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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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Shyamalan, M Night
(1970- ) US filmmaker, born in India to Philadelphia-based parents; the city and environs serve as settings for most of his films. His first feature Praying with Anger (1992) explored aspects of his Indian-American identity; his second, Wide Awake (1998), emerged from a brief flirtation with family comedy which also saw work on the screenplay for Stuart Little (1999). He came to wider attention that year with his third feature as ...
Adams, Nicholas
A House Name initially associated with the Horror High and Nightmares series of Young Adult novels, plus other Ties; used jointly by Debra Doyle and James D Macdonald, and solo by John Peel (whose titles under this name are standalones, not ties), Sherwood ...
Lang, Andrew
(1844-1912) Scottish anthropologist and man of letters well known for a wide range of literary activity, including novels, poetry, belles-lettres, children's books and (perhaps most familiar to current readers) Anthologies of traditional fables and tales retold for children, with some added hagiographical and historical material, much of the work being done by his wife; numerous volumes followed the first of these, The Blue Fairy Book (anth 1889). ...
Greene, John O
(1823-1911) US lawyer, farmer and author of one novel, The Ke Whonkus People: A Story of the North Pole Country (1893), whose protagonist, after having steamed into northern waters, trek northwards where they discover the eponymous Lost World clemently surrounding the pole, and containing a Utopia inhabited by several million whites. The original settlers were Adam and Eve, who arrived by ...
Kahn, Katie
Working name of UK executive in the field of digital Technology and author Katie Khan Wood (? -? ), whose first novel, Hold Back the Stars (2017), recounts the climax of a Near Future love story whose two protagonists, unable to return to their Spaceship, have only 90 minutes of oxygen left. Below them, planet Earth shows a savage face, seemingly as a ...
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 ...