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Tuesday 18 August 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 17 August 2026
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Crowley, John
(1942-2026) US teacher and author who also worked in documentary films and television for some time beginning in 1966. His sf novels have had a considerable impact on the field, and his fantasies established him as a figure whose work courteously but deeply stretched the boundaries of genre literature. / His first novel, The Deep (1975), is set on a flat discworld (see Flat Earth) resting on a pillar that extends beyond measurement into the ...
Midnight Special
Film (2016). Warner Bros presents a Tri-State Pictures production in association with Ratpac-Dune Entertainment and Faliro House Productions. Written and directed by Jeff Nichols. Cast includes Adam Driver, Kirsten Dunst, Joel Edgerton, Jaeden Lieberher, Michael Shannon and Sam Shepard. 112 minutes. Colour. / Child Messiah Alton Meyer (Lieberher) is pursued by the FBI to a Parallel World above the Florida panhandle. / ...
Whitney, Verner Meurice
(1893-1984) US author in whose The Unearthly Kingdom (1930), which is set in the moderately distant Near Future, the earth is ruled by a warlord from his Island fastness, almost certainly a re-arisen Atlantis. He maintains control through his monopoly over advanced Weapons of all sorts, including martial Robots, and is persuaded to apply ...
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
US live-action/animated film (1988). Warner / Touchstone (Disney) / Amblin. (See The Walt Disney Company.) Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Animation director: Richard Williams (uncredited). Producers: Frank Marshall and Robert Watts. Written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S Seaman, remotely influenced by a Robert Towne project (for Chinatown see below), loosely based upon Who Censored Roger Rabbit? ...
Phantom from 10,000 Leagues, The
Film (1955). Milner Brothers Productions, American Releasing Corporation (see American International Pictures). Produced by Jack Milner. Directed by Dan Milner. Written by Lou Rusoff from an original story by Dorys Lukather. Cast includes Rodney Bell, Cathy Downs, Norma Hanson (uncredited), Vivi Janiss, Phillip Pine, Helene Stanton, Kent Taylor and Michael Whalen. 80 minutes. Black and white. / Bodies are washing up on 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 ...