SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Monday 19 January 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 14 January 2026
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von Däniken, Erich
(1935-2026) Swiss author of a series of purportedly nonfiction books, beginning with Erinnerungen an die Zukunft (1968; trans Michael Heron as Chariots of the Gods? 1969), which, based on a mass of often suspect and internally inconsistent data, argues that the Earth was visited by at least one Alien spacefaring race before and at the dawn of historical time; thus, for example, the Great Pyramid of ...
Adams, Scott
(1957-2026) US author and cartoonist best known for the Dilbert strip published from 1989, which when at its best superbly (in terms of concept and accuracy of Satire rather than quality of drawing) satirized contemporary office life and corporate incompetence. As with most ambitious modern comic strips, it segues frequently into sf and fantasy tropes – such as Robot office workers, wish-fulfilling ...
Hope, Anthony
Working name of UK barrister, politician and author Anthony Hope Hawkins (1863-1933), known as Anthony Hawkins in the first professions here listed; active as a writer from before 1890. His interest in imaginary lands preceded his most famous work, beginning with his first novel, A Man of Mark (1890), a romance set in the South American country of Aureataland; and continuing with Sport Royal (in Sport Royal and Other Stories coll 1894). His relevance to sf is ...
EVE Online
Videogame (2003). CCP Games (CCP). Designed by Reynir Harðarson. Platforms: Win (2003); Lin, Mac (2007). / EVE Online is perhaps best described as a Massively Multiplayer Online Space Sim (see Massively Multiplayer Online Games). While the game has role-playing elements, including the ability to improve the skills of player characters, it could ...
Dream Dimension Hunter Fandora
Japanese Original Video Animation (1985-1986); original title Mujigen Hunter Fandora. Kaname Production. Created Go Nagai. Directed by Shigenori Kageyama, Kazuyuki Okaseko and Hiroshi Yoshida. Written by Koichi Minade, Ryuji Yamada and Takashi Yamada. Voice cast includes Keiko Han, Mitsuko Horie, Kazuhiko Inoue, Makio Inoue, Akira Kamiya, Yūko Mita and Hirotaka Suzuoki. Three 35-46 minute episodes. Colour. / The ...
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 ...