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Friday 20 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. ...
Daft Punk
French electronic music duo, formed of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (1974- ) and Thomas Bangalter (1975- ), who conceal their identities by dressing as Robots for public appearances. Robotic and Machine imagery dominates their output and is reflected in song titles such as "Aerodynamic", "Digital Love", "Short Circuit", "Robot Rock" and "Technologic". Heavily processed, robotic vocals are also ...
de Rouen, Reed R
(1917-1986) US actor, television scriptwriter and author, of half Native American (Oneida) extraction. He appeared in minor roles in various television series, including a 1966 Doctor Who episode, "A Holiday for the Doctor"; he scripted a 1963 episode of the Avengers, "Six Hands Across a Table"; his sf novel Split Image (1955) mixes Space Opera and speculation on Politics and ...
Joseph, M K
(1914-1981) UK-born poet, author and professor of English, in New Zealand from 1924; his first novels were not sf. The Hole in the Zero (1967) begins as an apparently typical Space-Opera adventure into further dimensions at the edge of the Universe, but quickly reveals itself as a linguistically brilliant, complex exploration of the nature of the four personalities involved as they begin out of their own resources to shape the low-probability ...
Lester, Edward
(1831-1905) UK clergyman and author in whose The Siege of Bodike: A Prophecy of Ireland's Future (1886) the Near Future separation of Ireland from the ruling UK is prevented in large part by the anti-Catholic narrator, in a Balloon; and the landlords return. [JC]
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 ...