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Sunday 15 June 2025
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 9 June 2025
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Longyear, Barry B
(1942-2025) US author and editor who ran a printing company with his wife before beginning to write in 1977, beginning to publish work of genre interest with "The Tryouts" in Asimov's for November/December 1978. Before his 1981 hospitalization for alcoholism and addiction to prescription drugs – an experience which formed the basis of his non-sf novel Saint Mary Blue (1988) – he had already published prolifically, sometimes as by Frederick ...
Machinima
Term used to describe films produced by recording the output from a Videogame as it is being played. This approach can produce visuals comparable in quality with those created by conventional computer animation techniques for considerably less effort, though clearly the choice of subject matter is affected by the nature of the game being used. Early examples of the form were created by players of Quake (1996) by adding (generally ...
Fox, Karen
(1956- ) US author of romantic sf adventures, who has also written as by Paula Gill, beginning with Sword of MacLeod (1997), the first volume of the Scanner Universe sequence of Space Opera romances set in venues under the sway of a Galactic Empire inimical to Psi Powers. She has contributed material to the Hope Chest ...
AC Comics
US publisher of various Comics titles, founded in Florida in 1969 by Bill Black, known originally as Paragon Publications and from 1982 to 1984 as Americomics. While primarily publishing a great deal of 1940s Golden Age comics material in various genres, AC Comics is best known for its female Superhero titles. The most famous of these is Femforce (1985-current), believed to be the first all-female superhero team in US comics. ...
Atomic War! [comic]
US Comic (1952-1953). Four issues. Ace Magazines (Junior Books, Inc.). Artists include Lou Cameron, Jim McLaughlin, Bill Molno and Ken Rice. Three or four comic strips and one (author uncredited) short story per issue. / Upon each cover is printed "only a strong America can prevent Atomic War!"; whilst issue 4 explains, "this book is designed to shock America into vigilance – and to keep the horrors of atomic war from our shores". The first issue's opening ...
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 ...