SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Friday 11 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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Who?
Film (1974; vt The Man in the Steel Mask). Hemisphere/Maclean & Co. Directed by Jack Gold. Written by John Gould (Jack Gold), based on Who? (April 1955 Fantastic Universe; exp 1958) by Algis Budrys. Cast includes Joseph Bova, Elliott Gould and Trevor Howard. 91 minutes. Colour. / Released long after being made, and publicized not at all, this taut, efficient little metaphysical thriller, ...
Saunders, W J
(1873-1928) UK postman and author, in whose sf novel, Kalomera: The Story of a Remarkable Community (1911), travellers discover a mountain Utopia governed clemently but bureaucratically, without poverty or War. All ends well. [JC]
Starlost, The
Canadian tv series, syndicated by CTV (1973). Executive producers Douglas Trumbull, Jerry Zeitman. Produced by William Davidson. Series created Cordwainer Bird (pseudonym of Harlan Ellison). Technical advisor Ben Bova. Cast includes Keir Dullea, William Osler, Gay Rowen and Robin Ward. One season of 17 50-minute episodes. Colour. / This series about life on a vast ...
Miller, Thomas
(? -? ) UK author of a Lost Race tale, Fred and the Gorillas (1870), in which a race of advanced gorillas (see Apes as Human) is discovered, but treated spoofishly. [JC]
Cyberpunk
Term used to describe a school of Science Fiction that developed and became popular during the 1980s. The word was almost certainly coined by Bruce Bethke in his story "Cyberpunk" (November 1983 Amazing), which had for some time before publication been circulating in manuscript. The term was picked up, either directly or indirectly, by writer and editor Gardner ...
Clute, John
(1940- ) Canadian critic, editor and author, in the UK from 1969; married to Judith Clute from 1964, partner of Elizabeth Hand since 1996. He began to publish work of genre interest with an sf-tinged poem "Carcajou Lament" in Triquarterly for Winter 1960 [ie Autumn 1959]; he began consistently publishing sf reviews in his "New Fiction" column for the Toronto Star (1966-1967), and later in ...