SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Sunday 13 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 7 September 2026
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Miesel, Sandra
(1941- ) US critic and author, with degrees in chemistry and medieval history. Her involvement in sf was initially as a fan; from 1967 on she published at least seventy-five pieces in Fanzines. As a critic she became active in the 1970s, her first book being Myth, Symbol, and Religion in The Lord of the Rings (1973 chap) on J R R Tolkien. Her next book, ...
Patchett, M E
(1897-1989) Australian author, long resident in the UK, whose dated but competent Children's SF novels include Kidnappers of Space (1953; vt Space Captives of the Golden Men 1953), a modestly told Space Opera; Adam Troy, Astroman (1954), whose hero protagonist, on assignment to colonize Mars, leaves Earth, which is about to be ...
Phillips, Donald G
(? - ) US author of a Tie for the Battletech Wargame universe, Battletech: Star Lord (1996). [JC]
Dake, Charles Romeyn
(1849-1899) US homeopathic doctor, editor and author who began to publish work of genre interest with his first venture into fiction, "The Limits of Imagination" (December 1892 Homeopathic News); his only other short story, also fantastically themed, is "The Death and Regeneration of Gerald Deane" (May 1893 Homeopathic News). His competent Lost-Race novel, A Strange Discovery (1899), is a ...
Strange Tales
1. US Pulp magazine, seven issues September 1931 to January 1933, published by Clayton Magazines; edited by Harry Bates. Strange Tales (subtitled "of Mystery and Terror") was a companion magazine to Astounding Stories (see Astounding Science-Fiction) and was similar in editorial policy to Weird Tales; it carried some borderline science fiction, such as "In the ...
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 ...