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Wednesday 18 February 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 16 February 2026
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Smith, Phil
(? - ) UK illustrator and author; of his three sf novels, The Incredible Melting Man (1978) is a Tie to The Incredible Melting Man (1978); The Resurrection Machine (1978) and The Saxonbury Printout (1979) both play with cosmic themes: resurrection and time-space confusions. [JC]
Wheeler, Francis
(1904-1969) UK author, mostly of thrillers, though as Francis Leslie Wheeler he published several volumes of popular Christian theology. His Sylvanian Adventure (1939) has some sf interest as a Ruritanian tale set in a hidden, heavily forested kingdom dangerously close to the outbreak of World War Two. [JC]
O'Malley, Kathleen
(1955- ) US author who has collaborated with A C Crispin on two volumes of the latter's StarBridge series of Space Operas for Young Adult readers. Another collaboration is the Star Trek: The Next Generation novel Possession (1996) with J M Dillard. [JC/DRL]
Leokum, Leonard
(1941-2000) US author of a Near Future sf novel, Weather War (1978) with Paul Posnick, in which the major powers, as World War Three threatens, explore the possibilities of using the technology of Weather Control against one another. [JC]
Wood, R W
(1868-1955) US author and optical physicist of some note whose sf works were written with Arthur Train (whom see for details). His comic verses and drawings in How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers: A Manual of Flornithology for Beginners (coll 1907 coll) – positing unlikely Evolutionary links based on supposed visual similarities, as between "The Bee, the Beetle and the Beet" – once had a cult following. ...
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 ...