Numbers count.
In 2023, the Prometheus Blog surpassed previous years in the number, frequency and regularity of posts.
By the time this year ends, the Prometheus blog will have posted a record 78 articles – from essays, reviews and commentaries to news, awards updates, tributes and progress reports.
Ever since 2017, when the Prometheus Blog replaced Prometheus, the Libertarian Futurist Society’s former printed quarterly review and newsletter, the goal has been to gradually increase the frequency of posts to equal and then surpass the amount of material previously published in the four quarterly printed issues.
And this year, we succeeded.
That couldn’t have been possible without contributions from a variety of LFS leaders and members, such as William H. Stoddard, Tom Jackson, Chris Hibbert, Adam Tuchman and Michael Grossberg.
In addition, the blog was graced by occasional special guest writers/speakers.
Most notable were guest posts by Karl K. Gallagher and Sarah Hoyt.
Gallagher, a frequent Prometheus-finalist author wrote an inspiring appreciation of Robert Heinlein’s story “Free Men,” this year’s Hall of Fame winner).
Prolific sf/fantasy/horror writer Sarah Hoyt, a Prometheus Best Novel winner for Darkship Thieves, gave an eloquent Prometheus awards-ceremony speech, “Liberty is hard yakka.” in presenting this year’s Best Novel award to Australian sf writer Dave Freer.
Plus, the blog benefited enormously from the extended thoughts, insights, autobiographical tidbits and favorite sf authors/books shared by Freer, Gallagher, political-thriller author and LFS judge John Christmas and the late Prometheus-winning author James Hogan (posthumously) in a series of exclusive Prometheus Blog interviews, recently discussed on the blog.
ELOQUENT WORDS FROM FAMOUS AUTHORS
Another invaluable addition to the blog this year was Hibbert’s round-up of “Memorable Prometheus Award winners speeches,” complete with intriguing excerpts and convenient links to the full speeches over the past four decades and more.
Among the Prometheus-winning authors whose speeches were excerpted and linked: F. Paul Wilson, James Hogan, J. Neil Schulman, Victor Milan, Frederik Pohl, Robert Anton Wilson, Vernor Vinge, Victor Koman, Brad Linaweaver, Ken MacLeod, John Varley, and Jerry Pournelle.
Plus, in a follow-up (Aug. 5, 2023) blog roundup, Hibbert provided excerpts and links to more-recent acceptance speeches (since 2000).
Among those Prometheus-winning authors: Eytan and Dani Kollin, Vinge again, Terry Pratchett, MacLeod again, co-winner David Lloyd (who accepted for illustrating Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta), Charles Stross, Jo Walton, Harry Turtledove, Cory Doctorow, Karen Anderson (Poul Anderson’s widow), Sarah Hoyt, Doctorow again, and Ramez Naam.
A RISING FREQUENCY OF POSTS
This year was buoyed by a posting frequency of a little more often than every five days on the Prometheus blog – enough time for the current post to have its “headline” and special top-of-the-blog moment and hopefully enough time for LFS members and the general public to catch up with each post.
The year’s record 77 posts was up from 67 posts in 2022, and 59 posts in 2021. That represents a significant progression, especially compared to the first years of the blog, towards our goal of publishing more to read and enjoy – and our related but even more important goal of writing, editing and posting more interesting, varied and substantial articles, essays, reviews and news reports.
With the 21st-century move towards more online publication and engagement, the Prometheus Blog was an effort to replace Prometheus, the LFS long-standing printed quarterly newsletter and review journal.
Only 23 articles were posted on the blog in its first year in 2017. That relatively modest number admittedly was partly because the blog was launched mid-year, but also partly because it took a while for LFS leaders and veteran members and Prometheus contributors to get the hang of it and figure out what types of material would best serve the goals of the Libertarian Futurist Society and the Prometheus Award.
And that did take some time, albeit with some slow progress – with 26 articles posted in 2018, 37 in 2019 and 63 in 2020.
Of course, both quantity and quality can be important parameters in life, the economy, the wider society and in measuring the progress and impact of all-volunteer nonprofit organizations like the Libertarian Futurist Society.
Numbers can more objective, while “quality” can be a more subjective or personal way of judging progress. So stay tuned for the next blog post, which will share some personal favorites in a “Best of the Blog” roundup selected from the more notable and intriguing blogs of 2023.
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE LFS:
* Prometheus winners: For the full list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees – for the annual Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) categories and occasional Special Awards – visit the enhanced Prometheus Awards page on the LFS website, which now includes convenient links to all published appreciation-reviews of past winners since 1979.
* Watch videos of past Prometheus Awards ceremonies (including the recent 2023 ceremony with inspiring and amusing speeches by Prometheus-winning authors Dave Freer and Sarah Hoyt),Libertarian Futurist Society panel discussions with noted sf authors and leading libertarian writers, and other LFS programs on the Prometheus Blog’s Video page.
* Read “The Libertarian History of Science Fiction,” an essay in the international magazine Quillette that favorably highlights the Prometheus Awards, the Libertarian Futurist Society and the significant elements of libertarian sf/fantasy in the evolution of the modern genre.* Read
Libertarian futurists believe that culture matters! We understand that the arts and literature can be vital, and in some ways even more powerful than politics in the long run, by sparking innovation, better ideas, positive social change, and mutual respect for each other’s rights, individuality and human dignity.
