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Wednesday 11 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 ...
Heydron, Vicki Ann
(1945- ) US author who began to publish work of genre interest with "Keepersmith" for Asimov's in 1979 with Randall Garrett, who was her husband. Most of her work, such as the Gandalara Cycle beginning with The Steel of Raithskar (1981) with Garrett and ending with The River Wall (1986) with Garrett, was billed as written in collaboration with him but owing to his failing ability to work after ...
Petyo, Robert
(? - ) US author of The Institute (1978), an authoritarian Dystopia not perhaps very cogently described. [JC]
Savages
Film (1972). Ivory-Merchant Productions in association with Angelika Films, US. Directed by James Ivory. Produced by Ismail Merchant. Written by George Swift Trow and Michael O'Donohue from an idea by Ivory. Cast includes Susan Blakely, Thayer David, Anne Francine, Salome Jens, Asha Puthli, Lewis J Stadlen (credited as Lewis Stadlen), Russ Thacker and Ultra Violet. 106 minutes. Black and white/sepia-toned/colour. / A primitive tribe of "Mud ...
McDowell, Emmett
(1914-1975) US author who also wrote as Robert E McDowell, beginning his career after service in World War Two with The Happy Castaway (Spring 1945 Planet Stories; 2020 ebook). His work as author in other genres is various; he published several mystery novels, beginning with Switcheroo (1954 dos), none listed here, and as an historian specialized in regional studies of Kentucky. In his sf – ...
Clute, John
(1940- ) Canadian critic, editor and author, in the UK from 1969; married to Judith Clute from 1964, partner of Elizabeth Hand since 1996. He began to publish work of genre interest with an sf-tinged poem "Carcajou Lament" in Triquarterly for Winter 1960 [ie Autumn 1959]; he began consistently publishing sf reviews in his "New Fiction" column for the Toronto Star (1966-1967), and later in ...