SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Thursday 15 May 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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Fabian, Stephen E
(1930-2025) American artist, sometimes credited as Steve Fabian or simply Fabian. The self-trained Fabian first worked as an electronic engineer, but he began contributing art to Fanzines in the late 1960s and became a full-time professional artist in 1973. He did a number of covers and interior art for SF Magazines, mostly Amazing, Fantastic, and ...
St John, D W
(1956- ) US editor and author whose sf novel, Sisters of Glass (1999), set in Near Future Los Angeles (see California), explores Genetic Engineering through a thriller plot. The protagonist of the tale, a Telepath ex-cop, is tasked to track down a genetically engineered woman who is essentially owned, because of the patented ...
Tarantula
Film (1955). Universal. Directed by Jack Arnold. Written by Martin Berkeley, Robert M Fresco (1930-2014), based on an episode of Science Fiction Theatre titled No Food for Thought (14 May 1955) by Fresco. Cast includes John Agar, Leo G Carroll and Mara Corday. 80 minutes. Black and white. / This better-than-average Monster Movie belongs to the Luddite ...
Gail, Otto Willi
(1896-1956) German journalist and author of popular fiction for Young Adult readers, two of whose astronautical novels were published in Hugo Gernsback's Science Wonder Quarterly (see Wonder Stories Quarterly). These were Der Schuß ins All: Ein Roman von morgen (1924 Münchner Illustrierte Presse; 1925; trans Francis ...
Poyer, David C
(1949- ) US author who has published non-genre work as David Poyer, and sf variously as David C Poyer, D C Poyer and David Andreissen. The Shiloh Project (1981) is set in the Near Future of an Alternate History in which the South had won the Battle of Gettysburg 120 years before. Star Seed (1982) as David Andreissen places within a context of exceeding grimness – ...
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 ...