Entirely Random Friday

It’s possible that we may have mentioned, on occasion, in passing, our huge respect and admiration for The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.

The SFE is, as every right-thinking sentient being should know by now, the indispensable resource for anyone interested in all aspects of science fiction and related fields. But did you know there are a host of added extras that turn it from being ‘merely’ the most authoritative SF reference work on the planet to a source of surprise and discovery. Take, for instance,  the Random Entry buttons: there’s one to choose an entry at random from the entire database and another to choose randomly from only the recent updates.

We just clicked on the Random button and it brought up Ernest Bramah‘s entry. Who, you may well ask, is Ernest Bramah? I have no idea. Never heard of him – but I now know that he was a British writer of the first half of the twentieth century, ‘best-known for two series, the Max Carrados books about a blind detective, all of whose perceptions (except sight) are enormously enhanced [Daredevil! – Gateway Ed.], and a series of tales in which the Chinese Kai Lung tells stories – often to stave off some unpleasant fate, like Scheherazade.’

Cool isn’t it?

So, what are you waiting for? Go be random . . .