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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 ...
Stalker
Russia film (1979). Mosfilm. Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. Production design Tarkovsky. Written by Arkady and Boris Strugatski, based on their Roadside Picnic (1972; trans 1977). Cast includes Nikolai Grinko, Aleksandr Kaidanovsky and Anatoli Solonitsyn. 161 minutes. Black and white and colour. / The original novel tells of a mysterious ...
Cristabel
Pseudonym of US nurse, professor of nursing, and author Christine Elizabeth Abrahamsen (1916-1995), who wrote at least one Gothic as Kathleen Westcott, Bride of Kilkerran (1972). As Cristabel, she began publishing sf with the florid Veltakin sequence of Planetary Romances: Manalacor of Veltakin (1970) and The Cruachan and the Killane (1970). Her singletons were The Mortal Immortals (1971) and ...
Christopher, John
Principal working name of UK author Sam Youd (1922-2012), whose birth forename was Sam rather than Samuel; he adopted the first name Christopher on confirmation into the Church of England, but was never so called by intimates although many sources give his full name as Christopher Samuel Youd. He was active in sf Fandom (see The Fantast; The Satellite) before World War Two, in which he served; ...
Questar
US magazine; letter-size and on Slick paper; 13 issues, Spring 1978 to October 1981; published by M W Communications Inc (William G Wilson and Robert V Michelucci), Pittsburgh; edited by William G Wilson Jr except for #12 (June 1981), edited by Paul D Adomites. The final, redesigned issue, had a new title: Quest/Star, subtitled "The World of Science Fiction". / Questar began as a media Semiprozine largely devoted to ...
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 ...