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Tuesday 21 April 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 20 April 2026
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Watson, Ian
(1943-2026) UK teacher and author who lectured in English in Tanzania (1965-1967) and Tokyo (1967-1970) before beginning to publish sf with "Roof Garden Under Saturn" for New Worlds in 1969; he then taught Future Studies for six years at Birmingham Polytechnic, taking there one of the first academic courses in sf in the UK; he became a full-time writer in 1976, publishing around 200 short stories since 1969 at a gradually increasing tempo and with visibly ...
Holt-White, W
(1878-1937) UK journalist, film producer – he was the Head of the Editorial Department for a UK propaganda newsreel, The War Office Official Topical Budget in 1917 and 1918 – and author in various genres, in which capacity he produced nine novels of interest. In The Earthquake: A Romance of London in 1907 (1906) a ruined London is taken in hand by an aristocratic Prime Minister; Holt-White explicitly stated that he based the tale on ...
Williams, Ralph
(1914-1959) Working name of Ralph William Slone, US author of almost a dozen stories published in Astounding and other SF Magazines from 1940 to 1959. "Business as Usual, During Alterations" (July 1958 Astounding) deals optimistically with the Economics of free commodities made available by Matter Duplication, suggesting that this ...
Riding, Julia
(? -? ) UK author of three Space Operas for Robert Hale Limited, beginning with Gabion (1979). Space Traders Unlimited (1987) is a similar adventure for the Young Adult market. [JC]
Dark Star
Film (1974). Jack H Harris Enterprises. Directed by John Carpenter. Written by Carpenter, O'Bannon. Cast includes Brian Narelle, Dan O'Bannon, Dre Pahich and Joe Saunders. 83 minutes. Colour. / This cult success, Carpenter's debut, was originally a 45-minute film shot on 16mm by students at the University of Southern California for $6000, but producer Jack H Harris provided cash for new footage and for transfer to 35mm film stock. Dark Star ...
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 ...