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Friday 4 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. ...
Palumbo, David
(1982- ) American artist, son of artist Julie Bell and sf scholar Donald E Palumbo, and brother of artist Anthony Palumbo. He received formal training at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts from 2000 to 2004 and was informally mentored by his mother and his stepfather Boris Vallejo. He then became active in a number of areas, including exhibitions of his fine art, ...
Williams, Liz
(1965- ) UK author who began to publish work of genre interest with "A Child of the Dead" in Interzone for September 1997, which was assembled with other early work as The Banquet of the Lords of Night and Other Stories (coll 2004); later stories were assembled as A Glass of Shadow (coll 2011). Her first novel, The Ghost Sister (2001), is set in a lost colony (see ...
Gear, Kathleen O'Neal
(1954- ) US author with extensive training in American prehistory; married to W Michael Gear from 1982. Her first sf, the Powers of Light trilogy – An Abyss of Light (1990), Treasure of Light (1991) and Redemption of Light (1991) – was published as by Kathleen M O'Neal. With an occasionally oppressive relentlessness about the moral and theological issues involved, it presents ...
McLaughlin, Iain
(1967- ) UK Comics writer, author of several Radio plays including some for the Doctor Who universe, some with Claire Bartlett; he began to publish work of genre interest with "The Time Lord's Story" (with Bartlett) in Doctor Who: Short Trips: Repercussions (anth 2004) edited by Gary Russell. He is the ...
Clute, John
(1940- ) Canadian critic, editor and author, in the UK from 1969; married to Judith Clute from 1964, partner of Elizabeth Hand since 1996. He began to publish work of genre interest with an sf-tinged poem "Carcajou Lament" in Triquarterly for Winter 1960 [ie Autumn 1959]; he began consistently publishing sf reviews in his "New Fiction" column for the Toronto Star ...