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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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Balzac, Honoré de
(1799-1850) French author whose enormous oeuvre – currently assembled in the Pléïade series in an edition over 20,000 pages long [not listed below] – is like Jules Verne a bibliographer's nightmare. Of his numerous early sensational novels, few translations seem to exist, and his later supernatural fiction appears in very various and chameleon guises. But some titles are of genre interest: ...
Senn, Steve
Working name of US illustrator and author Oscar Steven Senn (1950- ); he also publishes under his full name. Though he has concentrated on works for younger readers, he is of some interest for his use of specifically sf tropes in the Spacebread sequence, comprising the Space Opera feats of a spacefaring cat; singletons include Ralph Fozbek and the Amazing Black Hole Patrol (1980) (see ...
Greenfield, Susan
(1950- ) UK neuroscientist, broadcaster, entrepreneur and author, publishing from around 1970 at least 200 technical papers, mostly focused on brain research, as particularly directed to Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Her first novel, 2121: A Tale from the Next Century (2013), has some of the narrative clarity (and from contemporary eyes didactic dryness) of her two most vivid models, Aldous Huxley's ...
Future, Steve
Almost certainly a pseudonym, possibly of UK fan and author Steve Gilroy (? - ), who was responsible for two sf novels: Doomed Nation of the Skies! (1953 chap), in which an intrepid reporter is taken against his will to Mars, where he must oppose a dictator; and Slave Traders of the Sky (1954 chap), which is set on an inhabited Venus where internecine warfare causes problems. ...
Ape Man, The
US film (1943). Banner Productions. Directed by William Beaudine. Written by Barney Sarecky, supposedly based on Karl Brown's story "They Creep in the Dark" (claims that this appeared in The Saturday Evening Post remain unverified). Cast includes Louise Currie, Wallace Ford, Henry Hall, Emil Van Horn, Ralph Littlefield, Bela Lugosi and Minerva Urecal. 64 minutes. Black and white. / Dr. Randall (Hall) ...
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 ...