SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Thursday 12 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 9 February 2026
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Carver, Jeffrey A
(1949-2026) US author who began publishing sf with "... Of No Return" in Fiction Magazine for 1974. His first novel, Seas of Ernathe (1976), which serves as an introduction to the loose Star Rigger sequence of Space Operas, showed early signs of a love of plot and thematic complexity which would take him some time, and several novels, to control. The continuation, Star Rigger's Way (1978), for instance, combines quest ...
Underwood, Michael R
(? - ) US author who began publishing work of genre interest with "Last Tango in Gamma Sector" in Crossed Genres for June 2010. His first series, the Ree Reyes sequence beginning with Geekomancy (2012 ebook). is fantasy. He is of sf interest for the Genrenauts sequence of Young Adult tales beginning with The Shootout Solution (2015), in which a ...
Thomas, Rhys
(? - ) Welsh author whose sf novel, On the Third Day (2010), is set in the aftermath of a Disaster, the rapid spread of a virus-based Pandemic that causes either incurable depression or savage violence, ending in death after three days. The story follows the immune survivors of a devastated family group to the south coast of England, where their attempts to establish a protective ...
Monad: Essays on Science Fiction
US critical journal edited by Damon Knight, published irregularly by Pulphouse Publishing. Three issues, September 1990, March 1992 and September 1993. All issues were digest-sized. / This journal was announced in the first issue's editorial as a forum for "s.f. writers" who can uniquely "criticize it from the inside", in contrast to the "fans and academics" who "sometimes publish very foolish things". However, after ...
Thing, The
1. Film (1951; vt The Thing from Another World). Winchester Pictures/RKO. Directed by Christian Nyby (but see below). Written by Charles Lederer, based on "Who Goes There?" (August 1938 Astounding) by Don A Stuart (John W Campbell Jr). Cast includes James Arness, Robert Cornthwaite, Margaret Sheridan, Douglas Spencer and Kenneth Tobey. 86 minutes. Black and white. / The Thing was by far the most ...
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 ...