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Thursday 12 February 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 9 February 2026
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Carver, Jeffrey A
(1949-2026) US author who began publishing sf with "... Of No Return" in Fiction Magazine for 1974. His first novel, Seas of Ernathe (1976), which serves as an introduction to the loose Star Rigger sequence of Space Operas, showed early signs of a love of plot and thematic complexity which would take him some time, and several novels, to control. The continuation, Star Rigger's Way (1978), for instance, combines quest ...
Campbell, Paul
(1964- ) Northern Irish artist, in the mainland UK from 1972, who first began to publish artwork in the Role Playing Game magazine Proteus in 1985, and studied graphic design at Hull University 1986-1989. He subsequently contributed many illustrations to Games Workshop's games magazine White Dwarf. Illustrative work associated with the ...
Wyss, Johann David Von
(1743-1818) Swiss philosopher and author, of sf interest for Der Schweizerische Robinson (1812-1813; trans William Godwin as The Family Robinson Crusoe 1814) [for subtitles of original and trans see Checklist below], now generally known as The Swiss Family Robinson, a nonfantastic tale which nevertheless – together with the book which inspired it, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719) – served as a ...
Roberts, Keith
(1935-2000) UK author and illustrator long resident in the south of England, where most of his best fiction was set. After working as an illustrator and cartoon animator, he began publishing sf with "Anita" and "Escapism" in the same issue of Science Fantasy, September/October 1964; several of his early stories were written as by Alistair Bevan. He served as associate editor of Science Fantasy 1965-1966 ...
Witkiewicz, Stanislaw Ignacy
(1885-1939) Polish painter, playwright and author, who also signed himself Witkacy, a combination of his last and middle names; he committed Suicide just after the Nazi invasion of his country when he learned that Soviet armies had attacked from the east, the direction in which he was fleeing. Much of his work, some eerily prophetic, deals darkly and humorously with the theme of a conservative world suddenly subjected to change, the clash of cultures, future ...
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 ...