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Friday 20 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.
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Forsyth, Frederick
(1938-2025) UK author who gained fame with his first novel, The Day of the Jackal (1971), and whose books are generally political thrillers. The Shepherd (1975 chap), however, is a sentimental Timeslip or ghost fantasy in which a pilot on Christmas Eve 1957 is saved from crashing by a World War Two pilot in an antique bomber: pilot and plane had been shot down on the Christmas Eve of 1943. ...
Element of Crime, The
Film (1984). Kærne Film presents in association with the Danish Film Institute a Per Holst Film Production. Original title (in Danish) Forbrydelsens Element. Directed by Lars von Trier. Written by Lars von Trier and Niels Vørsel. Director of Photography Tom Elling. Cast includes Michael Elphick, Ahmed El Shenawi, Astrid Henning-Jensen, János Herskó, Esmond Knight, Meme Lai and Jerold Wells. 104 minutes. Colour. / Washed-up detective Fisher (Elphick) ...
Mergl, Václav
(1935- ) Czechoslovakian animator, artist, writer and director; graduate of VŠUP (the College of Applied Arts, Prague). His films were usually made for Krátký Film (later Krátký Film Praha a.s.). / Mergl used stop-motion techniques – both cut-outs and claymation – as well standard 2D animation, including woodcut-like illustrations; his films sometimes use a mixture of these styles. After a couple of experimental ...
Earth: Final Conflict
American-Canadian tv series (1997-2002). Alliance Atlantis Communications and Tribune Entertainment. Created by Gene Roddenberry. Producers include Majel Barett Roddenberry, Paul Gertz, David Kirschner, and Seaton McLean. Writers include Gertz, John Whelpley, George Geiger, and D C Fontana. Directors include Brenton Spencer, Andrew Potter, Ross Clyde, and Vincenzo Natali. Cast ...
Laws
Certain "laws", principles or guidelines relevant to sf have become known by their authors' names, and the following examples have separate entries in this encyclopedia: Isaac Asimov's well-known Laws of Robotics, Clarke's Laws of Futures Studies as formulated by Arthur C Clarke, and ...
Robinson, Roger
(1943- ) UK computer programmer, bibliographer and publisher, active in UK Fandom for many years. The Writings of Henry Kenneth Bulmer (1983 chap; rev 1984 chap) is an exhaustive Bibliography of one of the most prolific sf writers, Kenneth Bulmer, and Who's Hugh?: An SF Reader's Guide to Pseudonyms (1987) is similarly exhaustive in its ...