Douglas Noel Adams was an English author, humourist, and screenwriter, best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (HHGTTG). Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy developed into a "trilogy" of five books which sold more than 15 million copies in his lifetime. It was further developed into a television series, several stage plays, comics, a video game, and a 2005 feature film. Adams's contribution to UK radio is commemorated in The Radio Academy's Hall of Fame.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it was later adapted to other formats, including novels, stage shows, comic books, a 1981 TV series, a 1984 text adventure game, and 2005 feature film.
Zaphod Beeblebrox is a fictional character in the various versions of the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
Charles Sheffield, was an English-born mathematician, physicist and science-fiction writer who served as a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronautical Society.
Jacen Solo is a fictional character in literature based on the Star Wars film series, set in what is now designated as the original-canon Star Wars Legends continuity. The son of Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo, as well as the nephew of Luke Skywalker, he is a major character in several novels, particularly the New Jedi Order series. He becomes the antagonist of the Legacy of the Force series under the name Darth Caedus. Jacen's other familial connections of note to his native continuity include being the brother of Jaina Solo and Anakin Solo as well as the cousin of Ben Skywalker.
Tricia Marie McMillan, also known as Trillian Astra, is a fictional character from Douglas Adams' series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. She is most commonly referred to simply as "Trillian", a modification of her birth name, which she adopted because it sounded more "space-like". According to the movie version, her middle name is Marie. Physically, she is described as "a slim, darkish humanoid, with long waves of black hair, a full mouth, an odd little knob of a nose and ridiculously brown eyes," looking "vaguely Arabic."
John Keith Laumer was an American science fiction author. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, he was an officer in the United States Air Force and a diplomat in the United States Foreign Service. His older brother March Laumer was also a writer, known for his adult reinterpretations of the Land of Oz. Frank Laumer, their youngest brother, is a historian and writer.
Encyclopedia Galactica is the name of a number of fictional or hypothetical encyclopedias containing all the knowledge accumulated by a galaxy-spanning civilization, most notably in Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. The concept of a "future encyclopedia" has become "something iconic among many lovers of the science fiction", and has been reused by numerous other writers.
Lester Neil Smith III, better known as L. Neil Smith, was an American libertarian science fiction author and political activist. His works include the trilogy of Lando Calrissian novels, all published in 1983: Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu, Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon, and Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka. He also wrote the novels Pallas, The Forge of the Elders, and The Probability Broach, each of which won the Libertarian Futurist Society's annual Prometheus Award for best libertarian science fiction novel. In 2016, Smith received a Special Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Libertarian Futurist Society.
A matrioshka brain is a hypothetical megastructure of immense computational capacity powered by a Dyson sphere. It was proposed in 1997 by Robert J. Bradbury (1956–2011). It is an example of a class-B stellar engine, employing the entire energy output of a star to drive computer systems. This concept derives its name from the nesting Russian matryoshka dolls. The concept was deployed by Bradbury in the anthology Year Million: Science at the Far Edge of Knowledge.
Xenoarchaeology, a branch of xenology dealing with extraterrestrial cultures, is a hypothetical form of archaeology that exists mainly in works of science fiction. The field is concerned with the study of the material remains to reconstruct and interpret past life-ways of alien civilizations. Xenoarchaeology is not currently practiced by mainstream archaeologists due to the current lack of any material for the discipline to study.
William Roger Corliss was an American physicist and writer who was known for his interest in collecting data regarding anomalous phenomena. Corliss was Charles Fort's most direct successor. Arthur C. Clarke described Corliss as "Fort's latter-day - and much more scientific - successor."
Summertide (1990) is a science fiction novel by American writer Charles Sheffield, the first of his series of Heritage Universe. The story takes place millennia in the future, with humans having extensively colonized our spiral arm of the Milky Way and having encountered a number of intelligent alien races. Littered throughout the galaxy are hundreds of massive abandoned engineering projects built by a mysterious race, referred to as The Builders, extinct for three million years. An eclectic group of scientists and opportunists are descending upon one such artifact at a time when its surrounding environment is extremely dangerous to study an unusual phenomenon.
Star-Lord is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, the character first appeared in Marvel Preview #4. The son of human Meredith Quill and Spartoi J'son, Peter Quill assumes the mantle of Star-Lord, an interplanetary policeman.
Transcendence (1992) is a science fiction novel by American writer Charles Sheffield, part of his Heritage Universe series. This book is the sequel to Summertide and Divergence.
Convergence (1997) is a science fiction novel in the Heritage Universe series by American writer Charles Sheffield. It is preceded in the series by Transcendence (1992) and followed by Resurgence (2002).
Resurgence (2002) is a science fiction novel by American writer Charles Sheffield, the finale of the Heritage Universe and the last book he published. Following the previous book in the series, Convergence, there are no more Builder artifacts left in the part of the galaxy explored by the four clades of the Orion Arm. However, an envoy from the neighboring Sagittarius Arm shows a short route to that arm and the ship's dead passengers carry an ominous message: a force even stronger than the Builders is consuming whole star systems in the neighboring arm.
The Beast Master is a science fiction novel by American writer Andre Norton, published by Harcourt in 1959. It inaugurated the Beast Master series, or Hosteen Storm series after the main character. In German-language translation it was published as Der Letzte der Navajos —literally, The Last of the Navajo.
The Forerunner Saga is a trilogy of science fiction novels by Greg Bear, based on the Halo series of video games. The books in the series are Halo: Cryptum (2011), Primordium (2012), and Silentium (2013). The books were released in hardcover, e-book, paperback, and audiobook. Bear was given little restriction on the story of the novel; the Halo universe had not yet been explored in that time period.
