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Thursday 16 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.
Site updated on 14 April 2026
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Watson, Ian
(1943-2026) UK teacher and author who lectured in English in Tanzania (1965-1967) and Tokyo (1967-1970) before beginning to publish sf with "Roof Garden Under Saturn" for New Worlds in 1969; he then taught Future Studies for six years at Birmingham Polytechnic, taking there one of the first academic courses in sf in the UK; he became a full-time writer in 1976, publishing around 200 short stories since 1969 at a gradually increasing tempo and with visibly ...
Terror in Meeple City
Board Game (2013). Repos Production. Designed by Antoine Bauza and Ludovic Maublanc. / Monsters are attacking Meeple City! They are roaring their terrible roars and baring their terrible teeth and eating everything in sight! Meeples everywhere are fleeing for their lives, but the hungry monsters have no remorse! / Terror in Meeple City is a dexterity game for 2-4 players, a lighthearted take on ...
Hanmura Ryō
Pseudonym of Japanese sf author Heitarō Kinō (1933-2002), often also romanized as Ryō Hammura. A sometime cabaret bartender and advertising executive, he drifted into an authorial career with "Shōkaku" ["Harvest"] (March 1963 S-F Magazine), which won a consolation prize in a new authors competition run by the publisher Hayakawa Shobō. / Running throughout his oeuvre is a vigorous mistrust of authority and the establishment, ...
Return of the Ape Man
US film (1944). Banner Productions. Directed by Philip Rosen. Written by Robert Charles. Cast includes Ernie Adams, Michael Ames, John Carradine, Mary Currier, Judith Gibson, Bela Lugosi, Frank Moran and George Zucco. Zucco, playing the ape man, fell ill during shooting and was replaced by Moran for most of the film. 60 minutes. Black and white. / A newspaper reports the disappearance of local tramp Willie the Weasel (Adams), last seen being driven ...
Port Sinister
Film (1953; vt Beast of Paradise Isle UK). American Pictures Company/RKO Radio Pictures. Produced by Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen. Directed by Harold Daniels. Written by Wisberg and Pollexfen. Special effects by Jack Rabin. Cast includes Paul Cavanagh, Lynne Roberts, William Schallert and James Warren. 65 minutes. Black and white. / Port Royal was a pirate stronghold on an unnamed Caribbean Island which sank during an earthquake in the ...
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 ...