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Tuesday 17 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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Schmidt, Arno
(1914-1979) German translator and author noted for his linguistic innovation and the swift wit of his experimental fictions, which project an air of calculatedly cerebral quarrelsomeness; he repeatedly acknowledged the influence of Edgar Allan Poe, whom he translated, and whose speculations shape and dominate his most ambitious novel, Zettels Traum ["Bottom's Dream"] (1970). The marked and extremist manipulation of ...
Fine, Sarah
(? - ) US child psychologist and author whose first series, the Guards of the Shadowlands sequence beginning with Sanctum (2012), is Young Adult fantasy infused with romance elements. The Of Metal and Wishes sequence beginning with Of Metal and Wishes (2014) achieves some Equipoisal frisson by emplacing a ghost story in an ...
Weinbaum, Batya
Working name of US critic, academic, poet, editor and author Betty Susan Weinbaum (1952- ), most of her work being focused on women's studies (see Feminism) within and without the regions of Speculative Fiction, or more broadly Fantastika. She founded and edits the feminist journal Femspec, which publishes fiction and nonfiction, also editing a ...
Evans, Bill
Working name of US chemist and author William Harrington Evans (1921-1985) for his sf studies and involvement in fandom, which began with bibliographical and other work in the 1940s and 1950s, most notably in The Fanzine Index, a journal he published with Bob Pavlat (1926-1983) through 1952. The Fanzine Index catalogued Fanzines and was later assembled into a single volume, ...
Kidd, Virginia
(1921-2003) US literary agent, editor and author, married to James Blish 1947-1963, who began to publish professionally in the early 1950s, publishing at least one story, "On the Wall of the Lodge" (June 1962 Galaxy) as Virginia Blish with James Blish; her first solo sf story, "Kangaroo Court", did not appear until much later, in Orbit 1 (anth 1966) edited by Damon Knight. Among other ...
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 ...