The Science Fiction Encyclopedia

'The Science Fiction Encyclopedia / The Encyclopedia of  Science Fiction'
Edited by Peter Nicholls

Over the past few months, I've been dipping into my rather battered copy of the 1981 Granada edition of 'The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ' (672 pp.), which first appeared in 1979 in the UK and USA (where it was titled 'The Science Fiction Encyclopedia').

'The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction' (TEoSF) was one of a number of such tomes that appeared in the late 1970s, signals that the genre, in the aftermath of the release of Star Wars and the visibility of the New Wave movement, was rapidly becoming a powerful commercial presence not just in book publishing, but the entire mass-media environment. 

It's impressive to consider that the encyclopedia was assembled in an era well before the internet and Google. Indeed, it's about as comprehensive as one could expect given the data gathering technology of the late 70s. 

Editor Nicholls was joined by 33 other contributors, including Brian Aldiss, John Brosnan, David Masson, Franz Rottensteiner, John Saldek, and Brian Stableford. Nicholls acknowledges that the reference library at the the Science Fiction Foundation of North East London Polytechnic (now titled the Polytechnic of East London) was crucial to compiling the encyclopedia.

Any encyclopedia is vulnerable to criticism that it neglects some topics in favor of others, and this criticism could of course be leveled af TEoSF. But of course, emphasis would be given to topics that were deemed important in the period of the late 1970s, and other topics, such as Cyberpunk, either simply didn't exist back then, or were in too nascent a state to be given a full treatment. So the book's themes of 'television', 'esp', 'suspended animation', and 'mainstream writers of SF' may seem quaint in 2023, but 44 years ago, they were very au courant.

Thumbing through the pages of TEoSF brings with it all sorts of strange and entertaining little revelations that Baby Boomers like myself will cherish. And of course, I wound up making a list of paperbacks that, based on entries in the book, seemed worthy of attention.

The writing in TEoSF can be uneven, as the contributors are given the rather difficult task of providing content for a reference book that also is intended to be read for some degree of pleasure. Nicholls's entries are well-written and successfully balance the goals of being scholarly, but accessible. 

But the worst offender is the UK critic and editor John Clute, who is second only to Nicholls in the number of contributions. Clute's entries have the self-consciously pretentious and jargon- riddled quality of someone who very much wants to be perceived as a Serious Scholar. I've criticized Clute in another post here at the PorPor Blog, so I won't beat a dead horse...........

One thing that becomes apparent in reading TEoSF is the the degree of dedication and commitment to the project displayed by editor Peter Nicholls, an Australian writer for whom the book was his first major foray into the editorial landscape. Nicholls would go on to write two books that were quite informative, and well served both fans and the general public, 'The Science in Science Fiction' (1982), and 'The World of Fantastic Films: An Illustrated Survey' (1985). 

Nicholls would co-author another print edition of TEoSF in 1993, but thereafter, increasing ill-health limited Nicholls's efforts as writer and editor. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2000, and died in 2018. One can only wonder what contributions to the genre he could have made, had he not been stricken while still at a relatively young age.

Who will want a copy of 'The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction' ? Well, Baby Boomers, who can remember how the genre was nearly 45 years ago, likely will find perusing its pages to be worthwhile and nostalgic. 

But I doubt newer sci-fi fans will find the printed version from 1979 to be very useful, given that the current, online version - which is free - constantly is updated, and reflects the enormous growth in the subject that has taken place in the past four decades. Perhaps it's best to view the Encyclopedia of 1979 as a product unique to its time and place, and those interested in such things are its recommended audience.