One of the most exciting and promising Libertarian Futurist Society outreach projects in years is our new Prometheus Awards Collection for Libraries.
The ambitious project offers a carefully curated selection of Prometheus-winning novels to be donated and mailed to interested libraries across the country upon their request.
The set of brand-new books was chosen to expand the range and variety of notable and acclaimed science fiction on library shelves across the country – especially to aid smaller libraries, which may have more limited resources.
What do Poul Anderson, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, James P. Hogan, Sarah Hoyt, Victor Koman, Ursula K. Le Guin, Ken MacLeod, George Orwell, Ayn Rand, L. Neil Smith, Neal Stephenson, J.R.R. Tolkien, Vernor Vinge and F. Paul Wilson have in common?
Robert Heinlein in the 1980s (Photo courtesy of Heinlein Trust)
Some rank high among bestselling and even world famous authors; some are not quite as well known but still have sold millions of copies of their books, and a few are lesser-known writers who deserve a wider readership.
George Orwell. (Creative Commons license)
Yet they’re all writers who have written notable speculative fiction (generally science fiction and/or fantasy) that in different ways championed freedom-loving themes and exposed the evils of authoritarianism.
And all of the above have been recognized for such works by winning Prometheus Awards – some for Best Novel, some for Best Classic Fiction and several for both annual award categories.
Although the Prometheus Blog focuses primarily on posting reviews, essays, and updates newly written for timely publication, occasionally we have the honor of reprinting an older article or speech that remains timeless.
Poul Anderson (Creative Commons license)
One of the best highlights of 2024 on the blog was our reprint, as a timely Fourth of July remembrance, of a 1978 Leprecon speech by the late great Poul Anderson, one of the greatest libertarian SF/fantasy authors and a frequent Prometheus Awards winner.
Another blog highlight was an insightful addition to our occasional series on Economics in Science Fiction: LFS President William H. Stoddard’s essay on Aladdin’s Lamps, technocracy and “post-scarcity.”
Vernor Vinge at an SF con (File photo)
Finally, sparked by the passing last year of the major and widely beloved SF writer Vernor Vinge, the Prometheus Blog devoted more than one post to honoring the legacy of this brilliant and visionary author, one of only four writers to receive recognition (as Anderson did before he passed) with a Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime achievement.
As we begin a new year, with high hopes for a better and freer world, we include convenient links to all of the above stories, lest we forget.
The four works selected as finalists for the next Prometheus Hall of Fame award span almost a century.
Rudyard Kipling File photo
From a Rudyard Kipling story published in 1912 to a Charles Stross novel published in 2003, the 2024 slate of finalists reflects a broad range of different eras, themes and literary styles.
Charles Stross (Creative Commons license)
Of the four Hall of Fame finalists for Best Classic Fiction, two are novels, one a story and one a song – demonstrating the wide variety of narrative or dramatic forms eligible for consideration each year among works that were first published, performed, recorded or aired at least 20 years ago.
One work appears on the Hall of Fame shortlist for the first time: Stross’ Singularity Sky, previously a write-in candidate for Best Novel after its initial publication by Ace Books in 2003. (Because of the 20-year rule, the novel only became eligible this past year for Hall of Fame nomination.)
The late great Poul Anderson has received unexpected and positive recognition from the 2025 Worldcon, set for Seattle.
Partly in honor of the previous Seattle Worldcon in 1961, the Worldcon blog has paid tribute to Anderson’s novel The High Crusade, a 1961 Hugo finalist.
Five are novels, two are novelettes, one a novella, one a story and one a song, reflecting the wide range of fiction eligible for consideration in the Prometheus Hall of Fame.
Author Arthur C. Clarke (Creative Commons license)
The authors of these classic works range from the late great Rudyard Kipling, C.S. Lewis and Arthur C. Clarke to still-living authors, such as Harry Turtledove and Charles Stross.
Rudyard Kipling (File photo)
Ten works of speculative fiction, first published or performed more than 20 years ago, have been nominated by LFS members for the next Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.
Here is part 4 of the Prometheus Blog interview with Rick Triplett, a lifelong science fiction fan, decades-long libertarian, a veteran Prometheus Awards judge and recently honored as the Libertarian Futurist Society’s first Emeritus member.
Rick Triplett demonstrating the art of aikido in 2007 at a community cultural festival (Photo courtesy of Triplett)
Q: You’ve practiced aikido for many years – and have even demonstrated the martial art at area festivals. What attracted you to aikido and does it have any relevance to your libertarian views?
A: Aikido is a non-aggressive martial art (virtually the only one).
Its strategy is to de-escalate rather than resort to fighting; its tactics are to avoid and restrain, rather than to damage the opponent. Although its techniques can damage or kill, they are applied in a measured way that at least attempts allowing an attacker to shift from domination to negotiation.
It respects human agency including one’s own right to self-defense.
Introduction: Poul Anderson (1926-2001) was a major American science fiction writer. He won the Hugo Award seven times and won the Nebula Award three times. He also won the Prometheus Award once (for The Stars Are Also Fire), the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award four times and also received our Special Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Poul Anderson (Creative Commons license)
Anderson delivered this speech March 19, 1978, at the banquet of Leprecon, a science fiction convention in Phoenix. The speech was then printed in the May 1978 issue of New Libertarian, Volume Four, Number Three. It is reprinted here with the permission of Astrid Bear, Poul Anderson’s daughter, and is copyright The Trigonier Trust.
The Prometheus Blog is reprinting his speech here because Anderson, one of the most recognized sf/fantasy authors in the history of science fiction and of the Prometheus Awards, had something important to say then about freedom and science fiction – something still valuable to ponder today.
One of the things Poul Anderson was known for throughout his literary career was world-building. Much of this was planetary design, based on the natural sciences, in which he started out with stellar type, planetary mass, orbital radius, and elemental abundances and worked out the geology, meteorology, and biology of a world.
Anderson was certainly one of the masters of this, up there with Hal Clement and Vernor Vinge. But he put equal effort into social scientific worldbuilding, creating economies, polities, and cultures, and developing plots for his stories from the conflicts they gave rise to.
Orion Shall Rise, a 2024 Prometheus Hall of Fame finalist for Best Classic Fiction, is a nearly pure example of social scientific world-building, set not in a distant solar system but on a future Earth.
