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Saturday 19 July 2025
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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Williams, Tess
(1954-2025) UK-born teacher, editor and author, in Australia for many years, there receiving a degree in literature from Curtin University and an MA in creative writing from the University of Western Australia. She began publishing work of genre interest with "The Padwan Affair" in She's Fantastical (anth 1995) edited by Judith Raphael Buckrich and Lucy Sussex. Of sf interest are two novels: Map of Power (1996), set mostly in a ...
Gavin, Jamila
(1941- ) Indian-born children's author in UK from the early 1950s, prolific in several genres since she began publishing in 1979. Of sf interest are Ali and the Robots (1986), a not particularly challenging tale involving Robots, and the more ambitious The Wormholers (1996), an Alternate Cosmos tale. [JC]
Immortal, The
US tv series (1969-1971). Paramount/ABC TV. Concept based on the novel The Immortals (fixup 1962) by James E Gunn. Executive producer Tony Wilson. Produced by Lou Morheim. Directors included Joseph Sargent (pilot), Mike Caffey. Writers included Robert Specht, Stephen Kandel, Dan Ullman. Cast includes David Brian, Christopher George, Don Knight, Carol Lynley and Barry Sullivan. 75-minute pilot, followed by 15 50-minute episodes. Colour. / ...
Caroff, André
Pseudonym of French author André Carpouzis (1924-2009) who is perhaps best known for his Madame Atomos sequence, beginning with La Sinistre Mme Atomos (1964) and Mme Atomos Sème la Terreur (1965), both trans Brian Stableford in The Terror of Madame Atomos (omni 2010) [for details see Checklist below]; Atomos is a Japanese Mad Scientist whose desire for revenge ...
Reid, C Lestock
(1888-1954) India-born UK army officer and author, in active service during World War One. His adventure novels include The Trail of Pharaoh's Treasure: A Romance of Africa (1924); Sons of Solomon (1931), a Lost Race tale also set in Africa, sadly defaced for modern readers by its racism (see Race in SF); and Dark Destiny (1936). ...
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 ...