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Tuesday 21 July 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 20 July 2026
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Bornefeld, William
(? - ) US author whose sf novel, Time and Light (1996) depicts a Dystopian post-holocaust society in which all visual arts are forbidden, and the population is required to ingest daily a pharmacopoeia of Drugs which combine the effects of Viagra and Prozac and more; the protagonist discovers a horde of forbidden photographs from the twentieth century, which stirs his mind and leads to ...
Science Fantasy
In the Terminology of sf readers, and more especially publishers, this term in its usual sense of something distinct or partly distinct from Science Fiction has never been clearly defined, though Joseph M Crawford, James J Donahue and Donald M Grant, in their "333": A Bibliography of the Science-Fantasy Novel (1953 chap), attempted without much luck to establish it as an ...
Hidrea Spacefolk
Finnish prog-rock or self-described "astrobeat" band, formed in 1999. They have released two albums to date, both of considerable genre interest: Symbiosis (2002) and Balansia (2004). Their accomplished space-rock is largely instrumental and combines melodic guitars, restless synthesizers and repetitive drums into sound-textures with an interstellar travel vibe. [AR] see also: SF Music. /
Downing, Peggy
(1924-2013) US author of books for children and Young Adults, author of the Exitorn Adventures sequence beginning with Brill and the Dragators (1987), which provides a Christian slant on Space Opera for younger readers. Apparent singletons include Help! I'm Drowning! and Other Emergencies (1985) and Help! I'm Shrinking! (1986). [JC]
Griot Galaxy
US jazz band formed in Detroit in 1972 by saxophonist, poet and music theorist Faruq Z Bey (1942-2012), whose birth name was Jesse Davis. Inspired by Sun Ra and The Art Ensemble of Chicago, their African-inspired stage make-up and costumes, as well as the cosmic reach of the music, led to their frequently being billed as "The Sci-Fi Band". They were distinguished from other free jazz outfits by their metrically complex compositions and propulsive rhythmic force. Most ...
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 ...