SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Wednesday 23 April 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.
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Broderick, Damien
(1944-2025) Australian author, editor and critic; he had a PhD in the semiotics of fiction, science and sf with special reference to the work of Samuel R Delany. He edited four anthologies of Australian sf: The Zeitgeist Machine (anth 1977), Strange Attractors (anth 1985), Matilda at the Speed of Light (anth 1988) and Centaurus: The Best of Australian Science Fiction (anth ...
McElroy, Joseph
(1930- ) US author who has gained attention for a series of intellectually formidable novels, almost all of which may be described as epistemological studies of contemporary life, exceedingly ambitious attempts to emplace narrated human beings into fields of what might be called planetary knowing and unknowing, while at the same time introducing arguments that these systemic "metaphors" are in fact good Physics. The mazes he creates may seem ...
George, W L
(1882-1926) French-born author in UK from early adulthood, in active service during World War One with the French army, prolific from 1911, modestly controversial in various contexts, including Feminism; but a figure whose work (and reputation) never quite jelled. His one novel of sf interest, Children of the Morning (May-December 1926 The Fortnightly Review; 1926), retains some interest for its unmistakable ...
Owings, Mark
(1945-2009) US bibliographer, fan and Small-Press publisher; with Jack L Chalker, he was involved for a period with Mirage Press, which published his magnum opus, The Index to the Science-Fantasy Publishers (1966 chap; rev 1966) with Jack L Chalker, a text later so vastly expanded as ...
Bixby, E Rew
(1912-2006) US author known only for his two sf adventures, Ambush Planet (1978) which is a Space Opera, and Fire Throne Mountain (1981), in which an attack of Aliens upon a colony planet is given a Planetary Romance flavour. [JC]
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 ...