Author: Michael Grossberg

Michael Grossberg, who founded the LFS in 1982 to help sustain the Prometheus Awards, has been an arts critic, speaker and award-winning journalist for five decades. Michael has won Ohio SPJ awards for Best Critic in Ohio and Best Arts Reporting (seven times). He's written for Reason, Libertarian Review and Backstage weekly; helped lead the American Theatre Critics Association for two decades; and has contributed to six books, including critical essays for the annual Best Plays Theatre Yearbook and an afterword for J. Neil Schulman's novel The Rainbow Cadenza. Among books he recommends from a libertarian-futurist perspective: Matt Ridley's The Rational Optimist & How Innovation Works, David Boaz's The Libertarian Mind and Steven Pinker's Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress.

Celebrating the 45th Prometheus Awards: Astrid Anderson Bear’s acceptance speech for her father Poul Anderson’s novel Orion Shall Rise, the 2025 Prometheus Hall of Fame winner

Astrid Anderson Bear, daughter of the late SFWA Grand Master Poul Anderson (1926-2001) and wife of the late sf author Greg Bear, accepted the Prometheus Hall of Fame award for Best Classic Fiction for Poul Anderson’s novel Orion Shall Rise.

Astrid Anderson Bear (Photo courtesy of Bear)

Astrid spoke during the 45th Prometheus Awards ceremony, presented live via Zoom on Aug. 30, 2025, and recorded to post later on Youtube and on the Prometheus Blog.

By Astrid Anderson Bear

Thank you to the members of the Libertarian Futurist Society  for voting to induct my dad’s novel, Orion Shall Rise, into the Prometheus Awards Hall of Fame.

Published in 1983, this wide ranging book is in his Maurai universe, a loosely connected series  of works set on a post-apocalyptic future Earth.

 

Orion Shall Rise takes place  roughly 500 years in our future, and brings together characters from the principal powers on the planet: the Domain, controlling much of  western Europe by means of a huge aerostat, Skyholm, that has survived since the nuclear wars hundreds of years previously; the Maurai Federation, a coalition of Pacific Islanders centered in New Zealand; and the Northwest Union and its powerful Lodges in the  Pacific Northwest of North America. 

Continue reading Celebrating the 45th Prometheus Awards: Astrid Anderson Bear’s acceptance speech for her father Poul Anderson’s novel Orion Shall Rise, the 2025 Prometheus Hall of Fame winner

Celebrating the 45th Prometheus Awards: A heartfelt family tribute to the late great Michael Flynn, three-time Best Novel winner

“He lived exactly the life he wanted to live.”
– Kevin Flynn, about his brother Michael

Two-time Prometheus winner Michael Flynn (Creative Commons license)

Michael Flynn won his third Prometheus Award for Best Novel for his posthumously published In the Belly of the Whale.

Here is the text of the eloquent, poignant and very personal acceptance speech by Kevin Flynn, brother of the late novelist, who died in 2023 at 75. The speech was recorded and presented Aug. 30, 2025, during the 45th Prometheus Awards ceremony.

By Kevin Flynn

On behalf of Michael Flynn’s family, his daughter Sara, his son Dennis, his grandchildren Noelle, Zaid, and Adam, and his brothers Sean and Patrick, it is my privilege to be chosen by them to speak here today and accept this award. I know that Michael would be deeply moved by this recognition, which will serve as the capstone of his distinguished science fiction bibliography. Thank you so much for recognizing our brother’s work.

As Michael was nominated for the Prometheus Awards nine times, chosen as a Best Novel finalist eight of those times, and won the Best Novel award now for the third time, you know well of Michael’s passion for learning, for liberty, for liberation of the mind and pushing back on authority in pursuit of freedom of thought and expression.

For those of us who knew him so well, we know he would be reluctant to display his pride as publicly and shamelessly as I am going to do on his behalf. That was simply who our big brother was. But he was so much more, and I hope to use this short time to tell you what kind of human our brother was.

Continue reading Celebrating the 45th Prometheus Awards: A heartfelt family tribute to the late great Michael Flynn, three-time Best Novel winner

What is “libertarian science fiction?” Celebrating the 45th Prometheus Awards: LFS President William H. Stoddard’s opening, closing remarks



LFS President William H. Stoddard emceed the 45th Prometheus Awards ceremony, presented live on Zoom on Aug. 30, 2025. Here are his opening and closing remarks.

LFS President William H. Stoddard (Photo: Carol Stoddard)

By William H. Stoddard

Welcome to the Libertarian Futurist Society’s annual Prometheus Awards ceremony, in which we recognize outstanding works of libertarian science fiction. We’ve held these ceremonies every year since 1982, when L. Neil Smith’s The Probability Broach won Best Novel.

What is “libertarian science fiction”? We take both parts of that label in an inclusive spirit.

On one hand, we look for works that are pro-liberty — that explore the question of what a free society is, how we get there, or why the loss of freedom is a disaster.

On the other, we take “science fiction” to encompass all the fantastic genres: fantasy, many sorts of horror, alternative history, dystopia, utopia, and others.

Continue reading What is “libertarian science fiction?” Celebrating the 45th Prometheus Awards: LFS President William H. Stoddard’s opening, closing remarks



What classic works deserve to be nominated for the Prometheus Hall of Fame? Let us know your suggestions before the end of September!

By Michael Grossberg

With only a month left before this year’s Prometheus Hall of Fame nominating deadline, it’s time for Libertarian Futurist Society members to seize the opportunity to consider what might be worthy of our recognition.

So far, just seven widely varied works have been nominated for possible induction into our Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.

Between eight and 12 classic works – first published, performed, recorded, released, screened or staged at least two decades ago – have been nominated annually by LFS members in recent years for this annual Prometheus category. In each of the past two years, an eclectic variety of 10 works were nominated – including novels, novellas, stories and songs (just a subset of the many types of fiction eligible to consider for the Hall of Fame). So there’s certainly room for a few more nominations.

What older works of fantastical fiction (including but not limited to science fiction and fantasy) do you believe have stood the test of time and ripened into classics deserving of a nomination?

If you have any candidates to formally nominate or simply suggest, please let us know before this year’s deadline of Sept. 30, 2025. (The earlier, the better.)

Continue reading What classic works deserve to be nominated for the Prometheus Hall of Fame? Let us know your suggestions before the end of September!

Here’s the Zoom link to watch the 45th Prometheus Awards ceremony with speeches by David Friedman, Astrid Anderson Bear, Kevin Flynn and more


 

Mark your calendar and tune in to watch the 45th Prometheus Awards!

Half a dozen interesting and inspiring speakers, including three book authors, will participate in the 40-minute live ceremony, scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Saturday (Eastern time) Aug. 30 and open to the public via Zoom.

Poul Anderson, a seven-time Prometheus winner, who died in 2001 (Creative Commons license)
Three-time Prometheus winner Michael Flynn, who died in 2023 (Creative Commons license)

This will be the first ceremony in the Prometheus Awards’ 46-year history in which both winners will be recognized posthumously – with eloquent, personal, revealing, amusing and inspirational speeches about their lives and works by the family members who loved them and knew them best.

Continue reading Here’s the Zoom link to watch the 45th Prometheus Awards ceremony with speeches by David Friedman, Astrid Anderson Bear, Kevin Flynn and more


The Ray Bradbury interview, part 2: How the master of the magical and mysterious developed his writing craft


By Michael Grossberg

Here is part two of my feature profile of the late great Ray Bradbury, first published in 1985 and based on my interview and conversations with the Prometheus-winning author:

Bradbury’s playful spirit and suspenseful stories have endeared him to legions of fans.

Next fall (1986), over the Labor Day weekend, an estimated 6,000 fans will gather in Atlanta during the 44th annual World Science Fiction Convention to personally thank the sprightly 65-year-old man who has always remained a child at heart.

It’s about time, because Bradbury’s recognition as a Worldcon’s Guest of Honor was long overdue.

Considering Bradbury’s large body of work and vast appeal, it would not be much of an exaggeration to say that Bradbury owns the “B” in science fiction’s classic alphabet of first-rank authors. (For those not in the know, the “A” is owned by Isaac Asimov and the “C” by Arthur Clarke.)

Think of science fiction’s Golden Age, and one immediately thinks of the author of The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, The Golden Apples of the Sun, The Halloween Tree, I Sing the Body Electric! and, his acknowledged masterpiece, Fahrenheit 451.

Continue reading The Ray Bradbury interview, part 2: How the master of the magical and mysterious developed his writing craft


Remembering a literary giant on his birthday: My interview with Ray Bradbury

By Michael Grossberg

Ray Bradbury in 1975 (Creative Commons license)

Ray Bradbury was born Aug. 22, 1920 and lived a creative and productive life until 2012.

In honor of Bradbury’s birthday, the Prometheus Blog is reprinting an interview I did with the acclaimed and bestselling storyteller in the mid-1980s – one of the interviews I found most stimulating and satisfying during my six-decade career as a journalist, arts reporter and critic.

Among the questions I asked Bradbury:
What inspired him to write his classic novel Fahrenheit 451, later inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame?

Why did it take him only two weeks to write?
Why and how did the legendary storyteller rewrite Network, an Academy Awardwinner for Best Picture – after its release?

And perhaps most lasting in his reply, what lessons from his own against-the-odds life did Bradbury offer other writers?

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Author’s update: Two-time Prometheus winner Travis Corcoran co-writes an alternate-history novella, perhaps the first of a new series


By Michael Grossberg

Two-time Prometheus winner Travis Corcoran has been busy writing fiction -–just not more long-awaited novels in his award-winning Aristillus lunar-revolution series. At least, not yet.

Travis Corcoran (File photo)

Corcoran is best known for writing The Powers of the Earth and its sequel Causes of Separation, which respectively won the Prometheus Awards for Best Novel in 2018 and 2019. Together, the first two novels in Corcoran’s Aristillus series (named after a lunar crater) tell an integrated and self-contained story centered on an underground lunar colony established by Chinese, Nigerian and American refugees from the economic authoritarianism of Earth’s major nations.

Worlds apart from that future scenario is an alternate history where Rome never fell, and in which printing presses, air travel and electricity were developed centuries earlier than in our own timeline.

Continue reading Author’s update: Two-time Prometheus winner Travis Corcoran co-writes an alternate-history novella, perhaps the first of a new series



The 2025 Prometheus Awards ceremony is set for Aug. 30 via Zoom, with libertarian theorist and novelist David Friedman presenting the Hall of Fame


By Michael Grossberg

Mark your calendar: The 45th Prometheus Awards has been confirmed for Saturday Aug. 30, with a leading libertarian thinker and novelist as a guest presenter.

The Zoom-led ceremony will run from 2 to 3 p.m. that Saturday (Eastern time) and will be open to all LFS members and the public. (The Zoom link is below.)

Among the speakers: leading libertarian thinker and fantasy novelist David D. Friedman, who will present the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction; Astrid Anderson Bear, daughter of the late sf/fantasy writer Poul Anderson, a frequent Prometheus Awards winner; CAEZIK SF & Fantasy publisher Shahid Mahmud; author Kevin Flynn, brother of the late sf novelist Michael Flynn, a three-time Prometheus winner; LFS President William H. Stoddard, and Libertarian Futurist Society co-founder Michael Grossberg.

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The 2025 Prometheus Awards ceremony is set for Aug. 30 via Zoom, with libertarian theorist and novelist David Friedman presenting the Hall of Fame


Prometheus Awards, LFS raising visibility at Seattle Worldcon with new outreach ad

To raise the visibility of the Prometheus Awards and reach out to recruit new members of the Libertarian Futurist Society, the LFS has created a new full-page ad, accented by our updated logo – just in time for the Seattle Worldcon.

The full-page ad, including a “bleed,” will appear in print in the Seattle Worldcon’s program book, to be distributed to all attendees during the Aug. 13-17 event at the Seattle Convention Center.

Continue reading Prometheus Awards, LFS raising visibility at Seattle Worldcon with new outreach ad