SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Thursday 12 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
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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 ...
Lief, Evelyn
(1945- ) US author who began to publish work of genre interest with "The Inspector" in Clarion (anth 1971) edited by Robin Scott Wilson, though she had sold at least one story earlier, and who published several stories in Anthologies in that decade. Her sf novel, The Clone Rebellion (1980), intended as the start of a series, depicts a world where ...
Levin, Adam
(circa 1976- ) US author, active from around 2000, whose first novel, The Instructions (2010), set in a private school for unmanageable children in Chicago, follows its precocious gonzo protagonist through over-the-top disquisitions and – the tale here verges on the fantastic – something like a revolution, with him as Messiah. Bubblegum (2020), is an Alternate History tale set in an ...
Science-Fiction Collector, The
Canadian bibliographical Amateur Magazine (1976-1981), published by James Grant Books, Calgary, to #3, then by Pandora's Books Ltd; edited by J Grant Thiessen. With #9 (June 1980) the journal merged with the fanzine Age of the Unicorn, and was renamed Megavore: The Journal of Popular Fiction, but the title reverted to The Science Fiction Collector (sans hyphen) from issue #14 (30 May 1981). The ...
Pearson's Weekly
UK 16pp tabloid magazine published by C A Pearson Ltd, edited by Peter Keary and others. Weekly, 26 July 1890 to 1 April 1939. Retitled The New Pearson and Today from 17 September 1938, and The New Pearson's Weekly from 26 November 1938. Incorporated into Tit-Bits from 8 April 1939. / Pearson's Weekly was the first magazine C Arthur Pearson set up when he left the employ of George Newnes in 1890 and it was notable for its publicity stunts. Right from the first ...
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 ...