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Thursday 22 January 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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von Däniken, Erich
(1935-2026) Swiss author of a series of purportedly nonfiction books, beginning with Erinnerungen an die Zukunft (1968; trans Michael Heron as Chariots of the Gods? 1969), which, based on a mass of often suspect and internally inconsistent data, argues that the Earth was visited by at least one Alien spacefaring race before and at the dawn of historical time; thus, for example, the Great Pyramid of ...
Adams, Scott
(1957-2026) US author and cartoonist best known for the Dilbert strip published from 1989, which when at its best superbly (in terms of concept and accuracy of Satire rather than quality of drawing) satirized contemporary office life and corporate incompetence. As with most ambitious modern comic strips, it segues frequently into sf and fantasy tropes – such as Robot office workers, wish-fulfilling ...
Sisson, Marjorie
(? - ) UK author of The Cave (1957 chap), whose two protagonists re-enact the story of Adam and Eve in the Lascaux caverns (see Underground), some time after World War Three. [JC]
Haldeman, Joe
(1943- ) US author who took a BS in physics and astronomy before serving as a combat engineer in Vietnam (1968-1969), where he was severely wounded, earning a Purple Heart; later, in 1975, he took an MFA. This range of degrees was an early demonstration of the range of interests that have shaped the Hard SF with which he has sometimes been identified; his experiences in Vietnam have in fact marked everything he has written, including his first ...
Quest for Fire
Film (1981). ICC-Cine-Trail (Montreal) Belstar Productions/Stephan Films (Paris). Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Written by Gerard Brach, based on La Guerre du Feu (1909 Je Sais Tout; 1909) by J-H Rosny aîné. Cast includes Rae Dawn Chong, Nameer El-Kadi, Everett McGill and Ron Perlman. 100 minutes. Colour. / This Canadian/French coproduction dramatizes the classic 1909 French ...
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 ...