SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Wednesday 11 March 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 March 2026
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Bradford, K Tempest
Main pseudonym of unidentified teacher, blogger and author (1978- ), who also writes as by Kim Bradford and Finley T Larkin. As Larkin, she began to publish work of genre interest with "Elf Aware" in The Cafe Irreal for August 2002, most of her subsequent fiction being fantasy. In 2020 she shared a special Locus Award with Nisi Shawl (whom see) and Cynthia Ward for the online writing classes and workshops still continuing as ...
Elphinstone, Margaret
(1948- ) UK poet and author, longtime resident in Scotland, author of at least two gardening books and other works, who began publishing work of sf interest with "Spinning the Green" in Despatches from the Frontiers of the Female Mind (anth 1985) edited by Jen Green and Sarah Lefanu; several other stories, all assembled in An Apple from a Tree and Other Visions (coll 1991), involve the testing but strangely ...
O'Neill, John
(1964- ) Canadian author and editor, qualified in engineering and a former US software company manager, who was an editor at SF Site 1997-1999, before leaving to edit the new genre site Black Gate from late 2000 (Spring 2001 issue). He began publishing fiction of genre interest with "The Haunting of Cold Harbour" in Black Gate for Winter 2002, as by Todd McAulty. He is of sf ...
Bérard, Cyprien
(? -? ) French journalist and author of whom little is known, beyond his opportunistic rehash of John Polidori' s The Vampyre (1819), initially thought to have been written by Lord Byron, the real life model who most resembled its protagonist, and the fact that he has sometimes been confused with Charles Nodier. Lord Ruthwen ou Les Vampires ...
Frakes, Jonathan
(1952- ) US actor, best known for his role as Commander William T Riker in all 187 episodes of the second Star Trek television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994); he also directed several episodes of this and other Star Trek series as well as the films Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and Star Trek: Insurrection (1998). His sf ...
Nicholls, Peter
(1939-2018) Australian editor and author, primarily a critic and historian of sf through his creation and editing of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction [see below]; resident in the UK 1970-1988, in Australia from 1988; worked as an academic in English literature (1962-1968, 1971-1977), scripted television documentaries, was a Harkness Fellow in Film-making (1968-1970) in the USA, worked as a publisher's editor (1982-1983), often broadcast film and book reviews on BBC Radio from 1974 and ...