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Friday 15 May 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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Suzuki Kōji
(1957-2026) Japanese author and essayist, largely known in English through the Cinema adaptations of several of his books, the international success of which obscured his wide-ranging domestic output. His horror and Equipoisal fiction proceeded in tandem with a wide array (not listed here) of books on young fatherhood and occasional works on motorcycle travel. He was also the translator of Simon Brett's ...
Smith, Guy N
(1939-2020) UK author and book dealer best known for his prolific output of horror novels, generally rough-hewn but with a Pulp-ish or B-movie vigour that gained him a considerable cult following. His novel debut was the Werewolf tale Werewolf by Moonlight (1974) as Guy Smith, with two sequels following. He first achieved real commercial success with Night of the Crabs (1976; exp 2009), introducing what ...
Fawcett, E Douglas
(1866-1960) UK author and mystical thinker, long resident in Switzerland. His first (and best-known) Scientific Romance, Hartmann the Anarchist, or The Doom of the Great City (June-September 1893 The English Illustrated Magazine; 1893), illustrated by Fred T Jane, features a 1920 Anarchist revolution against a wicked, capitalist UK, with London ...
Marsport
Videogame (1985). Gargoyle Games (GG). Designed by Roy Carter, Greg Follis. Platforms: Amstrad, Spectrum. / Marsport is an "arcade adventure" (see Exile), a precursor to the action Adventure form that flourished largely in the UK during the 1980s. While it was well regarded at the time of its original release – as was its better known predecessor, the Celtic fantasy game ...
Midwinter
Videogame (1989). Maelstrom Games (MG). Designed by Mike Singleton. Platforms: AtariST (1989); Amiga, DOS (1990). / Midwinter is an unusual combination of real time Computer Role Playing Game and Computer Wargame, set on an isolated island in the aftermath of a devastating meteorite strike which has plunged ...
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 ...