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Sunday 12 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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Farrow, G E
(1862-1919) UK author whose work as been thought of as being almost exclusively of Fantasy for children, often showing the direct influence of Lewis Carroll. None of his books are easily understood as sf, though two of his earlier tales involve journeys in space: in The Missing Prince (1896), a Pierrot character descends to Earth from the Moon; and the protagonists of ...
Rays
One of sf's trademark Clichés is the use of rays – of any colour or none at all, inhabiting the known electromagnetic spectrum or imaginary new spectra, or entirely based on Pseudoscience – for all manner of showy and/or narratively convenient effects. Exotic rays give ambiguous aid in Medicine or spawn Mutants, but above all they provide glamorous ...
Villains and Vigilantes
Role Playing Game (1979). Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU). Designed by Jeff Dee, Jack Herman. / Villains and Vigilantes was the most popular of the early Superhero themed RPGs, despite its inclusion of several design features that now seem questionable. Notably, characters are assigned a random assortment of Superpowers, making it ...
Gilbert, Sheila E
(1949- ) US editor and publisher who for many years has shared the roles of editor-in-chief and publisher of DAW Books with Betsy Wollheim (whom see). For her work at DAW she has also shared Chesley Awards for best art director with Wollheim in 1990 and 1992, and received a solo 2016 Hugo award as best professional editor (long form). Her only ...
Trevayne, Emma
(? - ) US author whose work is restricted to works for younger child and for the Young Adult market, beginning with the Coda sequence comprising Coda (2013) and Chorus (2014), set in a Near Future Dystopia; the young protagonist, armed with Music, subverts the tyranny in charge in time to save the ...
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 ...