Tributes – Prometheus Blog

A “Midsummer” tribute to Poul Anderson’s imagination (and a reminder of his range beyond his many Prometheus winners) 

By Michael Grossberg

Looking for an imaginative and allusive novel to add to your summer reading list?

Consider reading Poul Anderson, the first writer to receive a Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement. Anderson (1926-2001) has won seven Prometheus Awards, several posthumously. Yet the freedom-themed novels and stories that have received such recognition are only a small fraction of Anderson’s rich and wide-ranging ouevre.

A seven-time Hugo winner, three-time Nebula award winner and Grand Master (a title bestowed in 1998 by his peers in the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1998), Anderson wrote first-rate fantasy as well as science fiction.

A Midsummer Tempest, one of his best fantasy novels, recently has received a tribute in File 770, a leading online publication covering the SF/fantasy field.

“This is one of the lighter, funnier and confectionary of Anderson’s oeuvre. Some of his work can be fraught with doom, dark destiny and a vision of fighting against fate bravely but in vain. A Midsummer Tempest is the exception that proves the rule,” Paul Weimer writes in a highly appreciative review of Anderson’s 1974 novel for File 770’s occasional Memory Lane column.

Continue reading A “Midsummer” tribute to Poul Anderson’s imagination (and a reminder of his range beyond his many Prometheus winners) 

An Appreciation of Prometheus winner C.J. Cherryh, on her retirement 

By Michael Grossberg

Amazingly prolific, C.J. Cherryh has written more than 80 novels and several short-story collections since her first fiction was published in 1976. But there will be no more. Alas, Cherryh, widely acclaimed as one of the best SF/fantasy writers of the past half century, has retired.

Sadly, her many fans – including Libertarian Futurist Society members – must accept the fact that she will write no more. But what a legacy the Hugo- and Prometheus-winning writer leaves us!

“Over the years, she has created a vast, complex universe of stories that encompass whole space-faring civilizations, interstellar wars, political upheavals, and personal challenges,” Barbara Krasnoff wrote in a heartfelt appreciation of Cherryh published by Reactor magazine.

“Cherryh’s talent for worldbuilding—or, rather, universe-building—is incredible. And once each universe is built, she has the ability to expand on it in any number of directions.”

Continue reading An Appreciation of Prometheus winner C.J. Cherryh, on her retirement 

“Fly Me to the Moon” – The Smithsonian museum highlights the power of science fiction in sparking advances in air and space  

By Michael Grossberg

On a recent visit to the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C., I was delighted to discover some recognition of the work of a Prometheus-winning author. And not just any author, but the Golden Age Grand Master who has received more Prometheus Awards than anyone else: Robert A. Heinlein.

Destination Moon, a 1950 Technicolor feature film co-written by Heinlein, is highlighted in the Destination Moon gallery (Gallery 206) at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

Continue reading “Fly Me to the Moon” – The Smithsonian museum highlights the power of science fiction in sparking advances in air and space  

Jo Walton on Poul Anderson: One Prometheus winner recommends another 

By Michael Grossberg

It’s great to see one widely respected sf/fantasy author in praise of another. Especially when such praise reminds us of the talents and achievements of a truly grand master of sf/fantasy who has passed but is far from forgotten.

Jo Walton tips her hat to the late great Poul Anderson in her monthly book-review column for Reactor magazine.

Walton, who won her own Prometheus Award for Ha’penny, singled out the multiple-Prometheus-winning Anderson on her recommended-reading shortlist for All One Universe, his 1996 short-story anthology.

“This collection of stories and essays is just delightful—great thought-provoking stories, and mostly interesting essays, and I loved it,” Walton writes.

Continue reading Jo Walton on Poul Anderson: One Prometheus winner recommends another 

“I am not a number. I am a free man!” – Remembering Patrick McGoohan: who conceived, co-wrote and starred in The Prisoner, a TV series ahead of its time 

By Michael Grossberg

Today, March 19, is the birthday of Patrick McGoohan.

Patrick McGoohan as Number 6 in The Prisoner (Creative Commons license)

It’s a timely opportunity to remember and pay tribute to McGoohan, an iconoclastic talent who excelled as an actor, director, producer, screenwriter and creator of one of the most unusual, provocative, genre-smashing and influential TV series in history.

I’m referring, of course, to The Prisoner, inducted in 2002 into the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.

McGoohan (1928-2009) achieved a great deal on screen in his long and well-respected career. But The Prisoner in retrospect may be his crowning and most lasting achievement.

Yet, when McGoohan conceived, wrote and starred in the short-lived series, no one quite knew how to categorize it or what to make of it.

Continue reading “I am not a number. I am a free man!” – Remembering Patrick McGoohan: who conceived, co-wrote and starred in The Prisoner, a TV series ahead of its time 

Happy birthday, Gregory Benford – one of the best hard-sf novelists, a Prometheus finalist (and a libertarian) 

By Michael Grossberg

Today is Gregory Benford’s birthday.

Born Jan. 30, 1941, Benford is 85. We not only wish a happy birthday but also our best wishes for health and happiness to Benford, who suffered a stroke a few years ago.

Known for his hard science fiction informed by his career as an astrophysicist and physics professor, Benford is a Campbell and two-time Nebula winner and a Prometheus Best Novel finalist.

Continue reading Happy birthday, Gregory Benford – one of the best hard-sf novelists, a Prometheus finalist (and a libertarian) 

R.I.P., John Varley, a cutting-edge Heinleinesque sf writer and Prometheus winner

By Michael Grossberg

John Varley, winner of the 1999 Prometheus Award for Best Novel, is being remembered for his intelligent, imaginative, cutting-edge science fiction.

John Varley. Photo: Creative Commons license

Varley, who died in December at the age of 78 in Beaverton, Oregon, was “truly one of the greatest science fiction authors of all time,” wrote his fellow sf writer and friend David Brin in a tribute in the just-published January 2026 issue of Locus magazine.

An American science fiction writer (1947-2025), Varley often was Heinleinesque in his positive vision of human resilience and innovation and his ability to tell stories that blended adventure, suspense, believable characters, intelligent world-building and an epic sense of wonder.

In fact, Varley’s work often has been compared to frequent Prometheus winner Robert Heinlein, especially by the Canadian SF critic-author John Clute. So it made a lot of sense when Varley received the Robert A. Heinlein Award in 2009.

“He was fresh, he was complex, he understood the imaginative implications of transformative developments,” Clute wrote about Varley in his entry in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.

Continue reading R.I.P., John Varley, a cutting-edge Heinleinesque sf writer and Prometheus winner

Best of the blog: A record year for posts, but also a sad one, in memoriam

By Michael Grossberg

Once again, the Prometheus Blog has posted a record annual number of articles, reviews, essays, trend pieces, interviews, author updates, progress reports and awards news. For the eighth consecutive year since the blog replaced our former printed quarterly newsletter in 2017, the Libertarian Futurist Society has increased the number of articles on our blog – a long-term goal.

By the last day of 2025, we anticipate having posted 120 articles, many quite substantive. That’s roughly double the number we posted in 2021 – raising the visibility of the Prometheus Awards, educating the public about libertarian sf/fantasy and enriching discussions and debate among LFS members about the relative merits of Prometheus Award nominees and finalists, and enhancing our awards process as we choose the winners each year. But which articles ranked among the most notable of the year?

Sadly, some of the most timely and poignant stories we wrote in 2025 were obits – marking the passing of several notable writers who demonstrated a passionate love of liberty – including Tom Stoppard, Barry Longyear, Howard Andrew Jones and Leslie Fish.

Continue reading Best of the blog: A record year for posts, but also a sad one, in memoriam

Why the visionary and darkly satirical film Brazil, co-written by the late great Tom Stoppard, deserves a Prometheus nomination next year

By Michael Grossberg

This seems the right moment to take a fresh look at Brazil, one of the greatest dystopian science fiction visions of our era – and also one of the most libertarian.

Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, the film is one of the most widely seen and arguably among the most enduring works of the avowed libertarian Tom Stoppard, the internationally acclaimed Czech-British playwright and screenwriter who died recently at 88.

Released in 1985, the film was directed by Terry Gilliam and co-written by Gilliam, Stoppard and Charles McKeown.

Continue reading Why the visionary and darkly satirical film Brazil, co-written by the late great Tom Stoppard, deserves a Prometheus nomination next year

Tom Stoppard, R.I.P.: The great playwright and screenwriter (Brazil) was also a “timid libertarian ”

By Michael Grossberg

Tom Stoppard, who died recently at 88, was universally recognized as one of our greatest playwrights and screenwriters.

Yet, the Czech-British writer was also an avowed libertarian. While that lesser-known fact was mentioned over the years in some profiles and in a few obits, it deserves more attention.

Especially when one realizes that some of Stoppard’s greatest plays have libertarian themes and that he co-wrote the screenplay for Brazil, one of the most libertarian sf/fantasy films of the past four decades.

Continue reading Tom Stoppard, R.I.P.: The great playwright and screenwriter (Brazil) was also a “timid libertarian ”