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Sunday 16 August 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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Crowley, John
(1942-2026) US teacher and author who also worked in documentary films and television for some time beginning in 1966. His sf novels have had a considerable impact on the field, and his fantasies established him as a figure whose work courteously but deeply stretched the boundaries of genre literature. / His first novel, The Deep (1975), is set on a flat discworld resting on a pillar that extends beyond measurement into the circumambient galactic Deep, in which very few stars ...
Sci Fi
Pronounced "si fi" or sometimes "sky fi"; often hyphenated. An abbreviation for "science fiction" whose first recorded use was in 1954, when the term "hi-fi" (high-fidelity) was becoming popular in the context of audio equipment. The wordplay-loving Forrest J Ackerman claimed to have invented the term and later promoted it eagerly in his Famous Monsters of Filmland (1958-1983). However, Ackerman's first known ...
Laurence, John
Working name of UK mathematician and author John Laurence Pritchard (1885-1968), in active service during World War One, who published some nonfiction books on aeronautics under his full name, and several detective novels as John Laurence. Of these, Murder in the Stratosphere (1938) is of some sf interest in that the aeroplane technology involved requires the use of Inventions not then made. He edited the journal of ...
Malcolm, Ian
(1927- ) Canadian author of RIP 7 (1976) a spoofish Satire on Sex set in the Near Future when a love Drug causes a worldwide orgy. [JC]
Shipway, George
(1908-1982) Indian-born soldier, teacher and author, in the UK from childhood, most of whose works were historical novels. Of sf interest is The Chilian Club: A Diversion (1971; vt The Yellow Room 1971), set in a Near Future Britain threatened by trade unions (see Politics), which are (it is here presumed) run by Communists. A cadre of retired soldiers takes things in hand by eliminating the union leaders; ...
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 ...