SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Saturday 14 March 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 March 2026
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Fantastic Voyages
The fantastic voyage is one of the oldest literary forms, the first paradigm instances of its use being the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, from the third millennium BCE, and Homer's Odyssey (circa sixth century BCE); it remains one of the basic frameworks for the casting of literary fantasies. Of the prose forms extant before the development of the form of nonfantastic prose fiction that became identified as the novel in the eighteenth century, the ...
Unreal
Videogame (1998). Epic Games (EG). Designed by Cliff Bleszinski, James Schmalz. Platforms: Win (1998); Mac (1999). / The Unreal series of First Person Shooters is a competitor to Quake (1996) and its various descendants, and has generally shared its rival's philosophy, with similar gameplay and atmosphere. The two series compete not only as game experiences but ...
Donohue, Trevor
(1939- ) Australian author who began to publish work of genre interest in 1981 with "Unnamed" for PM with Paul Collins – with whom he has collaborated on other work as well. Savage Tomorrow (1983), a Post-Holocaust tale set in a raddled world not dissimilar in its trashy exorbitance to that illuminated in the Mad Max films. [JC]
Larson, Majliss
Working name of Marjorie Nelson Perisho (1939-2022) US author of a Tie to the Star Trek universe, Star Trek #26: Pawns and Symbols (1985). [JC]
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Film (1986). Paramount. Directed by Leonard Nimoy. Written by Steve Meerson, Peter Krikes, Harve Bennett, Nicholas Meyer, based on a story by Nimoy and Bennett. Cast includes the lead players from the Star Trek television series, along with Catherine Hicks. 119 minutes. Colour. / Returning to Earth on their captured Klingon spacecraft to stand trial for exceeding orders in various ...
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 ...