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Wednesday 9 July 2025
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 2025
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Stebbing, William
(1831-1926) UK journalist, barrister, historian and author, much of whose work appeared in The Times (London) between 1868 and the end of the century in the former of leaders (or, in common modern parlance, editorials). Of his fiction, Probable Tales (coll 1899) is of some sf interest for its Satirical depictions of a number of imaginary civilizations, some of them Ruritanian, at least one evincing some ...
Borden, William
(1938- ) US author whose sf Satire, Superstoe (1967), follows the eponymous Professor and his colleagues as they take over a Near Future America, transforming it into an enforced Utopia and imposing world peace through the use of nuclear weapons and germ warfare to convince their foes in Asia that they mean business; the effect, perhaps surprisingly, is sustainedly comic. ...
Gravity [film]
American film (2013). Warner Brothers/Esperanto Filmoj/Heyday Films. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Written by Alfonso Cuarón and Jonás Cuarón. Cast includes Sandra Bullock, George Clooney and Ed Harris (voice only). 90 minutes. Colour. / In an undefined Near Future (or perhaps, an undefined alternate near past; see Alternate History), America is still operating a space shuttle and the ...
Frankenstein Unbound
Film (1990; vt Roger Corman's Frankenstein Unbound). Warner Brothers. Directed by Roger Corman. Written by Corman, F X Feeney, based on Frankenstein Unbound (1973) by Brian W Aldiss. Cast includes Nick Brimble, Bridget Fonda, John Hurt, Michael Hutchence, Raul Julia, Jason Patric and Katherine Rabett. 85 minutes. Colour. / This philosophical (about the dangers of the Promethean impulse) ...
Nichols, Nichelle
Working name of US singer, dancer and actor Grace Dell Nichols (1932-2022), best known for her role as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura in the original Star Trek (1966-1969) series and its very many spinoffs. Her first venture into genre fiction was the novelette "Surprise!" with Myrna Culbreath and Sondra Marshak in Star Trek: The New Voyages 2 (anth 1978) edited by Culbreath and ...
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 ...