The Science Fiction Encyclopedia edited by Peter Nicholls

Bookshelf Essentials created by David Wiley
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[@GrammaticusBooks]

Great video Michael! Love that entry on the original Star Trek. Classic! (Now I have to dig out my World Encyclopedia of Comic Books!)

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Please do!

[@PeculiarNotions]

That entry about Star Trek is both humorous and instructive.

[@lock67ca]

The new Harlan Ellison anthology is fantastic. Only complaint is that it could have been two or three times larger. They've also re-released the Dangerous Visions books. All of it is must have. He may have been one of the most difficult, opinionated and cantankerous people to deal with, but nobody would argue the fact that he was one hell of a writer and editor. He needs a Library of America volume.

[@sjoerdvanloon]

What is the name of the anthology?

[@salty-walt]

​@@sjoerdvanloon"Greatest Hits" Of course to find it in a search you'll have to put "Harlan Ellison's Greatest Hits"

[@sjoerdvanloon]

@@salty-walt Thanks, I saw this book, but I found the title very "weird", haha.

[@starhope97]

Bought it a couple of weeks ago, looking forward to getting into it!

[@salty-walt]

Harlan Ellison hasn't been forgotten, but he has been widely slandered and maligned.

[@JohnM-cd4ou]

That star trek review is hilarious

[@BookChatWithPat8668]

What a treasure!

[@redwawst3258]

#1 Booktube channel. ✌🏼

[@NmDPlm31]

The second edition came in 1993 and credited John Clute as a co-editor. It was again re-issued in 1995. They also released a companion volume, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, in 1997. Great stuff. Thanks for bringing this little gem to light again.

[@sirequinox4874]

It is a must for every science fiction aficionado.

[@inanimatecarbongod]

Never read Nicholls' encyclopedia, but I was a big fan of his Fantastic Cinema book. One of my local libraries used to have that back in the 90s and I read it multiple times back then. It would also obviously be terribly out of date (published 1983) but I still found a lot of use for it; I always found his contention that 1968 was an important dividing line between older forms of SF/fantasy and horror cinema and the new ones that came in the 70s was a very useful point, as was his distinction in the book's viewing guide between the star ratings he gave the films and the skull ratings he also applied... as he put it, horror movies being scary and being disgusting were two different things, which is something else I've always taken to heart. Only just discovered that Nicholls was actually Australian, which makes me wonder what the entry on Doctor Who was like, cos DW's history in this country was kind of chaotic. We started showing it in 1965 but by the time Nicholls was working on the encyclopedia he would've only had a pretty scattered idea of its history... assuming, obviously, he was working from actual experience of the show rather than just ABC/BBC documentation about it. The website version is pretty positive about the show, but I feel somehow the original 1979 book entry would've been rather less so, given what the book evidently said about Star Trek...

[@macrosense]

Harlan Ellison is popular with the talk show circuit in the 70s and 80s. The Tom Snyder interviews are on KZbin, among others.

[@klaasbras1024]

Found a 1993 Hardcover of the second edition of this Encyclopedia some years ago .To make sure I checked and yes it still has the same Star Trek quotes and all but with more info for the later years upto a mentioning of TNG episode 22. The book has expanded to a 1370 page wealth of info for the genre.

[@TheFriedIndustry]

I loved this so much, thank you for sharing this gem! I just managed to snag a red hardback 1979 school library copy on eBay for about $16 USD after tax. Best wishes and subscribed!

[@macrosense]

“Have you got the jets to swing this load”. - dialogue from some E.E. “Doc” Smith book

[@jamesholland8057]

I read 2 Lensman books nothing more but enjoyed those.

[@StevenEverett7]

I'm a huge fan of Doc. I started reading his stories back in the 60s when I was still in middle school. My first taste of his stories was Galactic Patrol.

[@user-zo7mr3op8i]

Love that book. Proofread it. Found a couple of errors in the comics section. Two small errors in a book of that size! It is a book to HUG.

[@TheAtlanteanArchive]

That Star Trek write-up...wow. They ground that axe down to a butter knife. Speaking of Star Trek and Harlan Ellison, have you seen his original idea for The City on the Edge of Forever? If not, check that out sometime. It's *quite* different.

[@michaelsamerdyke108]

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy is superb as well. Maybe even better.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I wish I had that one.

[@davidmitchell6873]

Reading old dated books and magazines is great if you're able to put yourself in the context of the time.

[@glockensig]

A treasure for sure!!

[@nealsterling8151]

It's almost shocking how little understanding these authors had about Star Trek. Your assesment of them is on point. In Germany here where i live, this opinion is still around especially in the mainstream media and among self-proclaimed "intellectuals". (so its basically still like in the late 70 in the US) It's sad to say the least.

[@jamesholland8057]

I don’t think they understood tv censors and trying to please NBC when they hated the show.

[@charliedogg7683]

Very snappy tie/shirt/waistcoat combo Michael. I have a few UK-published encyclopedias of SF from the 70s and early 80s which are equally interesting as snapshots into the past. And the colour photos and cover reproductions are wonderful. It sounds like the reviewer of Star Trek is covering his/her ignorance about the series' mechanisms of characterisation, plot and story-telling by rolling out simplistic condemnations. I have to hand it to you, you always find unusual and unexpected books to showcase.

[@StevenEverett7]

You are absolutely right Michael. That is a wonderful book to just browse through. I've had my copy for years and I find it a source of true pleasure.

[@dbitgood1]

Nobody hated on Star Trek harder than that beloved rascal Harlan Ellison.

[@nunyabizness6595]

I think he should have written an episode of Next Gen. That would have been hilarious!😂😂😂

[@jamesholland8057]

He bit a hand that helped him.

[@rolpaw4371]

In France we have "L'Encyclopédie de L'utopie, des Voyages Extraordinaires & de la Science-fiction" de Pierre Versins, 1st ed. 1972, reprint in 1982. ... Really good book also ! ... But in french 🙂.

[@SleepyBookReader-666]

That analysis of Star Trek is hilarious. Where they got the idea that almost all the fans were women! Hah.

[@wbbartlett]

Just snagged one in good condition for less than $10 online, same edition, paperback.

[@dylantindall5573]

I was looking for my copy of this a few weeks ago. Did I give it to a book fair? and the other edition? Ergh. Make room, make room, but alas, though needs make loss, others may gain.

[@Zulda7231]

Harlan Ellison did some crazy things.

[@jamesholland8057]

He was out of control sometimes.

[@waltera13]

🎉 ROCKET SUMMER - WOOOOO HOOOO!!! 🎆

[@AndrewBuckleBookReviews]

Love that book, got a few similar books and they are always great to pick up and they are a great inspiration to find many old (as well as new-ish for the time) authors. Harlan Ellison is /was one of the greatest authors ever. Always fascinating to read the opinions about shows back in the 70s (such as Star Trek), same for any series. Clearly it did slightly better than they could have thought back then. I guess Star Wars probably was also a little dismissed ?

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Not as badly as Star Trek for some reason.

[@vilstef6988]

Ellison had many awards, and was the leading author for number of awards for many years. I think Connie Willis is now the author with most awards.

[@Yesica1993]

I'm old and out of date, so I don't mind books that are!

[@jamesholland8057]

You don’t have to be out of date. Great writings from the past don’t need sex and politics to be great.

[@Yesica1993]

@@jamesholland8057 I didn't say they did.

[@jamesholland8057]

@@Yesica1993 sorry. Commenting on your feeling out of date.

[@Yesica1993]

@@jamesholland8057 Okay. It was just a lame joke.

[@deselby6669]

MKV..Hes always down with the 'bukes'...

[@DDB168]

Notwithstanding the Fox news style opinion of that Star Trek piece, it does make an interesting point - that of the female audience. That would have been unexpected back when it first aired.

[@tonette6592]

Very Goth, Michael. YOu look right at home with Roger in that outfit. Bring it back more often. I missed getting one Star Trek encyclopedia. The one I picked up later is more updated but not as good. I have to admit that most of what was said about Star Trek was actually right, except the interaction and humor of Star Trek (OS) was lost in the guy and Hey, there was NOTHING 'ambiguous' about Spock's sexuality! It took me years to realize that the human I ended up marrying was closer to him than I could have found than if I had purposely searched for one.

[@jamesholland8057]

Many people don’t understand Platonic love of a friend.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Are you sure he isn’t only half human? Check his ears!

[@tonette6592]

@@jamesholland8057 You went off-track. The man called Spock's sexuality "ambiguous", as in "not clear'. He never said that Spock swung both ways. I maintain that there was nothing unclear about his sexiness, as we girls love Spock. I never heard of guys hot for Spock, but that would be their problem. No one questioned the deep bonds of friendship between Spock and Kirk, and even Dr. McCoy as anything but just what it was.

[@jamesholland8057]

@@tonette6592 so ambiguous doesn’t leave room for unknown when Kirk is the sex object not Spock.

[@tonette6592]

@@jamesholland8057 But what does that have to do with the encyclopedia's statement about Spock and my comment? Besides, Kirk was cute but a horndog, yet Spock was a sexy and desirable man for any thinking female.

[@Tolstoy111]

Co-editor John Clute also did an Encyclopedia of Fantasy. Still with us! Peter Nicholls died in 2018.

[@celticarchie]

I'm Vintage 1978, I'm not out of date! ;P Well, technically, considering my actual time is like the year 30 billion... ahem... :D

[@MrTuco40]

I believe this volume's 80s version has an entry on The Empire Strikes Back basically calling it a boring piece of crap.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Ha! That figures!

[@jamesholland8057]

I guess the editors liked Lost in Space better. Their level I suppose.

[@psikeyhackr6914]

Does the Encyclopedia say anything about the difference between what Robert Heinlein meant by "Speculative Fiction" and what it has come to mean. Maybe we need a new term, "H-Spec Fiction"!

[@vilstef6988]

Michael, what's happened to Roger's Cheapass Horror Book Club?

[@davidsigler9690]

I have a "Encyclopedia of Science Fiction" forward by Isaac Asimov, (1978 Publication)....and it seems it's the same book in style....interesting there are or were published two books of the same type and almost title?

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

That is interesting!

[@davidsigler9690]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 It's also a very good book.....

[@michaelsamerdyke108]

Actually, I think Connie Willis has won more awards than Harlan Ellison.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Way to go Connie Willis!