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Monday 13 April 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.

Site updated on 13 April 2026
Sponsor of the day: John Howard

Petyo, Robert

(? - ) US author of The Institute (1978), an authoritarian Dystopia not perhaps very cogently described. [JC]

(1871-1935) German historian, newspaper editor and author, known in English for two pseudonymous works of fiction. In "1906" – Der Zusammenbruch der alten Welt (1905; trans G Herring as Armageddon 190- 1907) as by Seestern, the USA instigates a Future War with Germany which is catastrophic for Europe but beneficial for Russia and the USA. Bansai! (1908; trans anon as Banzai! ...

Atomic Betty

Canadian-French animated tv series (2004-2008; vt Atomic Betty: Mission Earth). Atomic Cartoons, Breakthrough Entertainment, Télé Images Kids. Created by Trevor Bentley, Mauro Casalese, Bob Davies and Olaf Miller. Directors include Mauro Casalese, Virginie Jallot and Ridd Sorensen. Writers include Jono Howard, Kevin Gillis and Mike Kubat. Voice cast includes Colin Fox, Bruce Hunter, Tajja Isen, Debra McGrath, Mike Marshall and Rick Miller. 78 episodes, usually ...

Tomkins, Deborah

(? - ) UK author, active from 2007 or earlier, most of her early work being short fiction. She is of sf interest for her first book, the novella Aerth (2025), set with a didactic serenity evocative of Ursula K Le Guin on two contrasting planets, which may be seen as housing Alternate World futures of Earth, or as worlds existing in parallel universes (see ...

Roys, Willis E

(? -? ) US author of Flame Eternal; And, Maharajah's Son (coll 1936), the first of the two novellas assembled being a Lost Race tale in which an Edenic matriarchy (see Gender) is discovered in the heart of Brazil. [JC]

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 ...