SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Tuesday 10 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 9 February 2026
Sponsor of the day: Andy Richards of Cold Tonnage Books
Carver, Jeffrey A
(1949-2026) US author who began publishing sf with "... Of No Return" in Fiction Magazine for 1974. His first novel, Seas of Ernathe (1976), which serves as an introduction to the loose Star Rigger sequence of Space Operas, showed early signs of a love of plot and thematic complexity which would take him some time, and several novels, to control. The continuation, Star Rigger's Way (1978), for instance, combines quest ...
Harrison, Eva
(? -? ) UK author whose first book, The Story of a Soul's Unfoldment (1905), describes the author's psychic communication with a Ancient Egyptian Priest. Of some sf interest is Wireless Messages from Other Worlds (1915), which contains a range of "spirit" (hence wireless) messages from other planets of the Solar System, giving details of higher forms of life. ...
Mitchell, Clyde
A Ziff-Davis House Name, 1956-1957, used twice by Robert Silverberg and Randall Garrett in collaboration, twice by Henry Slesar (confirmed by Slesar himself), and once by Harlan Ellison on "The Wife Factory" (November 1957 Fantastic). [PN/MA]
Wirkus, Tim
(? - ) US author, with a PhD in creative writing and literature from the University of South California, whose Mormon upbringing plays a significant part in their work to date. Wirkus's first novel, City of Brick and Shadow (2014), while non-fantastical, draws on the influence of Jorge Luis Borges for a mystery, never resolved, about two hapless, young Mormon missionaries in Brazil who are drawn into a ...
Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Film (1963). Hawk/Columbia. Produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. Written by Kubrick, Terry Southern, Peter George, based on Two Hours to Doom (1958; vt Red Alert) by Peter Bryant (pseudonym of Peter George). Cast includes Sterling Hayden, Slim Pickens, George C Scott, Peter Sellers and Keenan Wynn. 94 minutes. Black and white. / This, the first of ...
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 ...