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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
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Hine, Muriel
(1874-1949) UK author, active from 1910, whose The Seven Lovers and Other Tales (coll 1927) contains some fantasy, and whose marginal Scientific Romance The Island Forbidden to Man (1946) seems to espouse the feminist Utopia hinted at in the title (see Feminism), but does not give the Island civilization initially espoused long for this world, ...
Predator
Film (1987). Amercent/American Entertainment/Twentieth Century Fox. Directed by John McTiernan. Written by Jim Thomas, John Thomas. Cast includes Elpidia Carrillo, Bill Duke, Kevin Peter Hall, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers. 106 minutes. Colour. / A special-forces group undertaking a commando-style rescue mission in South America clashes bloodily with guerrillas and then very much more bloodily with the Predator: an intelligent Alien (Hall) that ...
Mr. Nobody
Film (2009). Pan-Européenne in association with Virtual Films and Pathé. Written and directed by Jaco van Dormael. Cast includes Rhys Ifans, Diane Kruger, Jared Leto, Natasha Little, Linh Dan Pham, Sarah Polley, Toby Regbo and Juno Temple. Theatrical cut 137 minutes; director's cut 156 minutes. Colour. / In 2092, when "telomerization" has otherwise arrested ageing and rendered humanity immortal (see Immortality), the last remaining ...
Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, The
Film (1953). Mutual Pictures/Warner Bros. Director Eugène Lourié. Written by Lou Morheim, Fred Freiberger, based on "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" (23 June 1951 Saturday Evening Post; vt "The Fog Horn" in The Golden Apples of the Sun, coll 1953) by Ray Bradbury. Cast includes Paul Christian, Cecil Kellaway, Paula Raymond and Kenneth Tobey. 80 ...
Kea, Neville
Pseudonym of UK author Christopher Hugh Neville-Smith (1920-1998), who wrote several sf novels for Robert Hale Limited, the first of which, The Glass School (1980), involves Psi Powers and a hint of Time Travel, along with a Satirical depiction of modern Britain. The further titles tend to less demanding Space Opera ...
Langford, David
(1953- ) UK author, critic, editor, publisher and sf fan, in the latter capacity recipient of 21 Hugo awards for fan writing – some of the best of his several hundred pieces are assembled as Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man (coll 1992 chap US; much exp vt The Silence of the Langford 1996; exp 2015 ebook) as Dave Langford, edited by Ben Yalow – plus five Best Fanzine Hugos ...