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Friday 22 September 2023
Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Fourth Edition. Some sample entries appear below. Click here for the Introduction; here for the masthead; here for 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.
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Young, B A
(1912-2001) UK journalist, editor and author, involved with the magazine Punch 1949-1964, and drama critic for the Financial Times 1964-1980. Of sf interest are Cabinet Pudding (1967), a Near Future Satire in which the UK Prime Minister in 1996 is a marijuana-smoking West Indian; and The Colonists from Space (1979), in which an Invasion by ...
Dellbridge, John
Pseudonym of Trinidad-born author and barrister Frederick Joseph de Verteuil (1887-1963), in the UK and India from the age of fourteen; he began to write in the UK after being debarred from practice for cheating clients, publishing variously as by Freddy Banister, John Dellbridge and Francis Vere. Of sf interest is The Moles of Death (1927) as by John Dellbridge, in which an Invention gives a peace-keeping aircraft an edge; there is a faint hint of ...
Favenc, Ernest
(1845-1908) UK-born explorer, historian and author, in Australia from 1864, becoming famous for his explorations of the Australian interior from the mid-1870s on, though his histories and studies of Australian history, geography and culture were thought superficial, even at the time. His fiction was better received, especially for its vivid depictions of inland Australia; but did not make a serious impact. Novels of sf interest include The Secret of the Australian Desert (dated 1896 but ...
Seed, David
(1946- ) UK academic and critic who has concentrated on the teaching of sf for many years (see SF in the Classroom); his books divide more or less equally between individual studies and strongly edited anthologies. His first work of genre interest is The Fictional Labyrinths of Thomas Pynchon (1988), a general study issued before Thomas Pynchon began to publish much more frequently ...
Blaine, Mahlon
(1894-1969) US illustrator, probably born Blain and adding the "e" later. He was a major figure in book Illustration before the Depression, which devastated his livelihood: although he continued to illustrate, much of his work was for non-mainstream publishers; towards the end of his life he returned to illustrate some Edgar Rice Burroughs reissues [see Checklist below]. Among books of genre interest that he illustrated ...
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. His first professional publication was the long sf-tinged poem "Carcajou Lament" (Winter 1960 [ie Autumn 1959] Triquarterly), though he only began publishing sf reviews in 1964 and sf proper with "A Man Must Die" in New Worlds for ...