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Wednesday 18 February 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 16 February 2026
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Ole Luk-Oie
The best-known pseudonym of India-born UK military thinker and author Ernest Dunlop Swinton (1868-1951), who served in various capacities in the UK army from 1888 until he retired in 1919 with the rank of Major-General. His first book, The Defence of Duffer's Drift: A Few Experiences in Field Defence for Detached Posts Which May Prove Useful in Our Next War (1904 chap) as by Backsight Forethought, is couched as a sequence of fantasticated dreams in which Lieutenant Forethought ...
Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The
Russian animated silent film (1929; vt Adventures of Munchausen). Mezhrabpomfilm. Directed by D Cherkes. Written by N Sats and D Cherkes, based on the story sequence by Rudolph Erich Raspe. 18 minutes. Black and white. / A fairly mundane version of the Baron's tales, where – after stepping out of a book – he recounts his pursuit of a fox which made off with one of his chickens. This involves riding ...
Rosny jeune, J-H
Pseudonym of Belgian author Séraphin Justin François Boëx (1859-1948); in the form "J-H Rosny" this pseudonym was initially used by his elder brother, Joseph-Henri-Honoré Boëx (see J-H Rosny aîné), and was subsequently shared by both brothers 1893-1907: only after that date did Joseph-Henri-Honoré Boëx use the form J-H Rosny jeune. His interest in sf was very much less intense than his older brother's, ...
Shatner, William
(1931- ) Canadian actor from 1952, and author, long resident in the USA, where he gained fame as Captain Kirk in the Star Trek television series, going on to star in all the film sequels; he also directed the disappointing Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), about which he wrote, with Lisbeth Shatner, ...
Traill, H D
(1842-1900) UK lawyer, journalist and author, of most interest for his Satires, early examples – like The Israelitish Question: And the Comments of the Canaan Journals Thereon (1876 chap) anonymous tending to spoof contemporary politics through elaborate parodies and anachronisms. The New Lucian: Being a Series of Dialogues of the Dead (coll of linked stories 1884) makes its satirical points through a sustained reworking of the work ...
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 ...