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Sunday 7 December 2025
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.
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Stoppard, Tom
Working name of Czech-born playwright and screenwriter Tomáš Straussler (1937-2025), in the UK since 1946, the Stoppard surname being acquired from his stepfather when his widowed mother remarried in 1945. His early dramatic work was characterized by extravagant wit and wordplay, and an Absurdist application of logic to surreal or insane situations. Following the broadcast of several Radio plays, his ...
Packard, Frank L
(1877-1942) Canadian author known almost exclusively for the Jimmy Dale the Gray Seal sequence of thrillers, beginning with "The Gray Seal" (May 1914 People's Magazine), which was later assembled with other stories as The Adventures of Jimmie Dale (coll of linked stories 1917), several further volumes following until 1935. With his secret identity, his "Fortress of Solitude", his hidden wealth, his moral imperatives and his remarkable physical skills, Jimmy Dale ...
Cat Soup
Japanese animated film (2001; vt Nekojiru-sō). J.C. Staff. Directed by Tatsuo Satō. Produced by Yuji Matsukura. Written by Nekojiru, Tatsuo Satō and Masaaki Yuasa. No voice cast. 34 minutes. Colour. / Made in tribute to the Manga artist "Nekojiru", which roughly translates as "cat soup" – real name Chiyomi Hashiguchi (1967-1998) – who created the cute ...
Jensen, Liz
(1959- ) UK journalist, sculptor and author whose first novel, Egg Dancing (1995), is a Satire set in a Near Future Britain agitated by the destabilizing threat that Genetic Engineering can lead to the "Perfect Baby"; Ark Baby (1997), its thematic sibling, is also set in the Near Future and also deals with ...
Yourell, Agnes Bond
(1864-? ) US author whose A Manless World (1891) speculates about what might happen to the human species were an interstellar gas to have destroyed "animal desire" (see Sex; Feminism) in everyone except – it is mooted – the Jews (see Race in SF), who might find an elixir: riots and pogroms would occur; the race would vanish. In a manner not uncommon to ...
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 ...