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Wednesday 18 February 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 18 February 2026
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Pohle, Robert W, Jr
(1949- ) US author of a Space Opera, Doom of Three Planets (1978), and of a study of the actor Christopher Lee (1922-2015), The Films of Christopher Lee (1983) with Douglas C Hart. The latter is long out of date. [JC]
Kanas, Nick
(? - ) US academic and psychiatrist who has specialized in the psychic disorders of astronauts; author of nonfiction studies on this subject, including Space Psychology and Psychiatry (2003; rev 2010) with, and topics associated with Astronomy, including Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography (2007; rev 2012). Of sf interest are two novels whose didactic intentions are ...
Golding, William
(1911-1993) UK teacher and author, who published a pre-World War Two book of Poems (coll 1934), but remained a provincial schoolmaster until the publication of his first and best-known novel, Lord of the Flies (1954), later filmed twice as Lord of the Flies (1963, 1990). It is the superficially simple story of a group of schoolchildren trapped on an Island when their plane is shot down ...
Leviathan
Film (1989). Gordon Co./Filmauro. Directed by George P Cosmatos. Written by David Peoples and Jeb Stuart, based on a story by Peoples. Cast includes Richard Crenna, Amanda Pays and Peter Weller. 98 minutes. Colour. / One of several undersea-Alien movies of the period, Leviathan most resembles (and improves on) Deepstar Six (1988), especially in the near-identical finale. In this efficiently scary but routine ...
Nader, Ralph
(1934- ) US lawyer and political activist whose campaigns have targeted various issues, with an increasing emphasis on Ecology and Climate Change; he has run for President of the United States four times. Of specific sf interest is "Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!" (2009), an Alternate History tale in which seventeen "super-rich" individuals, starting ...
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 ...