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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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John, Elton
(1947- ) UK singer-songwriter, prolific and enduringly popular. A characteristic John composition is a short, poppy love song, but he has recorded a small number of sf tracks, including: "Bad Side of the Moon" (on 11-17-70, 1971) about a remorseful convict in a Prison situated on the lunar dark side; "Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long Long Time)" (on Honky Château, 1972), a plaintive version of Ray ...
Beyond the Bermuda Triangle
Made-for-tv film (1975; working title Here There Be Dragons). Playboy Productions for NBC-TV. Produced by Ron Roth. Directed by William A Graham. Written by Charles McDaniel. Cast includes Sam Groom, Fred MacMurray, Donna Mills, Dana Plato and Suzanne Reed. 74 minutes. Colour. / Retired businessman and sailing enthusiast Harry Ballinger (MacMurray) becomes interested in the number of aircraft and ships allegedly lost mysteriously in the so-called ...
Barr, Ken
(1933-2016) Working name of American artist Kenneth Barr, born in Scotland, who used the name Kenneth Barr for his early work in Britain. After military service he relocated to London to launch a career as a commercial artist and briefly worked for the British magazine Nebula Science Fiction, contributing three undistinguished covers and numerous interior illustrations; he also drew for a British Comic book, D C Thomson's ...
Ralli, Constantine
(1854-1934) UK author, who changed his name to Constantine Scaramanga-Ralli by Royal Licence in 1910, after publishing his only sf novel, Vanessa: A Romance of the New Century and the New World (1904), which is set in a Near Future New York controlled by a tiny oligarchy; the masses soon revolt. [JC]
Madlee, Dorothy
(1917-1980) US author who began to publish work of genre interest with the poem "Moon Phantoms" as by Dorothy Haynes Madle in Weird Tales for July 1946, followed by the story "Crystal of Macaosu" as by Dorothy Madle in Fantastic Universe for February 1955. She was best known for collaborating with Andre Norton on the four-book Children's SF Star Ka'at ...
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 ...