SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Tuesday 15 July 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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Griffith, George
Pseudonym of UK traveller, journalist, poet and author born George Chetwynd Griffith-Jones (1857-1906), the son of a clergyman and one of the most influential sf writers of his time; active as a poet in the 1880s, his first book being Poems (coll 1883 chap) as by Lara; he legally became George Griffith in 1894. He appeared frequently in the pre-sf Magazines and Pulp magazines, particularly ...
O'Neil, Vincent
(? - ) US author, active from around 2005, who has written detective fiction and horror under his own name. As Henry V O'Neil he is of sf interest for his Military SF series, the Sim War sequence beginning with Glory Main (2012), which begins in fairly typical fashion with its protagonist soldier forced into an extreme situation in a Space Opera frame, as the war with ...
Apollo 18
Film (2011). Dimension Films and Timur Bekmambetov present a Bekmambetov Projects Ltd production. Directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego. Written by Brian Miller. Cast includes Andrew Airlie, Warren Christie, Michael Kopsa, Lloyd Owen and Ryan Robbins. 86 minutes. Colour. / A Spacesuit Film in which US astronauts encounter Aliens on the Moon. / "We're witnessing what could be evidence of ...
Thompson, Vance
(1863-1925) US literary critic and author in various genres (including early twentieth-century nutritionism). The Carnival of Destiny (coll of linked stories 1916) depicts a sequence of Reincarnations in terms of fantasy; The Scarlet Iris (1924; vt The Tarnished Woman 1924) is supernatural horror; and The Green Ray (November 1922-March 1923 Munsey's as "The Man of the ...
Deas, Stephen
(1968- ) UK mathematician and author, mostly of Young Adult fantasy in his early career, including the Adamantine Palace sequence beginning with The Adamantine Palace (2009) and the shorter Thief-Taker's Apprentice sequence beginning with The Thief-Taker's Apprentice (2010). Of sf interest is Elite: Wanted (2014) with Gavin G Smith, writing together as ...
Nicholls, Peter
(1939-2018) Australian editor and author, primarily a critic and historian of sf through his creation and editing of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction [see below]; resident in the UK 1970-1988, in Australia from 1988; worked as an academic in English literature (1962-1968, 1971-1977), scripted television documentaries, was a Harkness Fellow in Film-making (1968-1970) in the USA, worked as a publisher's editor (1982-1983), often broadcast film and book reviews on BBC Radio from 1974 and ...