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Tuesday 10 February 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 9 February 2026
Sponsor of the day: Andy Richards of Cold Tonnage Books
Carver, Jeffrey A
(1949-2026) US author who began publishing sf with "... Of No Return" in Fiction Magazine for 1974. His first novel, Seas of Ernathe (1976), which serves as an introduction to the loose Star Rigger sequence of Space Operas, showed early signs of a love of plot and thematic complexity which would take him some time, and several novels, to control. The continuation, Star Rigger's Way (1978), for instance, combines quest ...
Excursion dans la Lune
Film (1908; vt Excursion to the Moon). Pathé Frères. Directed by Segundo de Chomón. Written by Segundo de Chomón, based on the story of George Méliès's Voyage Dans La Lune (uncredited). Cast unidentified. 7 minutes. Tinted. / This short silent film from Spanish/Catalan director de Chomón is for the most part a ...
Goliath Awaits
Made-for-tv film (1981). Larry White Productions/Columbia Picture Television. Syndicated. Produced by Hugh Benson. Directed by Kevin Connor. Written by Richard M Bluel and Pat Fielder from a story by Bluel, Fielder, and Benson. Cast includes Robert Forster, Frank Gorshin, Mark Harmon, Christopher Lee and Emma Samms. 200 minutes, cut to 186 minutes, 110 minutes for home video release. Colour. / 1939: early in World War Two, the British liner ...
Testament des Dr Mabuse, Das
Film (1933; vt The Last Will of Dr Mabuse, 1943) Nero-Film AG. Directed by Fritz Lang. Written by Thea von Harbou, loosely based on Norbert Jacques's then-unpublished fragment «Mabuses Kolonie» ["Mabuse's Colony"] (written circa 1930). Cast includes Oscar Beregi Sr, Gustav Diessl, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Wera Liessem, Otto Wernicke. 122 minutes. Black and ...
Smile, R Elton
Working name of US physician and author Elton R Smilie (1819-1889), known for advances in the practice of anaesthetics. He is of sf interest for two intriguing (if confusedly told) tales. In The Manatitlans; Or, a Record of Recent Scientific Explorations in the Andea Lat Plata, S A (1877), a white expedition travels up the Paraguay River where it discovers a Lost Race descended from the Romans; they in turn introduce the expedition to a race of tiny ...
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 ...