SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Saturday 11 July 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 7 July 2026
Sponsor of the day: The Telluride Institute
X-Ray Spex
UK punk act, founded 1976 and led by vocalist and songwriter Poly Styrene (Marianne Joan Elliott-Said) (1957-2011); the other members were guitarist Jak Airport (Jack Stafford) (circa 1955-2004), bassist Paul Dean, drummer Paul "B. P." Hurding and saxophonist Lora Logic (Susan Whitby) (1960- ), the last leaving after the first single, to be replaced by Steve "Rudi" Thompson. / That first single was "Oh Bondage! Up Yours!" (1977), opening demurely with ...
Swearing
Genre SF authors often depict futuristic swearing, blasphemy and other forms of foul speech, not always with any great conviction. Robert Graves's Lars Porsena; Or, the Future of Swearing and Improper Language (1927 chap; exp vt The Future of Swearing and Improper Language 1936) foreshadows the problem afflicting the SF Magazines for decades after the year of his ...
Revolutionary Girl Utena
Japanese animated tv series (1997). Original title Shōjo Kakumei Utena. Created by Be-Papas. J.C.Staff. Directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. Written by Yōji Enokido. Voice cast includes Yuriko Fuchizaki, Tomoko Kawakami, Jūrōta Kosugi and Hikaru Midorikawa. 39 23-minute episodes. Colour. / As newly orphaned Utena Tenjou (Kawakami) mourns, she is comforted by a travelling Prince, who gives her a ring with a rose crest. Utena is so ...
Stoddard, James
(? - ) US author whose complex Science Fantasy High House sequence, comprising The High House (1998) and The False House (1999), centres on the eponymous house (and its imitation) which may be sentient, certainly accesses a number of Dimensions, and serves as the focus of a battle between the forces of Order and Chaos. The High House won a ...
Invisible Ray, The
Film (1936). Universal Pictures. Directed by Lambert Hillyer. Written by John Colton from an original story by Howard Higgins, and Donald Hodge. Cast includes Frances Drake, Boris Karloff (credited as "Karloff"), Frank Lawton and Bela Lugosi. 80 minutes. Black and white. / The brilliant Dr Janos Rukh (Karloff) has invented a Time Viewer telescope which can literally record events which ...
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 ...