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Saturday 27 July 2024
Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Fourth Edition. Some sample entries appear below. Click here for the Introduction; here for the masthead; here for 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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Arthur C Clarke Award
This award has been given since 1987 for the best sf novel whose UK first edition was published during the previous calendar year, and consists of an inscribed bookend and a sum of money from a grant initially donated by Arthur C Clarke. In 2001 the prize money – until then a constant £1000 – was increased to £2001 as a gesture to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); it has since risen by ...
Koebel, W H
(1872-1923) UK author of The Singular Republic (1908), which describes a benevolent South American Utopia known as Neuvonie, where romance (and decimal currency) flourish, until fault lines in its trading relations with the rest of the world instigate a revolution, ending the experiment. [JC]
Gsell, Paul
(1870-1947) French critic and author, much of whose critical output concerned the life and work of Anatole France. He is of sf interest for L'Homme qui lit dans les âmes (1928; trans Brian Stableford with added material as The Man Who Could Read Minds, coll 2019), a tale featuring Telepathy achieved through mechanical means (eyeglasses capable of rendering ...
Ghidalia, Vic
(1926-2013) US publicist for ABC TV who in his spare time co-edited eight genre Anthologies with Roger Elwood, from The Little Monsters (anth 1969) to Beware More Beasts (anth 1975). He was also the solo editor of several further anthologies published from 1971 to 1977, as detailed in the Checklist below. [JC/DRL]
Potts, Stephen W
(1949- ) US author and critic who began to publish work of genre interest with "Mare Somniorum" in New Dimensions 10 (anth 1980) edited by Robert Silverberg, his only published sf story. His book-length criticism includes studies of Arkady and Boris Strugatski in The Second Marxian Invasion: The Fiction of the Strugatsky Brothers (1991) and of J R R ...
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 ...