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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. ...
Pollock, Tom
(1984- ) UK author who began to publish work of genre interest with "Two Hands at Heartbreak House" in Pantechnicon for December 2007. His Skyscraper Throne sequence beginning with The City's Son (2012), though technically Urban Fantasy in the commercial twenty-first century sense, focuses less on supernatural or paranormal entrepreneurs like Vampires or Werewolves than on a vision of ...
Man and the Challenge, The
US tv series (1959-1960). ZIV Television Programmes for NBC-TV. Created by Ivan Tors. Produced by Tors. Associate Producer Andrew Marton. Directors included Richard Carlson, Alan Crosland Jr, Tom Gries, Otto Lang. Writers included Don Brinkley, Carlson, Gene Levitt, Arthur Weiss. Cast includes Jack Ging, Joyce Meadows and George Nader. 36 30-minute episodes. Black and white. / Dr Glen Barton (Nader) is a research Scientist working for the Institute of ...
Rolfe, Frederick
(1860-1913) UK author and eccentric, known as much for claiming the name Baron Corvo as for his writing. The nine Reviews of Unwritten Books (February-June 1903 The Monthly Review; plus one added piece December 1904 Gentleman's Magazine; coll 1985-1988 4vols each chap) with Sholto Douglas are an early articulation of the concept of Alternate History, if only in a nonfiction format (one of the reviews, for instance, being of ...
Pagetti, Carlo
(1945- ) Italian critic, since 1971 Professor of English Literature, first at the University of "G. D'Annunzio", Pescara-Chieti, then in other Italian universities: Siena, Bergamo, Turin, and most recently Milan, where he has taught since 1995, occupying several roles. He coordinated the doctoral program in English studies from its founding until 2005. / His Il senso del futuro: la fantascienza nella letteratura Americana ["The Meaning of the Future: Science ...
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 ...