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Tuesday 17 March 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 16 March 2026
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Dietz, William C
(1945-2026) US author who began to publish sf with War World (1986; vt Galactic Bounty 1997), the first volume of his Sam McCade sequence of sf adventures about an interstellar bounty hunter, which continued with Imperial Bounty (1988) and two further titles. The galactic venue of the series exhibits some interesting kinks, and McCade himself gradually gains individuality. Although the angle of approach differs – the protagonist this time ...
Pollock, Tom
(1984- ) UK author who began to publish work of genre interest with "Two Hands at Heartbreak House" in Pantechnicon for December 2007. His Skyscraper Throne sequence beginning with The City's Son (2012), though technically Urban Fantasy in the commercial twenty-first century sense, focuses less on supernatural or paranormal entrepreneurs like Vampires or Werewolves than on a vision of ...
Aronofsky, Darren
(1969- ) US filmmaker whose sf films to date have been the Mathematical psychodrama π or Pi (1998) and the Immortality quest epic The Fountain (2007); he also co-wrote David Twohy's World War Two haunted-submarine (see ...
Doomsday Machine
Film (1972; vt Escape from Planet Earth). First Leisure/Cine-Find. Produced by Harry Hope. Directed by Herbert J Leder, Hope and Lee Sholem. Written by Stuart J Byrne from his original story. Special effects partially by David L Hewitt. Cast includes Ruta Lee, Denny Miller, Mala Powers, Lori Scott, unknown, Bobby Van, Henry Wilcoxon and Grant Williams. 83 minutes. Colour. / Project Astra is a two-year ...
Van Pallandt, Nicolas
Working name of Dutch director, screenwriter, painter and author Floris Nicolas Ali, Baron van Pallandt (1961-2006), son of Nina van Pallandt (1932- ); mostly in New Zealand from 1994. The Butterfly Night of Old Brown Bear (graph 1992) and Troll's Search for Summer (graph 1994), both heavily illustrated by the author, are fantasies for younger readers. Of direct sf interest is Anvil (1998), set on a world similar to Earth, where ...
Langford, David
(1953- ) UK author, critic, editor, publisher and sf fan, in the latter capacity recipient of 21 Hugo awards for fan writing – some of the best of his several hundred pieces are assembled as Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man (coll 1992 chap US; much exp vt The Silence of the Langford 1996; exp 2015 ebook) as Dave Langford, edited by Ben Yalow – plus five Best Fanzine Hugos ...