SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Sunday 18 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 14 January 2026
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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 ...
Alternate History
An alternate history – some writers and commentators prefer the designation "alternative history" on grammatical grounds, some use the unelucidative Counterfactual, and others apply the term "uchronia" (see Charles Bernard Renouvier) – is an account of Earth (sometimes extending to exploration of solar-system space) as it might have become in consequence of some hypothetical alteration in history (see ...
Reitmeister, Louis Aaron
(1903-1975) US author of If Tomorrow Comes (1934), a Utopia in which an Alien from another planet, given a tour by two humans, one of whom constantly deprecates Earthly civilization; the alien in turn extols life on the planet Jedelar, whose inhabitants are unfailingly rational, needing no government to keep them in check. [JC]
Eight Legged Freaks
Film (2002). Warner Brothers Pictures presents in association with Village Roadshow Pictures and NPV Entertainment an Electric Entertainment Production. Directed by Ellory Elkayem. Produced by Dean Devlin and Bruce Berman. Written by Jesse Alexander, Ellory Elkayem from a story by Elkayem and Randy Kornfield. Cast includes David Arquette, Doug E Doug, Scarlett Johansson, Scott Terra and Kari Wuhrer. 99 minutes. Colour. / This likeable Monster Movie ...
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 ...