SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Wednesday 15 January 2025
Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Fourth Edition. Some sample entries appear below. Click here for the Introduction; here for the masthead; here for 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 13 January 2025
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Manuel, Fritzie P
(1914-2012) US academic married to her collaborator Frank E Manuel from 1931 until his death. Her work of relevance to this encyclopedia is essentially collaborative: Utopian Thought in the Western World (1979) with Frank E Manuel, an enormous text whose grace and cogency bespeak a close alliance between the two [for details see his entry]. [JC] /
Meretzky, Steve
(1957- ) US Videogame designer (see Game Design), involved in various aspects of computer gaming from the early 1980s. He co-designed The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1984) with Douglas Adams. Solo titles include the Space Opera-flavoured ...
Hodder, Reginald
(1867-1926) New Zealand journalist, later in the UK; author of The Daughter of the Dawn: A Realistic Story of Maori Magic (1903), a Lost Race tale set in the heart of New Zealand, as narrated by a Maori chief; The Vampire (1913) is horror; Ultus, the Man from the Dead (1916), despite its alluring title, is a non-fantastic thriller. [JC]
Liang Qichao
(1873-1929) Chinese historian, author and politician intimately involved with the reform movement of China's late imperial era. A proponent of constitutional monarchy rather than outright revolution, he was inspired by the work of Edward Bellamy and the Japanese author Tetchō Suehiro to frame his ideas in Xin Zhongguo Weilai ji ["An Account of New China's Future"] (1902 Xin Xiaoshuo) ...
Communications
Many aspects of communication in sf are dealt with under separate entries in this volume. The most familiar form of communication is through language, for a discussion of which see Linguistics. For the perennially popular theme of opening communications with unfamiliar aliens, see First Contact; for initially discovering their existence, see SETI. Direct mental communication is discussed under ...
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 ...