SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Tuesday 8 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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Forrest, Katherine V
(1939- ) Canadian-born author, in the USA for many years, who began to publish works of genre interest with "Xessex" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction for February 1983 as by M Catherine McKinley; with other early work it was assembled as Dreams and Swords (coll 1987). She is the author of the Kate Delafield thriller series (not listed below), but is of sf interest primarily for the ...
Ruff, Matt
(1965- ) US author whose first novel, Fool on the Hill (1988), a fantasy set on a magic-irradiated college campus, was much influenced by previous models – some cited in the text – from John Crowley to Thomas Pynchon. His second, Sewer, Gas, and Electric: The Public Works Trilogy (1996), is an Equipoisal gonzo sf novel set in ...
Mathison, Volney G
(1897-1965) US chiropractor, inventor and author who began to publish work of genre interest with The Radiobuster: Being Some of the Adventures of Samuel Jones, Deep Sea Wireless Operator (stories 1922-1923 Radio; coll of linked stories 1924), which incorporates a trip to Mars in the episode entitled "The Martian Marvel". Other Sam Jones stories included further work for Radio plus "Sam Jones, Radio Tube Bootlegger" (July 1926 ...
McGuire, Seanan
(1978- ) US filker (see Filk), Internet presence and prolific author, who also writes as by A Deborah Baker and Mira Grant; she began publishing work of genre interest with "Lost" in Ravens in the Library: Magic in the Bard's Name (anth 2009) edited by SatyrPhil Brucato and Sandra Buskirk, and became prominent very quickly, winning the John W Campbell Award for best new writer in 2010. She ...
Magrs, Paul
(1969- ) UK academic. Radio playwright and author, some of whose early nonseries fiction is nonfantastic, though To the Devil – a Diva! (2004) is about a horror film star, ageless through a Pact with the Devil [see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below], who threatens chaos when she re-ignites her career in a transgressive soap opera. Of more direct sf ...
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 ...