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Thursday 14 May 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 11 May 2026
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Suzuki Kōji
(1957-2026) Japanese author and essayist, largely known in English through the Cinema adaptations of several of his books, the international success of which obscured his wide-ranging domestic output. His horror and Equipoisal fiction proceeded in tandem with a wide array (not listed here) of books on young fatherhood and occasional works on motorcycle travel. He was also the translator of Simon Brett's ...
Daft Punk
French electronic music duo, formed of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (1974- ) and Thomas Bangalter (1975- ), who conceal their identities by dressing as Robots for public appearances. Robotic and Machine imagery dominates their output and is reflected in song titles such as "Aerodynamic", "Digital Love", "Short Circuit", "Robot Rock" and "Technologic". Heavily processed, robotic vocals are also ...
Kassil, Lev
(1905-1970) Russian author who specialized in Young Adult tales, usually adherent to Soviet views of the proper development of Russian youth. Of sf interest is Shvambranye (1934; trans Sylvia Glass and Norbert Guterman as The Land of Shvambrania 1935; new trans Fainna Glagoleva as The Black Book and Schwambrania 1978 USSR), which describes a Lost World accessible only via a surreally ...
Independence War: The Starship Simulator
Videogame (1997). Particle Systems (PS). Designed by Glyn Williams, Michael Powell. Platforms: Win. / Independence War is a combat-oriented Space Sim, with views displayed in real time using three-dimensional graphics. It is remarkable both for its use of accurate Newtonian Physics and for the fact that the player's ship is a corvette with a crew of four, rather than the more conventional ...
Namlook, Pete
(1960-2012) Prolific German composer and performer of instrumental electronica. Namlook has released scores and perhaps even hundreds of albums under a wide variety of pseudonyms, and many of them style themselves as sf. Some of the more notable of these releases include The Fires of Ork (1994) and The Fires of Ork Part II (2007, both with Geir Jenssen of Biosphere), an unauthorized sequel-album to ...
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 ...