SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Saturday 5 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 31 August 2026
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Murray, Will
Working name of US author William Patrick Murray (1953-2026), who showed an interest throughout his career in Superheroes of the Pulp tradition (on which he was a known authority) such as Doc Savage, about which figure he wrote the nonfiction Secrets of Doc Savage (1981 chap). In this context he had been literary agent for Lester Dent's estate since 1979. ...
Inhabitant, The
Pseudonym of unidentified New Zealand author (? -? ) whose Sleeper Awakes tale – published in two volumes as The Great Romance, Vol 1 (1881 chap) and The Great Romance, Vol 2 (1881 chap), with a possible lost third volume, the first two assembled as The Great Romance: A Rediscovered Utopian Adventure (omni 2008) – may be the first sf text to convey its protagonist into the ...
Proyas, Alex
(1963- ) Egyptian-born Australian filmmaker who directed music video and advertisements before writing and directing his first feature Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds (1989), a Post-Holocaust film with a strong sense of landscape in the distinctive Australian branch of that tradition. His Hollywood debut was the moody, stylish Comics adaptation ...
Beaton, Alistair
(1947- ) Scottish playwright, journalist, translator, Television writer and author. He gained early recognition for co-authoring such television shows as Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979-1982); the Satirical The Trial of Tony Blair (first broadcast 15 January 2007 More4), set in 2010, primarily arraigns the prime minister for his support of the American war against Iraq. He is also ...
Young Einstein
Film (1988). Serious Productions. Produced and directed by Yahoo Serious. Written by Serious and David Roach. Cast includes John Howard, Odile Le Clezio and Serious. 91 minutes. Colour. / In an Alternate History 1905, Albert Einstein (Serious), a young Tasmanian apple farmer, discovers that E = mc2 (see Nuclear Energy), splits the beer atom, meets and is loved by Marie Curie (Le Clezio), has his ...
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 ...