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Friday 10 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.
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Swedenborg, Emanuel
(1688-1772) Swedish scientist, philosopher and theologian. The first half of his career was devoted to investigations into a number of scientific fields, from mathematics and physics to geology, during which period, in letters written in 1714-1715, and elsewhere, he suggested the possibility of winged flying machines. In 1743-1745 he underwent a visionary experience, after which most of his writings became mystical. These later writings, which influenced the British ...
Out of This World [comic]
US Comic (1956-1959). Charlton Comics. 16 issues. Artists include Steve Ditko, Rocco "Rocke" Mastroserio, Bill Molno and Charles Nicholas. Most of the scripts were by Joe Gill. Usually 4-6 comic strips per issue (save for the double-length #7 and #8) and a two page text short-story (but two in #7 and #8, none in #12), mainly sf and supernatural horror. / In the ...
Poor Things
Film (2023). Element Pictures, Film4, Fruit Tree, Searchlight Picture. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. Written by Tony McNamara, based on the novel Poor Things (1992) by Alasdair Gray, itself very loosely based on Frankenstein; Or, the New Prometheus (1818 3vols) by Mary Shelley. Cast includes Willem Dafoe, Vicki Pepperdine, Mark Ruffalo, Emma Stone and Ramy Youssef. 141 minutes. ...
Alien
Film (1979). Twentieth Century Fox. Directed by Ridley Scott. Written be Dan O'Bannon, from a story by O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, with uncredited input from producers Walter Hill and David Giler. Alien design H R Giger; concept artist Ron Cobb; human spacesuit and uniform design Jean Giraud (uncredited). Cast includes Veronica Cartwright, Ian Holm, John Hurt, ...
Gunther, John
(1901-1970) US author, best known for the memoir of the death of his child, Death, Be Not Proud (1948). Of some sf interest are Eden for One: An Amusement (1927; vt Peter Lancelot: An Amusement 1927), in which a mage from another Dimension gives young Peter the opportunity to create an Alternate World to thrive in, which he takes; and The Bright Nemesis (1932), a ...
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 ...