The SFE quarrels its way into being encyclopedic
August 26, 2018 10:24 AM Subscribe
I keep forgetting about the SFE but have now added it to my bookmarks. Thanks for the reminder.
posted by MovableBookLady at 11:01 AM on August 26, 2018
posted by MovableBookLady at 11:01 AM on August 26, 2018
I think the 1995 volume (Science Fiction: The Illustrated Encyclopedia) is different than the editions of the Science Fiction Encyclopedia proper. The SFE 2 ed did have a 1995 revision, but I don't think it was illustrated at all.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:03 AM on August 26, 2018
posted by Chrysostom at 11:03 AM on August 26, 2018
Project Rho, a different sort of Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and my personal happy place on the Internet (present company excepted), would like a word. But this definitely looks like it could give Rho a run for its money.
posted by penduluum at 12:23 PM on August 26, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by penduluum at 12:23 PM on August 26, 2018 [8 favorites]
I had the '79 edition when I was a teenage, read it cover to cover multiple times.
posted by octothorpe at 12:23 PM on August 26, 2018
posted by octothorpe at 12:23 PM on August 26, 2018
The business model of SFE is a thing of genius.
Gollancz, the publisher who backs it, is one of the longest-standing and most respected British SF publishers. Over the past few years they've been buying up rights to the literary estates of dead SF/F authors and republishing their most important works in relatively cheap ebook editions via the SF Gateway. And, of course, the SFE links to the SF Gateway and vice versa.
It's the best possible marketing strategy: if I go to the SFE to look up something relating to SF, the only advertising I see is for books that are directly relevant to my interests.
posted by cstross at 1:15 PM on August 26, 2018 [14 favorites]
Gollancz, the publisher who backs it, is one of the longest-standing and most respected British SF publishers. Over the past few years they've been buying up rights to the literary estates of dead SF/F authors and republishing their most important works in relatively cheap ebook editions via the SF Gateway. And, of course, the SFE links to the SF Gateway and vice versa.
It's the best possible marketing strategy: if I go to the SFE to look up something relating to SF, the only advertising I see is for books that are directly relevant to my interests.
posted by cstross at 1:15 PM on August 26, 2018 [14 favorites]
I picked up the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction CD-ROM version for cheap from a discount bin sometime in the mid-90s and I read the whole thing, and watched all the videos. For a science fiction fan living on a sparsely inhabited island on the northern edge of the North Atlantic, it was an absolute godsend.
posted by Kattullus at 1:29 PM on August 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Kattullus at 1:29 PM on August 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
In related, I'm a fan of the Brian Ash edited 'The Visual Enclyclopedia of Science Fiction' 1977. There's several interesting original essays and lots of unique vintage illustrations.
posted by ovvl at 3:09 PM on August 26, 2018
posted by ovvl at 3:09 PM on August 26, 2018
This is awesome! A quick scamper to the skyscraper library confirms that shelved is a paperback tome published in 1979 entitled “The Science Fiction Encyclopedia” edited by Peter Nicholls. I assume the website is a descendant - I am looking forward to exploring.
And I am now stuck paging through the book. Will I ever know what happened in “Radio Planet and the Ant Men”? Aside from the scantily clad heroine being abducted by dragons being pursued by biplanes as is illustrated on the cover.
Oh and look a nice entry for Joanna Russ.
In conclusion, Science Fiction is a land of contrasts.
posted by skyscraper at 7:28 PM on August 26, 2018
And I am now stuck paging through the book. Will I ever know what happened in “Radio Planet and the Ant Men”? Aside from the scantily clad heroine being abducted by dragons being pursued by biplanes as is illustrated on the cover.
Oh and look a nice entry for Joanna Russ.
In conclusion, Science Fiction is a land of contrasts.
posted by skyscraper at 7:28 PM on August 26, 2018
Yeah, the 1979 SFE is the genesis of the current project. Here's the entry on the project itself.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:30 PM on August 26, 2018
posted by Chrysostom at 7:30 PM on August 26, 2018
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posted by confluency at 10:43 AM on August 26, 2018