Author Updates – Prometheus Blog

How Arc Manor Books, CAEZIK SF & Fantasy and Phoenix Pick support Prometheus-winning authors, including this year’s Best Novel winner

Besides the late great Michael Flynn, Arc Manor Books has published quite a few other Prometheus-winning authors – including Poul Anderson, Robert Heinlein, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, L. Neil Smith, Harry Turtledove and Jack Williamson.

Two of Arc Manor’s major imprints are CAEZIK SF & Fantasy, launched in 2020 with a “new” previously unpublished novel by Robert A. Heinlein, and Phoenix Pick, which reprints classic SF and Fantasy “from the ashes” of other publishing houses, with some new titles.

Thus, the Maryland-based small-press, created by Shahid Mahmud in 2006 to utilize the exciting new emerging technologies being developed in the publishing marketplace, should be better known, especially by Libertarian Futurist Society members and other freedom-loving sf/fantasy fans.

Continue reading How Arc Manor Books, CAEZIK SF & Fantasy and Phoenix Pick support Prometheus-winning authors, including this year’s Best Novel winner

Bradbury, Heinlein, Le Guin, Vonnegut stories ranked among the 26 best SF stories by New Scientist 

By Michael Grossberg

E.M. Forster isn’t the only Prometheus-recognized author on New Scientist’s intriguing list of the 26 best science fiction/fantasy stories of all time.

Kurt Vonnegut in 1972 (Creative Commons license)

Although Forster’s “The Machine Stop” is the only story on the list specifically inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame, as described in a recent Prometheus blog post, several other enduring authors have stories on the magazine’s list – just not the ones our award has recognized.

Ursula K. Le Guin (Creative Commons license)

Among those writers: Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Ursula K. Le Guin and Kurt Vonnegut.

It’s interesting to see which of their stories are recognized by the magazine, and why.

Continue reading Bradbury, Heinlein, Le Guin, Vonnegut stories ranked among the 26 best SF stories by New Scientist 

Ayn Rand’s Prometheus Hall of Fame winner Anthem has been adapted into a graphic novel – twice! 

By Michael Grossberg

Did you know that Ayn Rand’s Anthem has been adapted into a graphic novel?

If so, did you realize that Rand’s Prometheus-winning ode to individualism, freedom and the rediscovery of the self has actually been adapted twice – with two different graphic novels? (I didn’t.)

The first one was published in 2011; and the second, in 2018. Together, the two versions reflect the continuing appeal and relevance of one of Rand’s earliest works.

Both are interesting to read – and to compare.

Continue reading Ayn Rand’s Prometheus Hall of Fame winner Anthem has been adapted into a graphic novel – twice! 

First Anthem, then Red Pawn and Top Secret: Atlas Society publishing graphic novels of Rand’s shorter fiction

By Michael Grossberg

Fans of Ayn Rand, a two-time Prometheus Award-winner, can now appreciate some of her earliest-published fiction through the visually striking and fresh perspective of graphic novels.

The Atlas Society, a nonprofit organization promoting Ayn Rand’s fiction and philosophy, has launched an ambitious long-range project: to commission and create graphic novels of Rand’s stories, screenplays and other fictional works as they fall out of copyright and become available for fresh interpretations.

First up was the Society’s graphic novel of Rand’s poetic dystopian novella Anthem, followed by adaptations of Rand’s early screenplays into Red Pawn and Top Secret.

TOP SECRET: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL

Published most recently, Top Secret: The Graphic Novel is based on Rand’s screenplay for a movie about the making of the atomic bomb. The graphic novel adapts Rand’s 16-page outline from Jan. 19, 1946. Continue reading First Anthem, then Red Pawn and Top Secret: Atlas Society publishing graphic novels of Rand’s shorter fiction

Orwell’s Prometheus-winning Animal Farm being adapted into an animated film  

By Michael Grossberg

One of the best known and most enduring Prometheus Hall of Fame winners for Best Classic Fiction has finally been adapted into an animated film.

Actor-director Andy Serkis has worked for years to bring to the screen a new animated film version of George Orwell’s fable Animal Farm, a Prometheus Hall of Fame inductee for Best Classic Film. Serkis’ film, which has been screened overseas at a film festival, is not yet available to watch in the United States.

Orwell’s cautionary and satirical fable focuses on a group of anthropomorphic farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to achieve a fully egalitarian society where all the animals are equal. Ultimately, the rebellion is betrayed, with a pig named Napoleon becoming dictator of the farm, which ends up in a far worse state than before.

Continue reading Orwell’s Prometheus-winning Animal Farm being adapted into an animated film  

Why we post articles about references in popular culture to Prometheus-winning classics, from Orwell’s 1984 to Anderson’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes” 

By Michael Grossberg

Not all literary works that win major awards continue to be widely read and influential, years or decades later. Yet, from Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four to Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” those that do are worth noting, for they often reflect important aspects of our era’s intellectual currents and popular culture.

In that context, the number of Prometheus-winning works that commonly are referenced by prominent columnists, essayists and authors continues to be impressive.

Of the more than 100 novels, stories, films and other works of fantastical fiction that have won a Prometheus award for Best Novel or Best Classic Fiction (our Hall of Fame) since the first prize was presented in 1979, more than a dozen are written about frequently in magazines, newspapers, Substack columns, books or referenced in movies, plays and other realms of popular culture.

Among the many Prometheus-winning authors most commonly written about – sometimes with a purely literary focus but more often used as resonant reference points for 21st century commentary – are George Orwell, Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, Ayn Rand, J.RR. Tolkien, Neal Stephenson and Hans Christian Andersen.

Continue reading Why we post articles about references in popular culture to Prometheus-winning classics, from Orwell’s 1984 to Anderson’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes” 

The Special Prometheus Award for YA fiction isn’t well-known yet, but that could change with the nomination of Dave Freer’s Storm-Dragon 

By Michael Grossberg

Many publishers and authors may not be aware of the newest category of Special Prometheus Awards, set up to recognize Young Adult (YA) fiction. Even some Libertarian Futurist Society members may be unaware of the award, only added as a possibility a few years ago.

Yet, that could be about to change, with the recent nomination of Dave Freer’s YA novel Storm-Dragon for a Special Award.

Continue reading The Special Prometheus Award for YA fiction isn’t well-known yet, but that could change with the nomination of Dave Freer’s Storm-Dragon 

The newest Prometheus Award: A Special Award for Young Adult fiction – and why it’s important to encourage younger generations to read books

By Michael Grossberg

Did you know that Young Adult novels are eligible for a Special Prometheus Award?

In the broad realm of fantastical fiction, Young-Adult or YA novels have had and continue to have a special and honored place.

Just recall how much of the Golden Age of modern SF was YA books for teenagers or so-called “juvenile fiction” for children or middle-grade readers, including many of Robert Heinlein’s early bestsellers, such as Citizen of the Galaxy or Red Planet, both inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.

That’s a key reason why the Libertarian Futurist Society decided several years ago to set up a process to begin recognizing eligible and worthy YA novels with a Special Prometheus Award – and why we invite our members, as well as publishers and authors, to bring eligible YA works to our attention.

Continue reading The newest Prometheus Award: A Special Award for Young Adult fiction – and why it’s important to encourage younger generations to read books

What leading libertarian theorist and novelist David Friedman thinks of Lois McMaster Bujold, L. Neil Smith, J. Neil Schulman, Robert Heinlein and other Prometheus-winning authors 

By Michael Grossberg

David Friedman (Creative Commons license)

David Friedman, a guest presenter at the 45th Prometheus Awards show, is a regular reader of science fiction and fantasy – and the prominent economist and leading libertarian theorist has been influenced in his thinking by several Prometheus-winning authors.

So it’s interesting to hear Friedman’s views on a variety of sf/fantasy writers, which he shared in response to questions at the end of the Aug. 30, 2025, awards ceremony.

In addition to Poul Anderson (the 2025 Hall of Fame winner for Orion Shall Rise), Robert Heinlein, Jerry Pournelle and Vernor Vinge (Prometheus-winning writers that Friedman discussed during his main speech), Friedman offered comments and insights on the novels of Prometheus winners Lois McMaster Bujold, L. Neil Smith, J. Neil Schulman, C.J. Cherryh (highlighted in a previous blog), Heinlein and other sf/fantasy writers.

Continue reading What leading libertarian theorist and novelist David Friedman thinks of Lois McMaster Bujold, L. Neil Smith, J. Neil Schulman, Robert Heinlein and other Prometheus-winning authors 

Sequels, part 11: Unlike literary sequels, movie sequels and genre films don’t get as much respect at the Oscars, but that may be changing 

By Michael Grossberg

Movie sequels seem to be more common and more popular than ever in the 21st century, often dominating at the box office. Yet, they just don’t get as much respect or awards recognition as literary sequels.

Far fewer sequels have won Academy Awards than have been recognized by science fiction and fantasy’s Hugo and Prometheus awards.

Just consider how few movie sequels have won the Oscar for Best Picture compared to how often sequel novels win a top SF/fantasy award.

Within the 46-year history of the Prometheus Awards, 194 of the 505 novels nominated within the Best Novel category have been sequels – and 11 have gone on to win.

Meanwhile, as recently reported here, nine sequel novels have won the Best Novel category in the 72-year history of the Hugo Awards, voted by members of the World Science Fiction Society and presented annually at the Worldcon.

Yet, in the 97 years that the Academy Awards have been presented, only two movie sequels have won Best Picture: The Godfather Part II and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Intriguingly, both movies were key parts of the only trilogies or series to have three films nominated for Best Picture, perhaps partly reflecting the stature and impact of the overall effort.

And perhaps coincidentally, both movies dramatize libertarian and classical-liberal themes about the temptations and abuses of power.

Continue reading Sequels, part 11: Unlike literary sequels, movie sequels and genre films don’t get as much respect at the Oscars, but that may be changing 