SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Sunday 18 January 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 14 January 2026
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von Däniken, Erich
(1935-2026) Swiss author of a series of purportedly nonfiction books, beginning with Erinnerungen an die Zukunft (1968; trans Michael Heron as Chariots of the Gods? 1969), which, based on a mass of often suspect and internally inconsistent data, argues that the Earth was visited by at least one Alien spacefaring race before and at the dawn of historical time; thus, for example, the Great Pyramid of ...
Adams, Scott
(1957-2026) US author and cartoonist best known for the Dilbert strip published from 1989, which when at its best superbly (in terms of concept and accuracy of Satire rather than quality of drawing) satirized contemporary office life and corporate incompetence. As with most ambitious modern comic strips, it segues frequently into sf and fantasy tropes – such as Robot office workers, wish-fulfilling ...
Lankford, J R
(? - ) US author whose first novel, The Crowning Circle (2001) was a thriller and whose second, The Jesus Thief (2003), depicts an attempt to Clone a second Jesus or Christ from DNA found in blood in the Shroud of Turin. As the outcome is uncertain, so is the tale's generic nature. [JC]
Bhattacharya, Tathagata
(? - ) Bengali journalist and author whose first novel, General Firebrand and His Red Atlas (2024), edges into almost allegorical intensities in its depiction of the eponymous rebel leader, the Dystopian government he is attempting to overthrow, the confabulated beasts and Avatars and grotesques, and the creatures visible through ...
Flournoy, Théodore
(1854-1920) French psychologist, psychic researcher and author whose Des Indes à la planète Mars (1899; trans Daniel B Vermilye as From India to the Planet Mars 1900) [for further details see checklist below] depicts in lightly fictionalized form some narratives generated by the medium "Hélène Smith" (1861-1929), including a presentation of herself as the Reincarnation of Marie Antoinette, and as a visitor ...
Clute, John
(1940- ) Canadian critic, editor and author, in the UK from 1969; married to Judith Clute from 1964, partner of Elizabeth Hand since 1996. He began to publish work of genre interest with an sf-tinged poem "Carcajou Lament" in Triquarterly for Winter 1960 [ie Autumn 1959]; he began consistently publishing sf reviews in his "New Fiction" column for the Toronto Star (1966-1967), and later in ...