SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Thursday 14 May 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 11 May 2026
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Suzuki Kōji
(1957-2026) Japanese author and essayist, largely known in English through the Cinema adaptations of several of his books, the international success of which obscured his wide-ranging domestic output. His horror and Equipoisal fiction proceeded in tandem with a wide array (not listed here) of books on young fatherhood and occasional works on motorcycle travel. He was also the translator of Simon Brett's ...
Wells, Basil
(1912-2003) US author in various genres, including detective stories and Westerns, who began publishing sf with "Rebirth of Man" as Basil E Wells in Super Science Stories for September 1940, and became a frequent contributor to Planet Stories. His generally workmanlike short fiction is assembled in Planets of Adventure (coll 1949) and Doorways to Space (coll ...
Travis, John
(? - ) UK author who began to publish work of genre interest with "The Splintered Forest" in Phantoms for March 1997, assembled with other short fiction in Mostly Monochrome Stories (coll 2009), a title belied by the author's vivid mixing of genres and tonalities (see Horror in SF). He is of sf interest specifically for the patently Equipoisal Benji Spriteman ...
Beyond the Boundaries
UK A4-size quarterly Semiprozine, first issue titled Mab Sêr ["Son of the Stars"]. Published with the support of the Arts Council of Wales; described itself as "A collection of stories, articles, poems and cartoons of science fact and fiction, fantasy and horror"; its bookshop circulation was mainly in the Cardiff area. Twelve issues Autumn 1994 to Summer 1997, first four issues also numbered "Volume 1". Published by the Welsh Speculative Writers' ...
Underwater City, The
Film (1962). Neptune Productions/Columbia Pictures. Directed by Frank McDonald. Produced by Alex Gordon. Written by Gordon, Ruth Alexander and Orville Hampton (credited as Owen Harris). Cast includes Julie Adams, George DeNormand (uncredited), Chet Douglas, William Lundigan, Karen Norris and Cecil Benton Reid. Narrator: Vince Williams (uncredited). 78 minutes. Black and white in theatre prints; colour in television prints. / Dr Junius Halstead (Reid) has a dream of colonizing the ...
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 ...