Libertarian Futurist Society

LFS

Prometheus Awards

The Prometheus Awards: A Brief History

In 1979, science fiction writer L. Neil Smith created the Prometheus Awards to honor libertarian science fiction. A panel selected F. Paul Wilson's Wheels Within Wheels as the best novel, and a gold coin then worth $2,500 was presented to Wilson. Due to the cost and the lack of a formal organization, the Prometheus Awards fell into limbo.

Founded in 1982, the Libertarian Futurist Society (LFS) revived the Prometheus Award, sponsoring an annual prize for Best Novel, starting in 1982, and adding in 1983 a second annual category for Best Classic Fiction (the Prometheus Hall of Fame). The prize for the awards is a gold coin, as a symbol of free trade and free minds, mounted on an engraved plaque.

The Prometheus Awards take their name from the Greek myth about a titan who brought fire to mankind. As Louis Rougier wrote in The Genius of the West, his 1971 book with a preface by the Nobel-Prize-winning economist Friedrich Hayek,

The myth undergirding the civilization of the West is the myth of Prometheus - the philanthropic hero who dared defy the will of Zeus by stealing fire from heaven and giving it to mortal men whom that jealous tyrant of the heaven and the earth had decided to destroy. The story expresses the spirit of revolt against the prohibition of jealous gods (and) embodies that love of action which incited Hercules to rid the earth of tyrants.

Art can fire up the imagination about the limitless possibilities of liberty – not only in the West but throughout the world and for all of humanity.

Young Adult Honor Roll

The Libertarian Futurist Society has recognized more than a dozen works of Young Adult (YA) fiction since the Prometheus Awards were first presented in 1979. That includes five Best Novel winners and three inductees into the Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.

All YA finalists and winners are now listed together in a Prometheus Award Young Adult Honor Roll page. Our hope is that this recommended reading list will serve as an introduction to the literature of liberty for younger readers, as well as parents and grandparents,

Award Submissions

Publishers, authors and sf/fantasy fans may submit works of fiction for LFS consideration for all categories of the Prometheus Awards. For more details, what required information to submit and who to contact, please read this submission-guidelines letter.

Award Appreciation Series

To highlight the four-decade history of the Prometheus Awards, the Libertarian Futurist Society began publishing in 2019 a series of weekly Appreciations of past winners on the Prometheus Blog, starting with our earliest Best Novel awards. See "A 40th Anniversary Retrospective: Introducing a Reader's Guide to the Prometheus Award Winners" with an overview of the diverse range of past winners.

As the Appreciations are published, links to those review-essays will be added below.

Prometheus Best Novel Award Winners

• 2024 -- Daniel Suarez, Critical Mass, Appreciation
• 2023 -- Dave Freer, Cloud-Castles   Appreciation
• 2022 -- Wil McCarthy, Rich Man's Sky   Appreciation
• 2021 -- Barry B. Longyear, The Hook   Appreciation
• 2020 -- C. J. Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher, Alliance Rising   Appreciation
• 2019 -- Travis Corcoran, Causes of Separation,   Appreciation
• 2018 -- Travis Corcoran, The Powers of the Earth   Appreciation
• 2017 -- Johanna Sinisalo, The Core of the Sun,   Appreciation
• 2016 -- Neal Stephenson, Seveneves,   Appreciation
• 2015 -- Daniel Suarez, Influx,   Appreciation
• 2014 -- Cory Doctorow, Homeland,   Appreciation
  2014 -- Ramez Naam, Nexus,   Appreciation
• 2013 -- Cory Doctorow, Pirate Cinema,   Appreciation
• 2012 -- Delia Sherman, The Freedom Maze,   Appreciation
  2012 -- Ernest Cline, Ready Player One,   Appreciation
• 2011 -- Sarah Hoyt, Darkship Thieves,   Appreciation
• 2010 -- Dani and Eytan Kollin, The Unincorporated Man,   Appreciation
• 2009 -- Cory Doctorow, Little Brother,   Appreciation
• 2008 -- Harry Turtledove, The Gladiator,   Appreciation
  2008 -- Jo Walton, Ha'penny,   Appreciation
• 2007 -- Charles Stross, Glasshouse,   Appreciation
• 2006 -- Ken MacLeod, Learning the World,   Appreciation
• 2005 -- Neal Stephenson, The System of the World,   Appreciation
• 2004 -- F. Paul Wilson, Sims,   Appreciation
• 2003 -- Terry Pratchett, Night Watch,   Appreciation
• 2002 -- Donald Kingsbury, Psychohistorical Crisis,   Appreciation
• 2001 -- L. Neil Smith, The Forge of the Elders,   Appreciation
• 2000 -- Vernor Vinge, A Deepness in the Sky,   Appreciation
• 1999 -- John Varley, The Golden Globe,   Appreciation
• 1998 -- Ken MacLeod, The Stone Canal,   Appreciation
• 1997 -- Victor Koman, Kings of the High Frontier,   Appreciation

• 1996 -- Ken MacLeod, The Star Fraction,   Appreciation
• 1995 -- Poul Anderson, The Stars are also Fire,   Appreciation
• 1994 -- L. Neil Smith, Pallas,   Appreciation
• 1993 -- James P. Hogan, The Multiplex Man,   Appreciation
• 1992 -- Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Michael Flynn, Fallen Angels   Appreciation
• 1991 -- Michael Flynn, In the Country of the Blind   Appreciation
• 1990 -- Victor Koman, Solomon's Knife   Appreciation
• 1989 -- Brad Linaweaver, Moon of Ice   Appreciation
• 1988 -- Victor Koman, The Jehovah Contract   Appreciation
• 1987 -- Vernor Vinge, Marooned in Realtime   Appreciation
• 1986 -- Victor Milan, Cybernetic Samurai   Appreciation
• 1985 -- No Winner ("None of the Above")   Appreciation
• 1984 -- J. Neil Schulman, The Rainbow Cadenza   Appreciation 1   Appreciation 2
• 1983 -- James P. Hogan, Voyage from Yesteryear   Appreciation
• 1982 -- L. Neil Smith, The Probability Broach   Appreciation
• 1979 -- F. Paul Wilson, Wheels Within Wheels   Appreciation

Past Prometheus Best Novel Nominees

Prometheus Hall of Fame Award Winners

• 2024 -- Terry Pratchett, The Truth, Appreciation
• 2023 -- Robert A. Heinlein, Free Men Appreciation
• 2022 -- Robert A. Heinlein, Citizen of the Galaxy   Appreciation
• 2021 -- F. Paul Wilson, "Lipidleggin' "   Appreciation
• 2020 -- Poul Anderson, "Sam Hall"   Appreciation
• 2019 -- Kurt Vonnegut, "Harrison Bergeron"   Appreciation
• 2018 -- Jack Williamson, With Folded Hands …   Appreciation
• 2017 -- Robert Heinlein, "Coventry"   Appreciation
• 2016 -- Donald M. Kingsbury, Courtship Rite   Appreciation
• 2015 -- Harlan Ellison, "'Repent Harlequin!', Said the Ticktockman"   Appreciation
• 2014 -- Lois McMaster Bujold, Falling Free   Appreciation
• 2013 -- Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon   Appreciation
• 2012 -- E. M. Forster, The Machine Stops   Appreciation
• 2011 -- George Orwell, Animal Farm   Appreciation
• 2010 -- Poul Anderson, "No Truce with Kings"   Appreciation
• 2009 -- J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings   Appreciation
• 2008 -- Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange   Appreciation
• 2007 -- Sinclair Lewis, It Can't Happen Here   Appreciation
  2007 -- Vernor Vinge, True Names   Appreciation
• 2006 -- Alan Moore (writing) and David Lloyd (art), V for Vendetta   Appreciation
• 2005 -- A. E. van Vogt, The Weapon Shops of Isher   Appreciation
• 2004 -- Vernor Vinge, "The Ungoverned"   Appreciation
• 2003 -- Robert Heinlein, "Requiem"   Appreciation
• 2002 -- Patrick McGoohan, The Prisoner   Appreciation
• 2001 -- Jerry Pournelle and John F. Carr editors, The Survival of Freedom   Appreciation
• 2000 -- Hans Christian Andersen, "The Emperor's New Clothes"   Appreciation
• 1999 -- H. Beam Piper and John McGuire, A Planet for Texans aka Lone Star Planet   Appreciation
• 1998 -- Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love   Appreciation
• 1997 -- Robert Heinlein, Methuselah's Children   Appreciation
• 1996 -- Robert Heinlein, Red Planet   Appreciation
• 1995 -- Poul Anderson, The Star Fox   Appreciation

• 1994 -- Yevgeny Zamyatin, We   Appreciation
• 1993 -- Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed   Appreciation
• 1992 -- Ira Levin, This Perfect Day   Appreciation
• 1991 -- F. Paul Wilson, An Enemy of the State   Appreciation
• 1990 -- F. Paul Wilson, Healer   Appreciation
• 1989 -- J. Neil Schulman, Alongside Night   Appreciation
• 1988 -- Alfred Bester, The Stars my Destination   Appreciation
• 1987 -- Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land   Appreciation
  1987 -- Ayn Rand, Anthem   Appreciation
• 1986 -- Cyril Kornbluth, The Syndic   Appreciation
  1986 -- Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea, Illuminatus!   Appreciation
• 1985 -- Poul Anderson, Trader to the Stars   Appreciation
  1985 -- Eric Frank Russell, The Great Explosion   Appreciation
• 1984 -- George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four Appreciation
  1984 -- Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 Appreciation
• 1983 -- Robert Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Appreciation
  1983 -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged,   Appreciation 1   Appreciation 2

Past Prometheus Hall of Fame Nominees

Special Award Winners

• 2017 - Mark Stanley, Special Award for Chapter 1 of Freefall, a webcomic Appreciation
• 2016 - Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn, Special Award for Alex + Ada, a graphic novel Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 Appreciation
• 2016 - L. Neil Smith, Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement
• 2015 - F. Paul Wilson, Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement
• 2014 -- Leslie Fish, for a novella, Tower of Horses and filk song, The Horsetamer's Daughter. Appreciation
• 2014 -- Vernor Vinge, Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement
• 2007 -- James McTeigue (director) and The Wachowski Brothers (screenplay), V For Vendetta (movie) Appreciation
• 2006 -- Joss Whedon (writer/director), Serenity (movie) Appreciation
• 2005 -- L. Neil Smith (writer) and Scott Bieser (illustrator), The Probability Broach: The Graphic Novel Appreciation
• 2005 -- Editors Mark Tier and Martin H. Greenberg, Give Me Liberty and Visions of Liberty, anthologies for Baen Books Appreciation, Part 1 Appreciation, Part 2
• 2001 -- Poul Anderson, Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement
• 1998 -- Editors Brad Linaweaver and Edward E Kramer, Free Space (Anthology) Appreciation