme dating back to medieval times, in which a ship – the Narrenschiff or Ship of Fools – carries all sorts of persons on an endless voyage in search of Utopia, providing an easily visualizable literal vehicle for allegorical Satire on the follies of humanity, the most famous such vehicle probably being "The Ship of Fools" (before 1500) by Hieronymus Bosch ...
Ritter, Daniel
(1990- ) US engineer, editor and author, son of David Ritter, with whom he is primarily responsible as author and editor of the ongoing Visual History of Science Fiction Fandom sequence beginning with The Visual History of Science Fiction Fandom: Volume One: The 1930s (2020); for further details see the entry on his father. [JC]
Bradfield, Scott
(1955- ) US academic, critic and author, a professor at the University of Connecticut 1989-2008. His first sf story, the orthodox "What Makes a Cage? Jamie Knows" in Protostars (anth 1971) ed David Gerrold, significantly fails to prefigure his mature works, some of the best of the latter appearing in The Secret Life of Houses (coll 1988; exp vt Dream of the Wolf 1990; further exp vt ...
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 ...