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Thursday 16 April 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 14 April 2026
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Watson, Ian
(1943-2026) UK teacher and author who lectured in English in Tanzania (1965-1967) and Tokyo (1967-1970) before beginning to publish sf with "Roof Garden Under Saturn" for New Worlds in 1969; he then taught Future Studies for six years at Birmingham Polytechnic, taking there one of the first academic courses in sf in the UK; he became a full-time writer in 1976, publishing around 200 short stories since 1969 at a gradually increasing tempo and with visibly ...
Lyons, Edgar Albion
(1897-1980) US author of The Chosen Race: A Novel Based on the Depression and the Machine Age (1936), a twenty-first-century Dystopia governed by Technocrats who impose a clockwork uniformity on the world. [JC]
Correa, Hugo
(1926-2008) Leading Chilean sf author of his generation; co-founder of the Club de Ciencia Ficción de Chile [Chilean SF Club]; president of UFO Chile. He is the author of Los altísimos ["The Superior Ones"] (1959; rev 1973), considered by many writers, critics and fans a key novel in Latin America's sf history. / Correa began studying for a degree in law but turned instead to journalism ...
Poyer, Joe
Working name of US author Joseph John Poyer (1939-2018) for his fiction, beginning with "Mission 'Red Clash'" in Analog for December 1965, Analog being a magazine with which he was closely associated. Of his novels, Operation Malacca (1968), about the use of talking Dolphins for military purposes, and North Cape (1969) are Technothrillers. Tunnel War ...
Max Headroom
UK made-for-tv film (1985); US tv series (1987-1988). Chrysalis/Channel 4 (UK); Chrysalis/Lakeside-Lorimar Telepictures (US). Created by Steve Roberts (screenplay) and George Stone, Annabel Jankel, Rocky Morton (story). Produced by Peter Wagg, Brian Frankish, Roberts. Writers included Roberts, Philip DeGuere, Michael Cassutt. Directors included Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel (UK teleplay), Farhad Mann, Tommy Lee Wallace, Thomas J Wright, Victor ...
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 reviews on BBC Radio from 1974 and ...