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Sunday 12 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.
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Santesson, Hans Stefan
(1914-1975) US editor and author born in France of Swedish parents, raised in Sweden and emigrated with his mother to the USA in 1923 after his parents divorced. They settled in Brooklyn where his mother worked as a commercial artist. Before entering the world of publishing Santesson devoted much of his time helping immigrants to America, especially from India. He was noted for his humanitarianism and this was reflected in his work as an editor with a selfless dedication to helping others. His ...
Atomic Rulers
Japanese/US film (1965; vt Atomic Rulers of the World). Shintoho. Directed by Teruo Ishii. Written by Ichiro Miyagawa. Cast includes Ken Utsui. 75 minutes. Black and white. / This film was edited from episodes 1 and 2 of the Japanese Super Giant film series (see Tokusatsu): Super Giant (1957; 49 minutes; original title Sūpā Jaiantsu) and Super Giant Continues (1957; 52 ...
Arrival
Film (2016). Paramount Pictures presents a 21 Laps Entertainment, FilmNation Entertainment and Lava Bear Films production. Directed by Denis Villeneuve. Written by Eric Heisserer, based on "Story of Your Life" (in Starlight 2, anth 1998, ed Patrick Nielsen Hayden) by Ted Chiang. Cast includes Amy Adams, Tzi Ma, Jeremy Renner, ...
McBain, Gordon
(1946-1992) US teacher and author who, in his brief sf career, wrote the moderately appealing but unremarkable Exoterra Young Adult sf series, The Path of Exoterra (1981) and Quest of the Dawnstar (1984), featuring in a Planetary Romance venue but expanding into fairly wide-flung Space Opera adventures. [JC]
Holden, Fox B
(1923-1973) US journalist and author who began to publish work of genre interest with "Stop, Thief!" in Thrilling Wonder Stories for Winter 1945 and until 1956 continued to appear in various contemporary SF Magazines, including If, Imagination, Planet Stories, Startling Stories and ...
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 ...