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Thursday 19 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.
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Chess
Many sf stories make use of this ancient Board Game of stylized War, which emerged in recognizable form in India and China by approximately the sixth century and spread westward, reaching Europe by the eleventh century. Its numerous appearances in Fantasy include Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-glass (1871), whose introduction of living chess pieces has been ...
Priest, Christopher
(1943-2024) UK author, first trained as an accountant; active in Fanzines and Fandom from 1964; married 1981-1987 to Lisa Tuttle, 1988-2011 to Leigh Kennedy, and partner of Nina Allan from 2011 (they married in 2023). He published several Ties under various pseudonyms, only two of which he formally acknowledged: John ...
Walshe, Jennifer
(1974- ) Irish composer, vocalist and artist, much acclaimed for often unclassifiable installations and musical theatre works, marked by an irreverent and witty investigation of her chosen texts and sources. Several of her pieces verge on the uncanny, such as XXX Live Nude Girls (2003), in which Barbie dolls act out teenage girls' darkest fantasies. Her ongoing Mars series begins with Mars I (2022) "for two singers, ensemble, live ...
Blue Beetle
US Comic (1940-1950). Fox Publications, Inc. 40 issues (numbered #1-#11, #31-#42, #44-#60; see below regarding #12-#30). Artists include Alvin Hollingsworth, Jack Kamen, EC Stoner and Al Zere. Scriptwriters include Will Eisner, Alvin Hollingsworth, E C Stoner and Al Zere. Initially 68 pages with 9 long strips, it had reduced to 36 pages and 3 long strips by the end of its run; there would also be a short text story, plus short ...
Davis, Grania
(1943-2017) US author and editor, married to Avram Davidson from 1962 to 1964, who began publishing work of genre interest with "My Head's in a Different Place, Now" for Universe 2 (anth 1972) edited by Terry Carr. Much of her work consists of co-edited collections of Davidson's numerous uncollected or unpublished stories, and of collaborations with him, in particular ...
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 ...