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Saturday 27 July 2024
Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Fourth Edition. Some sample entries appear below. Click here for the Introduction; here for the masthead; here for 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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Arthur C Clarke Award
This award has been given since 1987 for the best sf novel whose UK first edition was published during the previous calendar year, and consists of an inscribed bookend and a sum of money from a grant initially donated by Arthur C Clarke. In 2001 the prize money – until then a constant £1000 – was increased to £2001 as a gesture to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); it has since risen by ...
Jonbar Point
Term occasionally used in sf criticism for a crucial forking-place in Time, whose manipulation via Time Travel can radically affect the future that follows. "Jonbar hinge" has also been used synonymously. The name derives from Jack Williamson's The Legion of Time (May-July 1938 Astounding; rev 1952), which deals with Changewar ...
Hardy, Phil
(1945-2014) UK journalist, business consultant and expert on rock music and film, on both of which subjects he has published widely, having been founding editor of Studio Vista's Rockbooks series and of the magazine Music Business. Among his notable books on film those most relevant to sf are The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction (1984; vt Science Fiction: The Complete Film Sourcebook 1984; vt The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Movies ...
Parry, Michel
(1947-2014) Belgian-born anthologist, screenwriter and author, in the UK from childhood; he also wrote or edited as by Carlos Cassaba, Nick Fury, Christopher Lee (having known the actor for many years), Steve Lee, Linda Lovecroft and Eric Pendragon. Of the films he scripted, Xtro (1982) is of sf interest. Almost all of his fiction was horror, his first publication of genre interest being "The Last Bus" in Tandem Horror 2 (anth 1968) edited by ...
Dale, Floyd D
(? - ) US author whose first work, A Hunter's Fire (1989), is a Post-Holocaust military-sf adventure, in which the USSR invades the USA; valiant guerrilla warfare ensues. [JC]
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 ...