SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Thursday 19 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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Baoh
Japanese Original Video Animation (OVA) (1989). Original title Baō Raihōsha. Based on the Manga by Hirohiko Araki. Pierrot. Directed by Hiroyuki Yokoyama. Written by Kenji Terada. Voice cast includes Noriko Hidaka, Hideyuki Hori, Ichirō Nagai and Yūsaku Yara. 46 minutes. Colour. / Nine-year-old Sumire (Hidaka) has Precognition powers, so has been taken from her orphanage ...
Worth, Nigel
Pseudonym of UK navy officer and author Noel Wright (1890-1975), in active service during World War One, and who reached flag rank in the Royal Navy during World War Two. He is of sf interest for The Arms of Phaedra: A Tale of Wonder and Adventure (1924), a Lost Race tale set in Crete, where ancient Minoans are found to have survived. The Wise Man of Welby (1924) is ...
Morales, Alejandro
(1944- ) US academic and author whose Hispanic background is reflected in the language (Spanish) of some of his earlier fiction, and in the overarching focus of all his work, which is the complex interaction amongst peoples – including Native Americans – in Mexico and the American West. Of sf interest is The Rag Doll Plagues (coll of linked stories 1992), featuring three tales about a doctor and a disease that must be comprehended. The third of ...
Stargate
Film (1994). Le Studio Canal+ (US) Centropolis Film in association with Carolco. Executive producer Mario Kassar. Directed by Roland Emmerich. Written by Dean Devlin & Emmerich. Cast includes Mili Avital, Alexis Cruz, Jaye Davidson, Viveca Lindfors, Kurt Russell and James Spader. 121 minutes. Colour. / Entertaining, spectacular, big-budget ($55 million, 1900 extras) Science-Fantasy epic, designed to appeal to ...
Robots
The word "robot" first appeared in Karel Čapek's play R.U.R. (1920; trans 1923), and is derived from the Czech robota (statute labour), making it clear that Čapek intended his drama to comment on Slavery (see Imperialism), class, race (see Race in SF), and social revolution. What he called robots are artificial human beings of organic ...
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 ...