SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Saturday 15 August 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 10 August 2026
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Crowley, John
(1942-2026) US teacher and author who also worked in documentary films and television for some time beginning in 1966. His sf novels have had a considerable impact on the field, and his fantasies established him as a figure whose work courteously but deeply stretched the boundaries of genre literature. / His first novel, The Deep (1975), is set on a flat discworld resting on a pillar that extends beyond measurement into the circumambient galactic Deep, in which very few stars ...
Leslie, Desmond
(1921-2001) UK composer and author, son of the writer Shane Leslie (1885-1971) and best known for co-authoring with George Adamski (whom see for details and related works by Adamski alone) the famous early UFO book Flying Saucers Have Landed (1954; exp by Leslie 1970). Of more direct sf interest is Angels Weep (1948), a right-wing Dystopia, and ...
Plum-Ucci, Carol
(1957- ) US author of novels for the Young Adult market; The She (2003) is a horror tale; the Streams of Babel sequence, comprising Streams of Babel (2008) and Fire Will Fall (2010), depicts a Near Future bioterrorist attack on America through the eyes of afflicted teenagers, who may be able to discover an effective response. [JC]
de Pedrolo, Manuel
(1918-1990) Catalan author of an immensely varied series of works in all genres (poetry, journalism, drama, short fiction and the novel); his full range of accomplishments has not yet been fully acknowledged. Despite his staunch resistance against the repressive policies of Franco's regime (1939-1975) – he was a Republican soldier during the Civil War (1936-1939) – Pedrolo mistrusted the Catalan literary establishment of the democratic era, choosing to ...
O'Donnell, Kevin, Jr
(1950-2012) US author with a BA in Chinese Studies who spent several years in the Far East. His first published sf was "The Hand Is Quicker" (October 1973 Analog), and over fifty short stories followed before the turn of the century. His first novel, Bander Snatch (1979), curiously blends pulp Clichés and real inventiveness in its tale of a ghetto mobster who has telepathic powers and learns to use them ...
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 ...