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Monday 13 July 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 13 July 2026
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Martin, Nettie Parrish
(1840-1915) US author of Indian Legends of Early Days (coll 1905), where she renders traditional Indian tales into English verse. A Pilgrim's Progress in Other Worlds: Recounting the Wonderful Adventures of Ulysum Storries and his Discovery of the Lost Star "Eden" (1908) is an sf novel whose protagonist, the inventor (see Invention) of a bird-like flying machine powered by electricity and capable of ...
Hanley, James
(1897-1985) Irish author, in the UK from around 1908, whose prolific output – beginning with Drift (1930) – focused on raw tales of life at sea, and upon sometimes grim novels about working-class life in Britain, a savagery of address almost certainly effected in part through his long immersion in World War One; he enlisted early, was gassed and invalidated out of the army, and returned to war work as a stoker on ships carrying ...
Silbersack, John
(1954- ) US editor, agent and author, active as an editor with Putnam/Berkley books 1977-1981, with New American Library 1986-1992, with Warner Books in 1992, and with Harper Collins 1993-1999; he joined Trident Media Group in 2001 as a senior agent. Throughout his career he has been noted for a swift and canny knowledgeability about the sf world. With Victoria Schochet he edited the first four ...
Pollack, Alan
(1964- ) US illustrator who studied art at the New York colleges the School of Visual Arts, the Parsons School of Design and the New School of Figurative Art. He began to publish work of genre interest in 1991 with a cover picture for TSR's Role Playing Game magazine Dungeon, and for some years was a staff artist for TSR. He has since produced illustrations for other gaming companies (including cards for the Wizards of the ...
Tolkin, Michael
(1950- ) US director, screenwriter and author, notable for his skill as a story doctor; best known for the nonfantastic The Player (1988) whose film version, The Player (1992) directed by Robert Altman, he also scripted. Of the several films for whose scripts he is at least partially responsible, Deep Impact (1998) is of sf interest. He also wrote and directed the adaptation of Robert A ...
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 ...