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Saturday 27 July 2024
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.
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Arthur C Clarke Award
This award has been given since 1987 for the best sf novel whose UK first edition was published during the previous calendar year, and consists of an inscribed bookend and a sum of money from a grant initially donated by Arthur C Clarke. In 2001 the prize money – until then a constant £1000 – was increased to £2001 as a gesture to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); it has since risen by ...
Raiden, Edward
(? - ) US author of The Gogglers: A Political Satire (1967), an sf Satire whose astronaut protagonist, landing on the planet Goggle, finds that the behaviour of its Alien inhabitants has been distorted by the influence of a previous visitor from Earth. The satire focuses on Politics, race (see Race in SF) and women (see ...
Leroux, Gaston
(1868-1927) French author of mystery novels who remains best known for Le Fantôme de l'Opéra (23 September 1909-8 January 1910 Le Gaulois; 1910; trans Alexander Texeira de Mattos as The Phantom of the Opera 1911), a tale of horror filmed in 1925 (re-released with sound 1930), 1943, 1962, 1983 (for television), 1989 and 1990 (for television) and used as the basis for the highly successful 1986 musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber ...
Starship
In sf Terminology, a ship capable of travel between the stars – one of the many sf neologisms which have passed into the language. Various aspects of such ships are discussed under Faster Than Light; Generation Starships; Spaceships; Suspended Animation; World Ships. [PN]
Williams, Francis Howard
(1844-1922) US critic and author whose Atman: The Documents in a Strange Case (1891), though its substance could be deemed occultish, has some interest through its structure. Williams himself appears in the tale as the holder of various documents that demonstrate the Psi Powers of the young woman brought to grief by a Mad Scientist, Professor Perdicaris. Metempsychosis is involved. [JC]
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 ...