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Thursday 16 July 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 July 2026
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Thurlow, David
(1932-2021) UK journalist for various local papers, the Daily Express (for 26 years) and The Times; author of several thrillers and true crime books. His sf novel for Robert Hale Limited is The Sleepers (1980), set in a Near Future Dystopian Britain under control of the extreme Left; the only opposition remaining – which proves successful – is the ...
Davis, Carol
(? - ) US author of two Ties to the Quantum Leap television series: Quantum Leap #13: Obsessions (1997) and Quantum Leap #20: Mirror's Edge (2000) with Esther D Reese, which terminates the sequence. [JC]
Palma, Félix J
(1968- ) Spanish author, who began publishing short fiction, much of it fantasy or sf, in the late 1980. The first volume of his Victorian Trilogy sequence – comprising to date El mapa del tiempo (2008; trans Nick Caistor as The Map of Time 2011) and El mapa del Cielo (2012; trans Nick Caistor as The Map of the Sky 2012) – is an Alternate History tale set in a ...
Davis, Russell
(1970- ) US author, editor and publisher in many genres whose pseudonyms include David Cian and Christopher Tracy; he has edited a number of anthologies, most in collaboration with Martin H Greenberg. In his sf novel Touchless (2002) the protagonist, whose dead wife is in Cryonic storage, is offered the choice (reminiscent of an episode in ...
Shadwell, Thomas
(circa 1640-1692) UK poet and playwright, Poet Laureate from 1688 until his death. Of his plays – which are now better esteemed than for the centuries after his death – The Tempest, or The Enchanted Island [for subtitle see Checklist below] (performed 1674; 1690 chap) is of some interest, though its attempts to present the fantastic in terms of spectacle now seem lame. Of greater sf interest is The Virtuoso: A Comedy Acted at the Duke's Theatre (first ...
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 ...