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Saturday 5 September 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 31 August 2026
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Murray, Will
Working name of US author William Patrick Murray (1953-2026), who showed an interest throughout his career in Superheroes of the Pulp tradition (on which he was a known authority) such as Doc Savage, about which figure he wrote the nonfiction Secrets of Doc Savage (1981 chap). In this context he had been literary agent for Lester Dent's estate since 1979. ...
Barnes, John
(1957- ) US author, married to fantasy author Kara Dalkey (1953- ) from 1993 to 2001, who began publishing sf with "Manuel's Tears", for CoEvolution Quarterly in 1982, a tale which comprised a middle chapter of his successful first novel, The Man Who Pulled Down the Sky (1987), an effective drama involving highly coloured political conflicts throughout the solar system after World War Three ...
Rousseau, Yvonne
(1945-2021) Australian author, editor and critic whose first published fiction of genre interest was "The Truth About Oscar" (22 December 1981 The Bulletin; in Matilda at the Speed of Light, anth 1988, ed Damien Broderick). Her The Murders at Hanging Rock (1980; exp 1988) is a remarkable jeux-d'esprit study of Picnic at Hanging Rock (1967) by Joan ...
My 20th Century
Hungarian film (1989; original title Az én XX. századom). Produced by Archy Dolder, Norbert Freidländer, Gábor Sarudi and Andrzej Schwartz. Written and directed by Ildikó Enyedi. Cast includes Péter Andorai, Paulus Manker, Dorota Segda and Oleg Yankovskiy. 102 minutes. Black and white. / Dora and Lilli are twin sisters (both played by Segda) who are born in Budapest in 1880 at the same moment that Thomas ...
Alien
Film (1979). Twentieth Century Fox. Directed by Ridley Scott. Written be Dan O'Bannon, from a story by O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, with uncredited input from producers Walter Hill and David Giler. Alien design H R Giger; concept artist Ron Cobb; human spacesuit and uniform design Jean Giraud (uncredited). Cast includes Veronica Cartwright, Ian Holm, John Hurt, ...
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 ...