SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Tuesday 10 February 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 9 February 2026
Sponsor of the day: Andy Richards of Cold Tonnage Books
Carver, Jeffrey A
(1949-2026) US author who began publishing sf with "... Of No Return" in Fiction Magazine for 1974. His first novel, Seas of Ernathe (1976), which serves as an introduction to the loose Star Rigger sequence of Space Operas, showed early signs of a love of plot and thematic complexity which would take him some time, and several novels, to control. The continuation, Star Rigger's Way (1978), for instance, combines quest ...
Meade, L T
Working name of UK author Elizabeth Thomasina Meade Smith (1844-1914), now best remembered for her numerous and sometimes inventive books for girls, but some of whose romances of detection and sedition are of sf interest, though the sometimes-cited John Bell sequence – assembled as A Master of Mysteries (coll of linked stories June-November 1897 Cassell's Magazine; 1898) with Robert Eustace – is not, as the mysteries are ...
Knowlton, J A
(1854-1937) US author of two Prehistoric SF novels. Txleama: A Tale of Ancient Mexico (1892) segues into Lost World territory from initial sequences set in Mexico before the Spanish Conquest. Origin (1900), beginning with the story of the Biblical Flood, features a Lost Race of blond giants, evolved from the raven and the dove who leave the Ark at Noah's command, ...
Outer Space Jitters
Short US film (1957). Columbia Pictures. Directed by Jules White. Written by Jack White. Cast included Emil Sitka, Gene Roth, Philip Van Zandt, Dan Blocker, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe Besser. 17 minutes. Black and white. / The Three Stooges (at the time Howard, Fine and Besser), have landed on Venus with Professor Jones (Sitka) and promptly discover that the Venusians are planning to conquer Earth with legions of Zombies. ...
Fallon, Jennifer
(1959- ) Australian author and IT consultant whose novels are all marketed as fantasy. This accurately describes her debut Demon Child trilogy beginning with Medalon (2000). However, the Second Sons trilogy – comprising The Lion of Senet (2002), Eye of the Labyrinth (2003) and Lord of the Shadows (2003) is set on what is evidently a planetary colony, with a ...
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 ...