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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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Synge, J L
(1897-1995) Irish physicist and author whose best-known nontechnical work of nonfiction is Science, Sense and Nonsense (1951). His novel, Kandelman's Krim: A Realistic Fantasy (1957), features a long conversation in which an Orc, a Kea, a Unicorn and a Plumber discuss the concept of infinity and instruct a passing Goddess in the foundations of Mathematics. [BS]
Holford, Castello N
(1845-1905) US author of Aristopia: A Romance-History of the New World (1895), an Alternate History, a very early example of the form in English: the first white settlers in Virginia, having discovered an enormous deposit of gold, use their wealth to ensure the success of their colony, which they turn into a Utopia destined to take over America in the twentieth century. [JC]
Flying Disc Man from Mars
US Serial Film (1950; cut vt Missile Monsters 1958). Republic Studios. Produced by Franklin Andreon. Directed by Fred C Brannon. Screenplay by Ronald Davidson. Cast includes Lois Collier, James Craven, Gegory Gaye (credited as Gregory Gay) and Walter Reed. Serial version in twelve instalments, total 167 minutes. Feature version 75 minutes. Black and white. / Pilot Kent Fowler (Reed), armed with an experimental ...
Richardson, Warren
(? -? ) US author whose occult romance, Dr Zell and the Princess Charlotte [for subtitle see Checklist below] (1892), incorporates some sf-like devices (see Fantastika), including references to the cosmological speculations of Theosophy, and Identity Exchange. [JC]
Lycoris Recoil
Japanese animated tv series (2022). A-1 Pictures. Created by Spider Lily and Asaura. Directed by Shingo Adachi. Written by Asaura. Voice cast includes Chika Anzai, Ami Koshimizu, Misaki Kuno, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Kosuke Sakaki, Yōji Ueda and Shion Wakayama. Thirteen 24-minute episodes. Colour. / The Spider Lily is a plant grown around rice fields to poison pests: its Latin name is Lycoris radiata. / Japan is free of the terrorism and major ...
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 ...