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Thursday 16 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 ...
Palmer, William J
(1890-1982) US judge and author whose sf novel The Curious Culture of the Planet Loretta (1968) – written after his retirement – discusses sexual morality (see Sex); the plot is not gripping. [JC/DRL]
Omega Science Digest
Australian popular-science magazine, A4-size, publishing an average of two sf stories per issue; 37 bimonthly issues January/February 1981 to January/February 1987, edited by Philip Gore. The parent magazine was the US Science Digest, discontinued at around the same time. Though unexceptional as a science magazine, Omega Science Digest was, with a circulation around 35,000, for six years the most important publisher of Australian short sf, printing ...
Dogora
Japanese film (1964; original title Uchû daikaijû Dogora; vt Dagora, the Space Monster; vt Space Monster Dogora). Toho. Directed by Ishirō Honda. Written by Jojiro Okami and Shinichi Sekizawa. Cast includes Robert Dunham, Nobuo Nakamura and Yosuke Natsuki. 83 minutes. Colour. / Japanese Scientists monitoring an orbiting television satellite witness its swallowing by a giant blue amoeba; it ...
Sound of Horror, The
Film (1964; US release 1966; original title El sonidode de la Muerte). Zurbana Films/Vinals Distribucion Spain/Europix Consolidated Corporation US. Produced and Directed by José Antonio Nieves Conde. Written by Sam X Abarbanel, Conde, Gregorio Sacristán de Hoyos, and Gregg C Tallas from a story by Abarbanel. Cast includes José Bódalo, Antonio Casas, Arturo Fernández, Lola Gaos, Soledad Miranda, James Philbrook, Francisco Piquer and Ingrid ...
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 ...