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Wednesday 13 May 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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Suzuki Kōji
(1957-2026) Japanese author and essayist, largely known in English through the Cinema adaptations of several of his books, the international success of which obscured his wide-ranging domestic output. His horror and Equipoisal fiction proceeded in tandem with a wide array (not listed here) of books on young fatherhood and occasional works on motorcycle travel. He was also the translator of Simon Brett's ...
Mechanical Man, The
Italian film (1921). Original title L'Uomo Meccanico. Milano Film. Directed and written by André Deed. Cast includes André Deed, Valentina Frascaroli, Mathilde Lambert and Gabriel Moreau. 60-80 minutes. Black and white (but with colour tinting). About 26 minutes of this movie survive: it had long been considered lost, until parts of the Portuguese version were discovered in Brazil, albeit in poor condition. / When a criminal gang learn a ...
Stellar
US Original-Anthology series published by Ballantine Books, edited by Judy-Lynn del Rey, who see for full publication details. The first issue was simply entitled Stellar (anth 1974); the titles of subsequent issues were expanded on the model of the second, Stellar Science-Fiction Stories #2 (anth 1976), and continued, roughly annually, until ...
AI
The common acronym for Artificial Intelligence, an item of Terminology used increasingly often in information science, and hence in sf, since the late 1970s. Most writers would agree that for a Computer or other Machine of some sort to qualify as an AI it must be self-aware. There are as yet none such in the real world. Controversy continues regarding the feasibility of "strong AI", the creation of ...
Conapt
In sf Terminology, an apartment in a high-rise building. Conapts often feature what is effectively a complete life-support system, so that even when they are in a densely populated city their inhabitants are often seen to be isolated from other people. A conapt is often assumed to be in a city consisting of high-rise buildings, each one highly populated, but with the buildings themselves not necessarily crowded together, and sometimes separated by parkland. ...
Robinson, Roger
(1943- ) UK computer programmer, bibliographer and publisher, active in UK Fandom for many years. The Writings of Henry Kenneth Bulmer (1983 chap; rev 1984 chap) is an exhaustive Bibliography of one of the most prolific sf writers, Kenneth Bulmer, and Who's Hugh?: An SF Reader's Guide to Pseudonyms (1987) is similarly exhaustive in its ...