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Friday 13 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.
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Carver, Jeffrey A
(1949-2026) US author who began publishing sf with "... Of No Return" in Fiction Magazine for 1974. His first novel, Seas of Ernathe (1976), which serves as an introduction to the loose Star Rigger sequence of Space Operas, showed early signs of a love of plot and thematic complexity which would take him some time, and several novels, to control. The continuation, Star Rigger's Way (1978), for instance, combines quest ...
Vogel, Julius
(1835-1899) UK-born politician, entrepreneur, newspaper editor and author, in Australia from 1852 and New Zealand from 1861, where he spent the bulk of his professional life until 1888, serving as New Zealand Premier 1873-1875 and 1876. His sf novel, Anno Domini 2000, or Woman's Destiny (1889), set partly in New Zealand and Australia, treats the dawning twenty-first century as benignly prosperous, with the Empire benefiting from ...
Frakes, Randall
(1947- ) US author of two Terminator film Ties, The Terminator (1985) with Bill Wisher and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), respectively novelizing The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). [JC/DRL]
Beese, P J
(1946-2020) US author whose sf novel, The Guardsman (1988), with Todd Cameron Hamilton, is an unremarkable example of interstellar-empire adventure sf; its nomination for the 1989 Hugo caused some stir, and there was evidence of block voting. When made aware of this, the authors requested that their novel be withdrawn from the ballot. [JC]
Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth
Videogame (1994; vt The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble in the US). Coktel Vision (CV). Designed by Muriel Tramis, Stéphane Fournier, Pierre Gilhodes. Platforms: Win. / Woodruff is a graphical Adventure with the ambience of a satirical cartoon. Long after a devastating nuclear war, humanity has returned to the surface world from its underground refuges to find that a new intelligent ...
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 ...