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Saturday 12 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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Martin, Carl
Working name of Rodney Carl Martin Jr (1950- ), US software engineer and author, primarily of nonfiction as Rod Martin Jr [not listed below]. With John Dalmas he wrote Touch the Stars: Emergence (1983), in which US researchers developing a Faster Than Light drive allowing interstellar travel are opposed by Secret Masters who wish to keep humanity ...
Bickham, Jack M
(1930-1997) US author who began publishing sf with Kane's Odyssey (1976) as by Jeff Clinton, and who later wrote two sf novels under his own name. ARIEL (1984) posits a Computer whose AI is both charming and alarming. Day Seven (1988) is a Technothriller. [JC]
Krofft Brothers, The
The Canadian puppeteer siblings Marty Krofft (1937-2023) and Sid Krofft (1929- ), of Greek/Hungarian origin with birth names Moshopopoulos and Cydus Yolas, were responsible for several well-remembered children's Television series. These began with The Banana Splits (1968-1970) for Hanna-Barbera – starring the titular puppet rock group – followed by their ...
Mitchell, Clyde
A Ziff-Davis House Name, 1956-1957, used twice by Robert Silverberg and Randall Garrett in collaboration, twice by Henry Slesar (confirmed by Slesar himself), and once by Harlan Ellison on "The Wife Factory" (November 1957 Fantastic). [PN/MA]
Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle's famous hero Sherlock Holmes (see Icons) was introduced as a scientific detective operating by rigorous logic – but Doyle's master-stroke was to show him through the eyes of his staunch but uncomprehending companion Doctor Watson, providing a human frame for what might have been an arid inspiration. Although Holmes stories did not always fully honour this template description, Holmes himself soon ...
Nicholls, Peter
(1939-2018) Australian editor and author, primarily a critic and historian of sf through his creation and editing of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction [see below]; resident in the UK 1970-1988, in Australia from 1988; worked as an academic in English literature (1962-1968, 1971-1977), scripted television documentaries, was a Harkness Fellow in Film-making (1968-1970) in the USA, worked as a publisher's editor (1982-1983), often broadcast film and book reviews on BBC Radio from 1974 and ...