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Tuesday 14 April 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 14 April 2026
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Watson, Ian
(1943-2026) UK teacher and author who lectured in English in Tanzania (1965-1967) and Tokyo (1967-1970) before beginning to publish sf with "Roof Garden Under Saturn" for New Worlds in 1969; he then taught Future Studies for six years at Birmingham Polytechnic, taking there one of the first academic courses in sf in the UK; he became a full-time writer in 1976, publishing around 200 short stories since 1969 at a gradually increasing tempo and with visibly ...
Noël, Atanielle Annyn
(1947- ) Now the legal name of the US author who, under her earlier legal name, Ruth S Noel, published two studies of J R R Tolkien: The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-Earth (1974 chap) and The Mythology of Middle-Earth: A Study of Tolkien's Mythology and its Relationship to the Myths of the Ancient World (1977). Her three novels as Atanielle Annyn Noel rather mercilessly tumble together fantasy, sf and ...
Horvat, Dilwyn
(1956- ) UK author of an avowedly Christian Space Opera series, the Operation Titan sequence comprising Operation Titan (1983) and Assault on Omega 4 (1986), in which persecuted Christians on Saturn have recourse to a secret refuge world, from which redoubt they return refreshed in the second volume, and gain their goals. [JC]
Ende, Michael
(1929-1995) German theatrical director, actor, playwright and author, son of the Surrealist painter Edgar Ende (1901-1965), whose works were banned by the German government in 1936 for "degeneracy", and who deeply influenced his son. After writing songs and sketches for literary cabarets from about 1955, Ende began to publish work of genre interest with the Jim Knopf sequence – Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer (1960; trans ...
Barzak, Christopher
(1975- ) US author and teacher of creative writing who began to publish work of genre interest with "A Mad Tea Party" in Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet for Winter 1999; the story is collected in his Before and Afterlives (coll 2013), which won a Shirley Jackson Award as best collection. He has written Horror tales as part of the "Ratbastards" ...
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 ...