SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Saturday 14 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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Lindsay, John V
(1921-2000) US lawyer, politician (mayor of New York 1965-1973), and author of an sf novel, The Edge (1976), set in a Near Future America threatening to become a police state on grounds of the increased need for security (see Prediction). [JC]
Halford, John
(? -? ) UK author whose Hidden Saria (1934) is a Lost Race tale featuring an advanced civilization, hidden in a valley in Asia and descended from ancient Greek wanderers. [JC]
Spinrad, Norman
(1940- ) US author, born in New York – where he set some impressive fiction – but resident in France for many years; married to N Lee Wood (1990-2005). He began publishing sf with "The Last of the Romany" in Analog for 1963, assembled with other early work as The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde (coll 1970), the title story being among the most successful of the attempts made by various ...
Siddell, Thomas
(? - ) UK videogame animator and cartoonist, also known as Tom Siddell; best known for the long-running webcomic Gunnerkrigg Court which began in April 2005. Gunnerkrigg Court centres on Antimony "Annie" Carver and her friend Katerina "Kat" Donlan in a surreal UK boarding school. The story contrasts the semi-mythical forest outside of the school with a large urban sprawl of mostly lifeless school grounds. Annie Carver takes on the role of ...
Lightning Comics
US Comic (1940-1942). Ace Magazines. 10 issues. Artists include Harry Anderson, Jack Binder, Red Holmdale and Jim Mooney. Script writers include Maurice Gutwirth, Cliff Howe and Mark Schneider. Each issue has 68 pages, usually with seven long strips and one short text story, plus occasional short strips or text pieces as filler. / Lightning Comics was a retitling of Sure-Fire Comics, which had 4 issues in 1940 (the ...
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 ...