Third Edition of the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

[symbolhunter]

The Third Edition of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction is now available online in a Beta version.

Here's the link:

http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/

[Hobbit]

Thanks for that link, symbol.

Spent the last couple of days browsing at random through it.

And I've just been told I'm in the Acknowledgements of the new edition too:

http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/Entry/acknowledgments

I am very surprised, pleased and honoured. The Encyclopedia from Edition 1 has been a wonderbook for me that has opened up so many possibilities for reading...

Mark

[Loerwyn]

Go Mark!

At this rate, SFFWorld will be taking over the universe!

[symbolhunter]

Thanks for that link, symbol.

Spent the last couple of days browsing at random through it.
And I've just been told I'm in the Acknowledgements of the new edition too:

http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/Entry/acknowledgments

I am very surprised, pleased and honoured. The Encyclopedia from Edition 1 has been a wonderbook for me that has opened up so many possibilities for reading...

Mark

Thanks so much for helping to bring that invaluable work to us!

[Hobbit]

And thank you for the thank you's!

BUT I did very little, really: which is why I was so surprised at the mention.

Don't want anyone to get the wrong idea - its certainly nothing like the work David Langford, Graham Sleight, John Clute et al have done. It's a phenomenal work.

All I did was compare some of the old with the newer....


*goes away to find cat to stroke whilst contemplating universal domination.....*

Mark

[offog]

I remember signing up to be notified via email when this would be available. They must have thought I wasn't serious. Thanks for the link.

[Hobbit]

Not sure it's that, offog. Check your spam filter!

Having said that, I haven't got mine either.....

Thinking further, it is in the beta testing stage at the moment: there are errors which I understand the team are picking up and addressing.

Might only be for the 'proper' version up and running?

Mark

[Stephen Palmer]

I notice a lot of Brit authors aren't listed - myself, Ian Whates, Mark Charan Newton... probably quite a few more.

[offog]

I checked the junk and didn't see it, but there's a lot of detritus to hide amongst.

I notice a lot of Brit authors aren't listed - myself, Ian Whates, Mark Charan Newton... probably quite a few more.

Ooh, hadn't noticed that deficiency yet.

[Hobbit]

Sure these issues will be addressed eventually, even if they haven't already.

I'm not sure but I don't think the beta is the full version, so to speak.

I'm also getting the impression that the online version will be a continuous 'work in progress' - one of the reasons why it's gone online! - so that there will be additions all the time. It is a lot easier to do that electronically than it was in the print versions (though I love my hefty paper versions) *hug*

Mark

[Stephen Palmer]

It was only a casual point. It's not like I'm bothered.

[Werthead]

MCN's books are definitely fantasy, so I assume non-eligible for an SF encyclopedia.

It's interesting how focused they are being on this. Scott Bakker is listed for Neuropath alone (or rather he will be, as he's a 'not added yet' category at the moment). Oddly though, Steven Erikson is not listed (even in the incomplete category) for The Devil Delivered, a work of SF. There's also some oddities in the gaming section: Crysis is mentioned but its forerunner, Far Cry, isn't, although with its background in genetic engineering and Doctor Moreau-inspired storyline it seems to be just as applicable.

I must admit I particularly enjoy the TV entries though. As an old-school Babylon 5 fan, the SFE's assessment that DS9 has aged better and is probably now the stronger series in retrospect is a bitter pill, but also one that I think is ultimately difficult to argue against. Its assessment of Neo-BSG (great show, completely loses the plot in the last two seasons) is also very close to mine, and the cautionary note that Firefly is great but for all we know it could have nosedived in quality if it had kept going is interesting.

[Loerwyn]

MCN's books are definitely fantasy, so I assume non-eligible for an SF encyclopedia.

Disagree.

There's some pretty obvious Shannara-esque links to our world. The relics are magical yet mechanical, there's the blue space woman and quite a few science fiction elements kicking around. It's still fantasy, sure, but there are some sci-fi elements to it.

[Werthead]

I don't think that's good enough for the SFE editors. Terry Brooks and Robert Jordan have just as many - if not more - SF nods in their fantasies than MCN and neither of them get a mention either. Even Jack Vance's entry gives only a nod to The Dying Earth sequence as a precursor to more overt SF works using a similar setting (Book of the New Sun etc), apparently dismissing it from the SF canon due to the presence of magic.

The SFE seems to be pretty 'purist' in its approach to entries. I recall the print fantasy encyclopedia being much more relaxed about cross-genre works.

[Loerwyn]

I don't think that's good enough for the SFE editors. Terry Brooks and Robert Jordan have just as many - if not more - SF nods in their fantasies than MCN and neither of them get a mention either. Even Jack Vance's entry gives only a nod to The Dying Earth sequence as a precursor to more overt SF works using a similar setting (Book of the New Sun etc), apparently dismissing it from the SF canon due to the presence of magic.

The SFE seems to be pretty 'purist' in its approach to entries. I recall the print fantasy encyclopedia being much more relaxed about cross-genre works.

Well, I guess you're right about it being purist. Perhaps in the future it'll be more open?