SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Wednesday 18 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 16 February 2026
Sponsor of the day: The Telluride Institute
Mountains May Depart
Chinese film (2015). Original title Shānhé Gùrén ["Old Friends Among the Mountains and Rivers"]. Xstream Pictures, Shanghai Film Group, MK2. Written and directed by Jia Zhang-ke. Cast includes Dong Zijian, Liang Jingdong, Zhang Yi and Zhao Tao. 131 minutes. Colour. / A film in three parts, one set in 1999, one in 2014, and one in the Near Future of 2025. In 1999, shopkeeper Shen Tao (Zhao Tao) chooses to marry Jinsheng (Zhang ...
Marvel Super Heroes, The
Animated tv series (1966-1967). Grantray-Lawrence Animation/Krantz Films/Marvel Enterprises. Produced by Steve Krantz and Robert L Lawrence. Syndicated. Directors included Shamus Culhane, Chuck Harrison, Sid Marcus, Jerry Siegel, and Kay Wright. Writers included Jim Carmichael, Don Christensen, Stan Lee, June Patterson, and Jewell Schubel. Based on characters created by Bill Everett, Don Heck, Larry Leiber, Lee, John Romita ...
Cloverfield
Film (2008). Paramount Pictures presents a Bad Robot production. Directed by Matt Reeves. Written by Drew Goddard. Cast includes Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T J Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel and Odette Yustman. 85 minutes. Colour. / Found Footage reveals an enormous Monster terrorizing New York. / Three parts Gojira (1954; vt ...
Duffy, Maureen
(1933- ) UK author several of whose books focus on London, including Capital (1975), a complex set of era-switching meditations – including a Neanderthal man's thoughts about the future – on the deep mythos of the city. The novel influenced (as he has acknowledged clearly) Michael Moorcock's Mother London (1988), and similar later works by Iain ...
Impostor
Film (2001). Dimension Films presents a Marty Katz production in association with Mojo Films. Directed by Gary Fleder. Adaptation by Scott Rosenberg, based on "Imposter" (June 1953 Astounding) by Philip K Dick; screenplay by Caroline Case and Ehren Kruger and David Twohy. Cast includes Vincent d'Onofrio, Mekhi Phifer, Tony Shalhoub, Gary Sinise and Madeleine Stowe. Original short version (without ...
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 ...