Category: Sarah Hoyt

Capsule reviews of all five Best Novel finalists – with no spoilers!


By Michael Grossberg

The 2026 Prometheus Best Novel finalists have been announced – and Libertarian Futurist Society members are reading them, with the ultimate verdict and winners to be selected by July 4 on the final ballot.

To spark thought and discussion, raise the visibility of these works and the award and hopefully serve as a helpful guide, the Prometheus Blog is publishing thoughtful, in-depth reviews by Prometheus judges of each finalist. Some LFS members may wish to read them right away; others may prefer to wait until they’ve finished a finalist before reading the review.

Meanwhile, to whet your appetite to read each finalist and vote in the final stage of the Prometheus Awards, here are roughly equal 200-word capsule descriptions of each finalist.

And we’ve striven to avoid revealing any spoilers, so it’s safe to read them now!

Continue reading Capsule reviews of all five Best Novel finalists – with no spoilers!


Former winners, finalists compete with newcomer as Prometheus Best Novel finalists


By Michael Grossberg

Three former Prometheus winners, a frequent Best Novel finalist and a first-time nominee are competing to win this year’s Prometheus Award for Best Novel.

J. Kenton Pierce (Photo courtesy of Raconteur Press)

The Prometheus Best Novel Judging Committee, drawn from the LFS membership, has selected five 2025 novels as 2026 finalists from 14 nominated works. The Best Novel finalists, listed in alphabetical order by author, are Storm-Dragon, by Dave Freer (Raconteur Press); War by Other Means, by Karl K. Gallagher (Kelt Haven Press); No Man’s Land, by Sarah Hoyt (Goldport Press); A Kiss for Damocles, by J. Kenton Pierce (Raconteur Press); and Powerless, by Harry Turtledove (CAEZIK SF & Fantasy.)

Pierce was nominated for the first time for a Prometheus Award, so his inclusion as a Best Novel finalist is particularly impressive in a year that many judges feel has been a superior one for freedom-themed SF/fantasy.

Continue reading Former winners, finalists compete with newcomer as Prometheus Best Novel finalists


Review: Sarah Hoyt’s No Man’s Land develops rich tapestry blending SF/fantasy tropes to imagine “first contact” with vast cultural, political and gender differences


By Michael Grossberg

Sarah Hoyt has always been a wonderful storyteller who frequently crosses genre boundaries with engrossing results.

With No Man’s Land, nominated for this year’s Prometheus Award for Best Novel, Hoyt has outdone herself.

Blending the tropes and appeal of science fiction and fantasy, Hoyt weaves many enticing elements into the three-volume novel. Her two deftly entwined stories encompass space opera, mystery, romance, adventure, suspense, intrigue and politics in a vivid “first contact” saga leavened with humor and humanity.

Continue reading Review: Sarah Hoyt’s No Man’s Land develops rich tapestry blending SF/fantasy tropes to imagine “first contact” with vast cultural, political and gender differences


The biggest novels in Prometheus history: An annotated list of the top dozen in page length (and why such epic works reward readers)


By Michael Grossberg

Size matters – or at least it can make a big difference, in helping a novel to achieve greater dramatic impact in its scope, depth, narrative complexity and emotional power.

Quite a few longer novels have been recognized by the Prometheus Awards over the past 47 years, whether as nominees, finalists or winners – from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon and Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged to the recent nomination of Sarah Hoyt’s three-volume No Mans Land for the next Prometheus Award for Best Novel.

The three classic and epic works by Tolkien, Stephenson and Rand rank No. 1, 2 and 3 in page length in the history of the Prometheus Awards – as detailed in previous Prometheus Blog articles about the three bestselling winners and No Man’s Land.

So what are all the Prometheus-recognized novels and their ranks in page lengths on our top-12 list?

Continue reading The biggest novels in Prometheus history: An annotated list of the top dozen in page length (and why such epic works reward readers)


The epic power and enduring appeal of the biggest Prometheus-honored novels: The Lord of the Rings, Cryptonomicon and Atlas Shrugged


By Michael Grossberg

Of the many novels that have won a Prometheus Award over the past 47 years and are still widely read today, a notable few have done so with the help of their longer length and epic scale.

From J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings to Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon and Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, size does matter in literature.

Or at least size can significantly enhance a novel, if the writers are experts and at the top of their game. If well-structured, well-paced and compelling enough to sustain the reader’s interest, longer novels can attract and retain the reader’s interest even through hundreds of pages.

Continue reading The epic power and enduring appeal of the biggest Prometheus-honored novels: The Lord of the Rings, Cryptonomicon and Atlas Shrugged


Does size matter? Sarah Hoyt’s unusual three-book novel No Man’s Land achieves epic scope yet is not unprecedented in literary history


By Michael Grossberg

Does size matter?

The question arises in fiction when authors conceive novels that are noticeably bigger in word count and longer in page length than usual.

In theory, a bigger novel makes possible a larger canvas, allowing for an epic scope, a more complex narrative, richer world-building, more full-bodied characters, greater subtleties and depths.

Whether or not ambitious authors fulfill that potential and achieve their literary goals when writing bigger novels varies, of course. So does whether readers will find it rewarding to invest the extra time needed to read such magnum opuses.

Such questions are interesting and timely to ponder now that Sarah Hoyt’s No Man’s Land has been nominated for the Prometheus Award for Best Novel.

Continue reading Does size matter? Sarah Hoyt’s unusual three-book novel No Man’s Land achieves epic scope yet is not unprecedented in literary history


New generation of writers dominates this year’s 14 Prometheus nominations for Best Novel


By Michael Grossberg

Libertarian Futurist Society members have nominated 14 novels for the next Prometheus Award for Best Novel. Of those, nine nominees were written by authors nominated for the first time for a Prometheus Award.

With so many authors new to our awards, the Prometheus Awards may be entering a more hopeful period in which a new generation is writing science fiction, fantasy and other fantastical works informed by a clear awareness of the dangers of tyranny and the benefits of freedom.

The “new” Prometheus-recognized writers include Max Harms, Andrew Knighton, John C. A. Manley, Ewan Morrison, Laura Montgomery, Ray Nayler, J. Kenton Pierce and David A. Price.

Nominated again are three Prometheus-winning authors – Dave Freer (Cloud-Castles), Sarah Hoyt (Darkship Thieves) and Harry Turtledove (The Gladiator) – and one writer, Karl K. Gallagher, whose works often have become Best Novel finalists. In addition, writer R.H. Snow has been nominated several times for Best Novel.

Continue reading New generation of writers dominates this year’s 14 Prometheus nominations for Best Novel


Time travel and second chances: Sarah Hoyt’s new anthology includes a prequel story to her Prometheus-nominated No Man’s Land

By Michael Grossberg

Prometheus Award winner Sarah Hoyt has published an anthology about time travel and second chances.

Perhaps of greatest interest to LFS members, the six-story collection includes a prequel to Hoyt’s No Man’s Land, a current Best Novel nominee.

Six stories are included in Christmas In Time: Six Stories of Time Travel and Second Chances.

The No Man’s Land prequel is “What Child Is This,” which focuses on how a child’s accidental time-slip can save a man’s life and create the bonds of family love.

Continue reading Time travel and second chances: Sarah Hoyt’s new anthology includes a prequel story to her Prometheus-nominated No Man’s Land

No Man’s Land: The epic novel that Prometheus winner Sarah Hoyt was born to write


By Michael Grossberg

Sarah Hoyt views No Man’s Land, nominated for the next Prometheus Award for Best Novel, as the epic story that she was born to write.

So what took her so long? The three-part novel required much of Hoyt’s life to gestate, mature and blossom – and therein lies another epic story.

“It’s been with me since I was 14,” Hoyt told me in an email interview.

Set in an interstellar future where humanity colonized many planets but also lost touch with some for centuries or millennia, the three-part 2025 novel blends tropes of science fiction and fantasy in intriguing ways.

Continue reading No Man’s Land: The epic novel that Prometheus winner Sarah Hoyt was born to write


The best of the blog: Our 2025 reviews of Prometheus winners, finalists and more


Some of the most important, impactful and lasting articles posted on the Prometheus Blog this year were reviews.

Of the 120 posts published here in 2025, more than 10 percent were reviews – perhaps most notably, the latest review-essays in our ongoing Appreciation series devoted to honoring each year’s Prometheus Awards winners for Best Novel and the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.

That may seem like a relatively small percentage of our posts, but it actually represents a major sustained effort – in terms of both time and thought – by Prometheus judges and other Libertarian Futurist Society members.

Certainly, it takes time and careful attention to write, edit, illustrate and publish the many posts focusing on awards news, LFS progress reports, author’s updates, essays, features and trend pieces about the influence of Prometheus-winning works and their authors on today’s culture and politics.

Yet it generally takes substantially more effort, insight and creativity to write thoughtful reviews of the most significant fiction nominated each year for a Prometheus Award. 

Here are the most noteworthy reviews we published in 2025, along with convenient links allowing you to read or reread any that spark your curiosity or interest:

Continue reading The best of the blog: Our 2025 reviews of Prometheus winners, finalists and more