SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Tuesday 12 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.
Site updated on 11 May 2026
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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 ...
Rutman, Leo
(1935- ) US playwright and author. Spear of Destiny (1988) is an occult fantasy set in the Spanish Civil War, about the spear that pierced Christ's side, and which may remain magically potent. Of sf interest is Clash of Eagles (1990), a Hitler Wins tale set some years after its Jonbar Point, the surrender of Great Britain in 1941. America has been ...
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth
Film (1969). Hammer/Warner. Directed by Val Guest. Written by Guest, from story by J G Ballard. Cast includes Patrick Allen, Robin Hawdon and Victoria Vetri. 100 minutes. Colour. / This was originally written by J G Ballard, but director Guest got to the script and eliminated anything expensive, original or intellectual. Still a bit livelier than most Prehistoric SF romances, this is one of a series of them made by ...
Kossakowska, Maja Lidia
(1972-2022) Polish author, poet, and painter, married to Jarosław Grzędowicz. Her Fantastika ranges across Fantasy, Horror and sf, though she was best known for the subgenre of angel fantasy. Her output includes over a dozen novels and several short story collections. Her promising career – she was called "the First ...
Downing, David
(1946- ) UK historian and author of the Hitler Wins Alternate History text, The Moscow Option: An Alternative Second World War (1979; rev 2001), which depends upon two Jonbar Points: Hitler is immobilized after a plane crash, which allows his generals to drive straight to Moscow; and the Americans are defeated at Midway. The text stops at 1942, with ...
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 ...