SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Wednesday 16 September 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 14 September 2026
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De Bolt, Joe
(1939- ) US sociologist and university professor who in the 1970s edited useful critical anthologies on John Brunner and Ursula K Le Guin, contributing his own bio-bibliographical researches to both. These are The Happening Worlds of John Brunner: Critical Explorations in Science Fiction (anth 1975) and Ursula K. Le Guin: Voyager to Inner Lands and to Outer Space (anth ...
Bethke, Bruce
(1955- ) US author best known for his short stories, in particular his first professional publication, "Cyberpunk" in Amazing for November 1983, which appeared there after circulating in manuscript and almost certainly inspiring Gardner Dozois's use of the term Cyberpunk to designate the new movement, in an exclamatory fashion ironically distinct from Bethke's own jaundiced view ...
Laporta, Mark
(? - ) US author whose first works were for Young Adult readers, beginning with the Changing Hearts of Ixdahan Daherek sequence, whose eponymous protagonist in the first volume Heart of Earth (2015) finds himself exiled from his home planet – for acts of arrogance and stupidity – and forced to live on Earth as a teenager. Fortunately, he fends of an Invasion by ...
Wentworth, Walter
(? -? ) UK author of interest for his children's sf Kibboo Ganey sequence, comprising Kibboo Ganey; Or, the Lost Chief of the Copper Mountain (1889) and The Drifting Island (1890) [for both books see Checklist below for full titles]. An elderly but competent Colonel, member of the Royal Geographical Society, takes his son and nephew to Africa, where they untether a floating peninsula to create an ...
Casshan
Japanese animated tv series (1973-1974). Original title Shinzō Ningen Kyashān; vt Neo Human Casshern; vt Casshern. Tatsunoko Productions. Created by Tatsuo Yoshida. Directed by Hiroshi Sasagawa. Writers include Tadashi Fukui, Akiyoshi Sakai and Jinzo Toriumi. Voice cast includes Ikuo Nishikawa, Emiko Tsukada, Kenji Utsumi and Masato Yamanouchi. 35 25-minute episodes. / A cliff-top castle is lit by lightning, imagery doubtless ...
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 ...