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Sunday 22 June 2025
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.
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Forsyth, Frederick
(1938-2025) UK author who gained fame with his first novel, The Day of the Jackal (1971), and whose books are generally political thrillers. The Shepherd (1975 chap), however, is a sentimental Timeslip or ghost fantasy in which a pilot on Christmas Eve 1957 is saved from crashing by a World War Two pilot in an antique bomber: pilot and plane had been shot down on the Christmas Eve of 1943. ...
Jet
US Comic (1950-1951; vt Jet Powers). Four issues. Magazine Enterprises. Four strips per issue. Artists include Frank Frazetta, Bob Powell, Al Williamson, Wally Wood and Larry Woromay. The character Jet Powers was created by Powell and Gardner F Fox, the latter likely writing the scripts. / Jet Powers "captain of science" is a genius ...
Bellamy, Francis Rufus
(1886-1972) US editor and author, mostly of popular American history; he was related to the Francis Rufus Bellamy who wrote "The Pledge of Allegiance" (September 1892 Youth's Companion). In his sf novel Atta: A Novel of a Most Extraordinary Adventure (1953) a man is struck by lightning and, after shrinking (see Miniaturization) until just half an inch (12 mm) tall, combines forces with a warrior ant by the name of Atta. [JC] ...
Morgan, Richard
(1965- ) British author who began publishing work of genre interest with Altered Carbon (2002) as by Richard K Morgan; the middle initial also appears on US reprints. Altered Carbon was the first of a three-volume sequence featuring the mercenary/detective Takeshi Kovacs, subsequent books being Broken Angels (2003) and Woken Furies (2005). The setting of the Kovacs sequence is a United Nations-supervised group of ...
Tomorrow [fanzine]
UK Fanzine edited and published by Douglas W F Mayer for the Leeds, Yorkshire, Science Fiction Association, of which Tomorrow was the official organ. Seven issues, Spring 1937 to Autumn 1938; #1 to #4 (Winter 1938) duplicated half-quarto (5 x 8 in); thereafter lithographed US quarto (8½ x 11 in). Quarterly. / The change of format after issue #4 coincided with the ...
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 ...