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Sunday 12 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 6 April 2026
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Collins, Robert
(1972- ) UK author of The Soul Corporation (2004), set in a Near Future dominated by a vast Corporation whose control of things is manifested primarily through advertisements (see Advertising), and which is involved in a Genetic Engineering conspiracy. [JC]
Johnson, William Oscar
(1931-2012) US author for Sports Illustrated and author, mostly nonfiction focused on professional sports; his sf works include The Zero Factor (1980), about a Near Future attempt to assassinate the American president, and Hammered Gold (1982), a thriller set at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles (see California), where the KGB causes trouble. [JC]
Destroy All Humans!
Videogame (2005). Pandemic Studio (PS). Designed by Brad Welch. Platforms: PS2, XBox (2005); XB360 (2008). / Destroy All Humans! is a broad Parody of the science fiction films of the 1950s and of alien invasion fictions generally (see Monster Movies); it is particularly reminiscent of Tim Burton's Satire on the ...
Excursion dans la Lune
Film (1908; vt Excursion to the Moon). Pathé Frères. Directed by Segundo de Chomón. Written by Segundo de Chomón, based on the story of George Méliès's Voyage Dans La Lune (uncredited). Cast unidentified. 7 minutes. Tinted. / This short silent film from Spanish/Catalan director de Chomón is for the most part a ...
Fergus, Dyjan
Pseudonym used by Canadian bookkeeper and chemist Ida May Ferguson (1871-1899) – whose married name from 1898 was Thompson – for her only novel, Tisab Ting; or, The Electrical Kiss (1896). This tale, one of the earliest Canadian sf novels and apparently the first by a Canadian woman, is set a century in the future of its time of writing, and tells of a man from newly powerful China who comes to Canada in hopes of marrying the daughter of his ...
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 ...