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Tuesday 14 April 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 14 April 2026
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Watson, Ian
(1943-2026) UK teacher and author who lectured in English in Tanzania (1965-1967) and Tokyo (1967-1970) before beginning to publish sf with "Roof Garden Under Saturn" for New Worlds in 1969; he then taught Future Studies for six years at Birmingham Polytechnic, taking there one of the first academic courses in sf in the UK; he became a full-time writer in 1976, publishing around 200 short stories since 1969 at a gradually increasing tempo and with visibly ...
Tushingham, Mark
(1962- ) Canadian environmental policy analyst and author whose Vision of Hell sequence beginning with Hotter Than Hell (2005) sustainedly argues the Near-Future consequences of Climate Change, which include an Invasion of Canada by an America looking for water; in Hell on Earth (2008) those consequences are intensified. The ...
Bird, William Henry Fleming
(1896-1971) UK art lecturer and author, in active service during World War One, who published some magazine sf in the 1950s under his own name, and also as John Toucan and John Eagle. His debut story was "War Potential" (October 1952 Tales of Tomorrow) as by John Toucan, and the first under his own name was "Critical Age" (1953 Futuristic Science Stories #12). Later work was ...
Niswonger, Charles Elliott
(1868-1918) US author of a Lost Race novel set on the Island of Feminine (see Islands), where women are Immortal and men (few in number) are slaves; the ship-wrecked narrator becomes enamoured with the Island's queen, who dies when she requites his love, as immortality and Sex do not mix. The island sinks. [JC]
Orphia
Slavonic science fiction and fantasy magazine published in English by SCC Computer, Sofia, Bulgaria; edited by Atanas Slavov. One issue appeared in February 1990, though it was intended as a monthly. It was printed in a large-Digest format (7.5 x 5.6 in; 192 x 142 mm), 220 pages on coated stock throughout and heavily illustrated, much in colour. Orphia was to be a showcase of sf and fantasy from Slavonic countries, including ...
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 ...