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Wednesday 11 March 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 9 March 2026
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Skillman, Phil
(1845-1922) US attorney and author, who also wrote as by Kettle Kettleson. His only novel, A Living Dead Man; Or, the Strange Case of Moses Scott (October-? 1897 The Albany Law Journal as "A Living Dead Man; Or, the Strange Case of Moses Scott: An Accurate and Faithful Narration of the Complications Caused by a Litigant's Return from the Lethean Shore"; 1897 chap), applies supernatural and sf motifs, seemingly without noticing the distinction, to what might seem primarily ...
Pemberton, Max
(1863-1950) UK magazine editor, newspaper director and author, first editor of Chums 1892-1893, editor of Cassell's Magazine 1896-1906, and later a director of Northcliffe Newspapers. Of more than sixty novels, his most famous is The Iron Pirate: A Plain Tale of Strange Happenings on the Sea (1 March-2 August 1893 Chums; 1893; vt The Shadow on the Sea: A Tale of Strange Happenings on the Sea 1907) and its sequel ...
Pirates of 1920, The
UK silent film (1911). Cricks & Martin Films. Directed by David Aylott and A E Coleby. Cast unknown. 21 minutes. Black and white. / In the then Near Future of 1920, pirates descend from their Airship on rope ladders, boarding an ocean-going ship and stealing the gold bullion it carries. As they leave, ship's officer Jack Manley grabs the ladder as it is being raised – a fortunate act, as the pirates now drop bombs ...
Hickman, Stephen
(1949-2021) US artist working in the fields of both sf and fantasy, credited usually as Stephen Hickman, occasionally as Stephen F Hickman or Steve Hickman, and in a couple of early instances erroneously as Steven Hickman. He attended art school for two years at the Richmond Professional Institute (Virginia Commonwealth University) alongside such future luminaries as Michael W Kaluta, Phil Trumbo and Charles Vess. His ...
Baring, Maurice
(1874-1945) UK author, poet, playwright, diplomat, translator, essayist, newspaper foreign correspondent and authority on Russia who in World War One served in the RAF and Intelligence Corps, receiving an OBE in 1918. Friends and literary associates included Max Beerbohm, Hilaire Belloc and G K Chesterton. His first identified work of genre interest is "The ...
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 reviews on BBC Radio from 1974 and ...