SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Thursday 15 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.
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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 ...
McCammon, Robert R
(1952- ) US author, a prolific contributor to various subgenres of nonfantastic horror [none listed below], though inevitably, at points, some of his tales contain elements of the fantastic (see Horror in SF). He is of sf interest for two novels in particular. Swan Song (1987) is set in Post-Holocaust desolation after a nuclear World War Three and ...
Transformers – The Movie, The
Film (1986). Sunbow/Marvel. Directed by Nelson Shin. Voices by Orson Welles, Eric Idle et al. Written by Ron Friedman. Animation by Toei Animation. 86 minutes. Colour. / This US-produced, Japanese-animated film is a spin-off from the comic-book and television series of the same name, and all are part of a gigantic marketing operation to sell the Transformers Toys: model Robots (invented ...
Slobodkin, Louis
(1903-1975) US illustrator and author who is perhaps best known for his many picture books (none are listed here). Of sf interest is the Space Ship series beginning with The Space Ship Under the Apple Tree (1952), designed for younger readers within what would now be thought of as the Young Adult market. Young Eddie, a pleasant-tempered boy scout, meets a young Alien who disguises his ...
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 ...