SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Thursday 10 July 2025
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 7 July 2025
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Antiheroes
Although the name suggests a simple opposition to Heroes, antiheroes are not synonymous with Villains. They range from merely unsympathetic protagonists whose downfall or comeuppance provides satisfaction – typically at slick short story length – to figures of some stature and personal attraction who are dark complements of heroes. Satan is often viewed in genre terms as the antihero counterpart of God (see ...
Henry, W O
(1858-1932) US gynaecologist, surgeon and author whose Equitania: Or, the Land of Equity (1914) is a minor but pleasingly put Utopia in the mode of Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward (1888), set on a Pacific Island originally colonized by Europeans, Asians and Americans looking for a better life. [JC]
Only Lovers Left Alive
Film (2013). Recorded Picture Company,/Pandora Filmproduktion,/Snow Wolf Produktion. Directed by Jim Jarmusch. Written by Jim Jarmusch. Cast includes Tom Hiddleston, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton and Mia Wasikowska. 123 minutes. Colour. / The protagonists' names, Adam and Eve, augur ill. Adam (Hiddleston) and Eve (Swinton) are Vampire lovers who have enjoyed a sophisticated but intermittent intimacy for centuries ...
Space Sweepers
South Korean film (2021; original title Seungriho). Merry Christmas and Netflix presents a Bidangil Pictures and Dexter Studios production. Directed by Jo Sung-hee. Written by Jo Sung-hee with Yoo-kang Seo-ae and Yoon Seung-min. Cast includes Richard Armitage, Jin Seon-kyu, Kim Mu-yeol, Kim Tae-ri, Park Ye-rin, Song Joong-ki and Yoo Hae-jin. 136 minutes. Colour. / The crew of the Spaceship Victory saves a ...
Vortex, The
US Amateur Magazine, two issues 1947, edited by Gordon M Kull and George R Cowie from San Francisco. The Vortex is listed in some indexes as a Semiprozine because of the production quality of the first issue, although the content was by unknown amateurs and it was distributed free. It was attractively printed on glossy paper, in a square Digest format. All the money was spent on the first ...
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 ...