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Saturday 8 February 2025
Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Fourth Edition. Some sample entries appear below. Click here for the Introduction; here for the masthead; here for 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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Sarrantonio, Al
(1952-2025) US editor and author who began publishing work of genre interest with "Ahead of the Joneses" in Asimov's for March 1979. Much of his work was horror, sometimes tinged with sf (see Horror in SF), including his first novel, The Worms (1985), a Gothic tale set in Massachusetts with hints of H P Lovecraft; and the Equipoisal Moonbane ...
Famous Monsters of Filmland
Letter-size Cinema Magazine printed on newsprint-quality paper. Publisher: Warren Publishing. Editor: Forrest J Ackerman, possibly Jeff Rovin for the final issue. Format varied from perfect-bound to saddle-stapled. 191 issues, February 1958 to March 1983. The publication schedule was erratic, ranging from quarterly to (most often) ...
Force Field
In sf Terminology – unlike Physics, where it has a different meaning – a force field (sometimes a force shield or energy screen) is usually an invisible protective sphere or wall of force. The term "force field" first seems to have been used in this sf sense in E E "Doc" Smith's Spacehounds of IPC (July-September 1931 Amazing; 1947). Throughout the ...
Return of the Fly
Film (1959). Associated Producers/Twentieth Century Fox. Directed by Edward L Bernds. Written by Bernds. Cast includes David Frankham, Brett Halsey and Vincent Price. 78 minutes. Black and white. / The first of two sequels to the successful sf/horror film The Fly (1958), the other being Curse of the Fly (1965). Here the son of the scientist in The Fly, after being attacked by an evil ...
Berry, Stephen Ames
(1947- ) US systems analyst and data architect, formerly with the US Army Security Agency, and author whose John Harrison/Biofab War sequence of Near Future adventures comprises The Biofab War (1984), The Battle for Terra Two (1986), The AI War (1987) and Final Assault (1988). Military engagements (see Military SF) predominate throughout between ...
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 ...