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Tuesday 17 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.
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Dietz, William C
(1945-2026) US author who began to publish sf with War World (1986; vt Galactic Bounty 1997), the first volume of his Sam McCade sequence of sf adventures about an interstellar bounty hunter, which continued with Imperial Bounty (1988) and two further titles. The galactic venue of the series exhibits some interesting kinks, and McCade himself gradually gains individuality. Although the angle of approach differs – the protagonist this time ...
Mutations
Film (1973). Getty Picture Corp/Columbia. Directed by Jack Cardiff. Written by Robert D Weinbach, Edward Mann. Cast includes Tom Baker, Michael Dunn, Julie Ege and Donald Pleasence. 92 minutes. Colour. / In this scientifically ludicrous UK film a Mad Scientist (Pleasence) attempts to combine plant with animal life, aided by the dwarf owner of a carnival freak-show (Dunn), who obtains human guinea-pigs for his experiments and exhibits the results. Tom ...
Barlow, James
(1921-1973) UK author, known mainly for such work outside the sf field as Term of Trial (1961). His sf novel proper, One Half of the World (1957), presents a UK ruled by a totalitarian leftist regime; the protagonist, finding God again (and love), conflicts with the powers-that-be, unsuccessfully. The right-wing approach of this book (see Politics) is typical of British Dystopian fiction in the 1950s. ...
Vernes, Henri
Pseudonym of Belgian author Charles-Henri-Jean Dewisme (1918-2021), in France 1946-1949, prolific producer of Pulp-style adventure novels in various genres from the mid-1940s. His most popular series, the Bob Morane sequence beginning with La Vallée Infernale ["The Valley of Hell"] (1953; trans anon as Bob Moran in the Valley of Hell 1960) ends, more than 200 volumes later, with ...
Moody, Rick
(1961- ) US author whose novels, beginning with Garden State (1992), tend to focus on the travails of survival in late twentieth-century urban America, the best known of these tales being The Ice Storm (1994). Two of the three novellas assembled in Right Livelihoods: Three Novellas (coll 2007) edge close to the fantastic; the third, "The Albertine Notes" (in McSweeney's Mammoth Treasure of Thrilling Tales, anth 2003, ...
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 ...