Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.pdf

Encyclopedia of

Science Fiction

DON D’AMMASSA

Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

D’Ammassa, Don, 1946–

Encyclopedia of science fiction / Don D’Ammassa.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-8160-5924-1 (hardcover : acid-free paper)

1. Science fiction, American—Encyclopedias. 2. Science fiction, English—Encyclopedias. I. Title.

PS374.S35D33 2004

813'.0876209'003—dc222004013819

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This book is printed on acid-free paper.

C ONTENTS

Introduction

Entries A–Z

Glossary

435

Nebula and Hugo Award Winners

438

Bibliography of Science Fiction Works

445

Selected Bibliography of Secondary Sources

515

Index

517

I NTRODUCTION

times known familiarly as “SF,” but rarely

“Sci-Fi,” which is generally considered to be pejora-

tive by aficionados of the genre, and more appro-

priate for films than literature. Science fiction is

one of the three subdivisions of fantastic literature,

the other two being fantasy fiction and supernatu-

ral horror. Although definitions vary and some

individual works may blur the distinction between

one branch and another, most fantastic or specula-

tive stories and novels can—by general consen-

sus—be placed in one of the three categories.

Science fiction is the youngest of the three, but

since the late 1940s it has been by far the most pop-

ular, and the total number of science fiction titles

published in book form presently exceeds that of

fantasy and supernatural fiction combined. That

dominance has been challenged during the last few

years by the increasing popularity of fantasy fiction.

This book provides a broad overview of the

field, its major authors and works. With more than

18,000 identified books and countless short stories,

it obviously would be impossible to cover the field

exhaustively in a single volume. Included here are

profiles of most of the more significant writers,

describing the highlights of their careers, their

selected works, and their places in the overall spec-

trum of science fiction. Additionally, there are

entries on specific stories, novels, or series. The

works chosen for individual treatment are either of

extraordinary quality or historical significance,

including many that have proven popular in high

school and college classrooms, or are included as

examples of a subset of the field not sufficiently

described elsewhere in the book. Keep in mind that

the most “important” work is not necessarily the

best written, although that is often the case as well.

Sometimes, less important authors happened to pro-

duce a story whose significance is unrelated to the

quality of the writing. Such authors might have sug-

gested a concept that spawned superior imitations

or involved an idea too unique to be repeated.

Science fiction developed as a series of inter-

twined schools of writing. Jules Verne, known for

his series of novels about fantastic voyages, is often

credited as the first major author of the science fic-

tion adventure story. Stories in this tradition often

focus on a marvelous invention or wondrous jour-

ney and generally have a less than serious tone and

perhaps superficial characterization. H. G. Wells,

who invented or at least popularized many of the

major themes in the genre, is generally cited as the

father of serious science fiction, novels that try to

predict the future or that describe how people

might react to a speculative situation such as time

travel, invaders from Mars, or the gift of invisibility.

Wells and those who followed him were concerned

with character, prose, and commentary.

During the 1920s and 1930s, pulp fiction mag-

azines proliferated in the United States in particu-

lar; many of them were either exclusively or at least

partially devoted to scientific romances. These mag-

azines featured lurid covers, often incorporating

bug-eyed monsters, stylized spaceships, and scantily

clad women, and they obviously targeted adolescent

males as their primary audience. Most of the stories

published in them were crude, poorly plotted, badly

written, and often contained questionable science,

W elcome to the world of science fiction, some-

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