SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Saturday 14 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
Sponsor of the day: Paul Giamatti
Stavridis, Admiral James
(1955- ) US soldier (Supreme Allied Commander Europe 2009-2013) and author, whose Near Future Next World War sequence, beginning with 2034: A Novel of the Next World War (2021) with Elliot Ackerman, complexly narrates a naval War between America and China. The sequel, 2054 (2024) with Elliot Ackerman [who see ...
Watson, Angus
(1972- ) UK author who initially wrote fantasy, primarily the Age of Iron sequence beginning with Age of Iron (2014). He is of some sf interest for his second sequence, the West of East series beginning with You Die When You Die (2017), set in an Alternate World America a millennium ago, where Magic works, though a band of lost Vikings takes refuge. Towards the end of ...
Enton, Harry
(1854-1927) US medical doctor and author who began writing dime novels as early as 1874; of Dime-Novel SF interest are the first three Frank Reade stories, all under the house name "Noname", beginning with The Steam Man of the Plains; Or, the Terror of the West (28 February 1876 The Boys of New York; 1896), all of them being very early examples of the Edisonade, each featuring ...
People Who Own the Dark, The
Spanish/US film (1976; 1980 US). Original title Ultimo deseo; vt Planeta Ciego. Cinematic Releasing Corporation (US). Produced by Jorge Luis Renena Tomayo (Spain), Sean S Cunningham (US). Directed by Léon Klimovsky. Written by Gabriel Moreno Burgos (credited as Gabriel Burgos), Vicenta Aranda and Joaquim Jordà. Cast includes Alberto de Mendoza, Teresa Gimpera, Nadiuska, Paul Naschy (credited as Paul MacKay), Tomás Picó and Julia Saly. 94 ...
Full Motion Video
Term used to refer to pre-recorded film footage used in a Videogame, as opposed to two or three-dimensional graphics generated by the game as it is being played. Such footage can be produced by computer animation or by filming live actors on physical sets. It is typically used for "cut scenes", short video segments which establish a frame narrative (see Interactive Narrative) for the game or advance a linear narrative over ...
Clute, John
(1940- ) Canadian critic, editor and author, in the UK from 1969; married to Judith Clute from 1964, partner of Elizabeth Hand since 1996. He began to publish work of genre interest with an sf-tinged poem "Carcajou Lament" in Triquarterly for Winter 1960 [ie Autumn 1959]; he began consistently publishing sf reviews in his "New Fiction" column for the Toronto Star (1966-1967), and later in ...