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Wednesday 9 July 2025
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 7 July 2025
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Fies, Brian
(? - ) US cartoonist and author whose Graphic Novel, Whatever Happened to The World of Tomorrow? (graph 2009), dramatizes the American dream of a Technology-led drive towards a Utopian future centred on a continuous move into space. The narrative traces from 1939 on a recognizable sf advocacy of early ...
Wright, Jack
Unidentified author (? -? ), perhaps pseudonymous, of the Scout Patrol Boys sequence, beginning with The Scout Patrol Boys at Circle U Ranch (1933), all four being published the same year. Of most sf interest is the second, The Scout Patrol Boys Exploring in Yucatan (1933), in which the lads discover a Lost Race in the mountainous heart of Mexico. [JC]
Circle, The
Film (2017). Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Likely Story, Playtone. Directed by James Ponsoldt. Written by James Ponsoldt and Dave Eggers, based on Eggers' The Circle (2013). Cast includes Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, John Boyega, Karen Gillan, Ellar Coltrane, Patton Oswalt, Glenne Headly and Bill Paxton. 110 minutes. Colour. / Directionless call centre employee Mae (Watson) secures an interview at the social media company The Circle through the ...
Testament
Film (1983). Entertainment Events/American Playhouse. Directed by Lynne Littman. Written by John Sacret Young, based on "The Last Testament" by Carol Amen (?1934-1987). Cast includes Jane Alexander, Leon Ames, William Devane, Lukas Haas and Ross Harris. 90 minutes. Colour. / We follow the ordinary, loving, quarrelsome life of one family in a small Californian town, Hamlin. Without warning, all US cities are destroyed by nuclear weapons. Hamlin, not far from San Francisco, is spared ...
Bartlett, Landell
(1897-1972) US editor and author, known now mainly for The Vanguard of Venus: Presented with the Compliments of Amazing Stories (1928 chap), a story published as a pamphlet to advertise the magazine: a geologist is abducted Underground by Aliens from Venus, who are about to invade Earth for lebensraum; sure that no one will believe his tale, they release him. A sequel, "Operation Venus" (March 1948 ...
Clute, John
(1940- ) Canadian critic, editor and author, in the UK from 1969; married to Judith Clute from 1964, partner of Elizabeth Hand since 1996. He began to publish work of genre interest with an sf-tinged poem "Carcajou Lament" in Triquarterly for Winter 1960 [ie Autumn 1959]; he began consistently publishing sf reviews in his "New Fiction" column for the Toronto Star (1966-1967), and later in ...