SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Tuesday 20 January 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 19 January 2026
Sponsor of the day: Andy Richards of Cold Tonnage Books
von Däniken, Erich
(1935-2026) Swiss author of a series of purportedly nonfiction books, beginning with Erinnerungen an die Zukunft (1968; trans Michael Heron as Chariots of the Gods? 1969), which, based on a mass of often suspect and internally inconsistent data, argues that the Earth was visited by at least one Alien spacefaring race before and at the dawn of historical time; thus, for example, the Great Pyramid of ...
Adams, Scott
(1957-2026) US author and cartoonist best known for the Dilbert strip published from 1989, which when at its best superbly (in terms of concept and accuracy of Satire rather than quality of drawing) satirized contemporary office life and corporate incompetence. As with most ambitious modern comic strips, it segues frequently into sf and fantasy tropes – such as Robot office workers, wish-fulfilling ...
Chosen Survivors
Film (1974). Alpine-Churubusco/Metromedia. Directed by Sutton Roley. Written by H B Cross, Joe Reb Moffly, based on a story by Cross. Cast includes Jackie Cooper, Alex Cord, Bradford Dillman and Richard Jaeckel. 99 minutes. Colour. / This US/Mexico coproduction is a small-scale, inventive little exploitation movie whose plot-line is purest Paranoia. In a government test on stress reactions, 11 people are persuaded via ...
Space Comics
UK Comic (1953-1954); vt Captain Valiant. 32 issues, numbered #50-#81. #50 titled Captain Valiant; #51-#52 titled Space Comics presents Captain Valiant, #53-#81 Space Comics Captain Valiant. Arnold Book Company. Art and scripts by Mick Anglo (see Marvelman) and Denis Gifford. 2-3 strips per issue. Cover in colour, strips in black and white. / "Tough veteran of space travel and hero of campaigns on ...
Wilkes, Marilyn Z
(? - ) US author of the C.L.U.T.Z. sequence of sf tales for the youngest of Young Adult readers, beginning with C.L.U.T.Z. (1982). The titular acronym stands for Combined Level Unit Type Z, and is the name of an obsolescent Robot who befriends and is befriended by the young protagonist in the distant Near Future. Hi-jinks ensue. [JC]
Nicholls, Peter
(1939-2018) Australian editor and author, primarily a critic and historian of sf through his creation and editing of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction [see below]; resident in the UK 1970-1988, in Australia from 1988; worked as an academic in English literature (1962-1968, 1971-1977), scripted television documentaries, was a Harkness Fellow in Film-making (1968-1970) in the USA, worked as a publisher's editor (1982-1983), often broadcast film and book reviews on BBC Radio from 1974 and ...