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Thursday 15 October 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.
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Edwards, Malcolm
(1949-2026) UK editor, critic and publisher, educated at Cambridge, where he graduated in anthropology. Active in UK sf Fandom in the 1970s and early 1980s, he published the first complete text of James Blish's "The Science in Science Fiction" (May 1951-May 1952 Science Fiction Quarterly) in his Fanzine Quicksilver #2 in 1971; edited the ...
Woods, Olivia
(? - ) South-African-born author, in the USA for some years; she is of sf interest for two Ties to the Star Trek universe: Fearful Symmetry (2008) and The Soul Key (2009), both in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Relaunch series. [JC]
Spencer, D A
(? -? ) UK illustrator and author in whose Near Future sf Satire, North Sea Monster: A Novel the Action of Which Commences Next August (1934) with W Randerson, an Island appears in the North Sea. The monstrousness of the island, for those who come upon it, lies in its topological resemblance to the head and torso of a naked woman, including explicit breasts. ...
Kahler, Jack
(? - ) US author of a soft-porn sf novel (see Sex), Latex Lady (1964; vt Rubber Dolly 1966), about an Android sex toy. [JC]
Parliament
UK funk band, created by George Clinton. A dispute over the name prompted Clinton to form another group, Funkadelic, with largely the same membership; but after the dispute was resolved Clinton kept both projects going, with Funkadelic more funk-rock and Parliament more funk-soul in musical style. The band's fourth album, Mothership Connection (1975) introduces the "Mothership of Funk", a very influential ...
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 ...