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Sunday 8 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 6 February 2026
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Sallis, James
(1944-2026) US musician, poet and author, briefly active in New Worlds during its Michael Moorcock-directed New-Wave phase; he began to publish work of genre interest in this context with "Kazoo" (August 1967 New Worlds) and co-edited the magazine 1968-1969. His clearly acknowledged models in the French avant garde and the gnomic brevity of much of his work ...
Crawling Hand, The
Film (1963). Joseph F Robertson Productions. Directed by Herbert L Strock. Written by Bill Idelson and Herbert L Strock, based on a story by Joseph Cranston, Bill Idelson, and Robert M Young. Cast includes Peter Breck, Alan Hale Jr, Allison Hayes, Les Hoyle, Arline Judge, Rod Lauren, Sirry Steffen and Kent Taylor. 89 minutes. Black and white. / When the second astronaut to land on the Moon, Mel Lockhart (Hoyle), takes off for his return flight, monitors on ...
Van der Naillen, A
(1830-1928) Belgian-born occultist and author, in USA most of his life. His Magi sequence beginning with On the Heights of Himalay (1890) is of some sf interest for its attempts to mash together Theosophy, the Secret Masters who promulgate that doctrine and control the world from the eponymous mountains, and an Aztec Lost Race. [JC]
del Rey, Judy-Lynn
(1943-1986) US editor. She began her career in 1965 with Galaxy Science Fiction, becoming associate editor in 1969. Her predecessor was Lester del Rey; they married in 1971. She moved to Ballantine Books in 1973, bringing her husband in on the operation in 1974, and in 1977 was instrumental in forming the Del Rey imprint – named for her – of Ballantine (itself owned by Random House). ...
Transhuman Space
Role Playing Game (2002). Steve Jackson Games (SJG). Designed by David Pulver. / Transhuman Space uses an adapted version of the GURPS mechanics to depict a richly realized twenty-second century in which humanity has colonized the Solar System, while simultaneously splintering into multiple sub-species which have been variously improved or adapted to extraterrestrial ...
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 ...