LFS reports & updates – Prometheus Blog

Ilya Somin: The Cato Institute scholar, law professor and SF/fantasy fan will present the Hall of fame award at our 2026 ceremony 

Ilya Somin will be the guest presenter and keynote speaker at the Libertarian Futurist Society’s 2026 Prometheus Awards ceremony.

A professor of Law at George Mason University and the B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute, a leading libertarian think tank, Somin has written several books reflecting his research and expertise on constitutional law, property law, democratic theory, federalism, and migration rights.

Just as relevant to our upcoming August 2026 awards ceremony – which will be hosted on Zoom and open to the public – Somin is a long-time fan of science fiction and fantasy – which he plans to focus on in his speech presenting the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.

Continue reading Ilya Somin: The Cato Institute scholar, law professor and SF/fantasy fan will present the Hall of fame award at our 2026 ceremony 

Where to get the five 2026 Hall of Fame finalists – for as low as $5.87 total if you act fast 

By Michael Grossberg

If you don’t already have the books to read of the five novels selected as 2026 finalists for the next Prometheus Hall of Fame award, here’s some helpful tips on where you can find each of them.

First published between 1932 and 2003, the five Best Classic Fiction finalists are James Blish’s The Star Dwellers, C.S. Lewis’ That Hideous Strength, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Adam Roberts’ Salt and Charles Stross’ Singularity Sky.

Surprisingly, it turns out the total cost of buying copies of all five novels right now – as ebooks or in print – is remarkably low. In fact, a recent price check on Amazon confirms that all five finalists can be purchased for just $5.87 total, assuming you’re willing to get most as ebooks.

Of course, if you prefer to check your local library for these titles, you should be able to borrow the books for free. Yet it’s possible one of the older and lesser-known titles may not be widely available, and anyway, some LFS members often prefer to buy their own copies to add to their home library.

In most cases, each novel is available in multiple formats – including hardback, paperback and ebook, sometimes also as an audio book.

Continue reading Where to get the five 2026 Hall of Fame finalists – for as low as $5.87 total if you act fast 

Last call for Prometheus Best Novel nominations: With the mid-February nominating deadline approaching, 13 2025 novels have been nominated so far 

By Michael Grossberg

With the annual nominations deadline for the next Prometheus Award for Best Novel now less than a month away, Libertarian Futurist Society members are encouraged to bring to our attention any eligible candidates they’ve come across.

This is a reminder and last call for nominations for the oldest category of the awards, now 47 years old.

So far, 13 2025 novels have been nominated by LFS members, somewhat less than average for Best Novel, with Feb. 15 the deadline for LFS members to nominate eligible and worthy works.

The current and interim list includes works by three authors who have previously won Prometheus Awards: Dave Freer (Cloud-Castles), Sarah Hoyt (Darkship Thieves) and Harry Turtledove (The Gladiator.)

This year’s interim slate of nominees also includes the latest novel in Karl K. Gallagher’s Fall of the Censor series, which includes quite a few novels recognized as Best Novel finalists.

But it’s also nice to see nominated works by authors who’ve never previously been recognized in our awards. So far this year, more than half of the novels were written by first-time nominees: Max Harms, Andrew Knighton, John C. A. Manley, Ewan Morrison, Laura Montgomery, Ray Nayler and J. Kenton Pierce.

So what are the novels by these authors that have been nominated so far?

Continue reading Last call for Prometheus Best Novel nominations: With the mid-February nominating deadline approaching, 13 2025 novels have been nominated so far 

Good news: The Prometheus Awards blog and LFS website have been ranked among the best libertarian blogs and websites of 2025

By Michael Grossberg

FeedSpot, a website aggregator, has released its updated list of the “60 Best Libertarian Blogs and Websites in 2025.”

The Libertarian Futurist Society and its Prometheus Awards blog, launched just six years ago, is ranked 39th on the FeedSpot list, which ranks 399 libertarian websites.

That’s relatively high up on the list, one of many ranked by Feedspot, an online platform that aggregates and organizes content from a wide variety of websites on many different subjects and themes.

Continue reading Good news: The Prometheus Awards blog and LFS website have been ranked among the best libertarian blogs and websites of 2025

The best of the blog: Highlights of 2025, from two probing series to an unusually moving and stimulating 45th Prometheus Awards ceremony

By Michael Grossberg

As we look back at what was published on the Prometheus Blog over the past year, it’s hard to pick the very best articles and reports to highlight.

Among our more sustained efforts, we launched an awards-standards series, with essays by William Stoddard and Eric Raymond exploring the criteria for Prometheus nominations, and devoted an 11-part series to analyzing the pros and cons of the increasing popularity of sequels in pop culture and in our awards.

Novelist Michael Flynn at an sf convention several decades ago (File photo)

Yet in this final of three “Best of the Blog” posts highlighting some of our best work of 2025, reporting on our 45th awards ceremony may rank highest.

For the first time in the history of the Prometheus Awards, the Best Novel winner was recognized posthumously. While we continue to mourn the passing of Michael Flynn, who died in 2023 at 75, this year’s well-deserved award for his final novel In the Belly of the Whale paved the way for one of our most emotional and inspirational acceptance speeches.

Continue reading The best of the blog: Highlights of 2025, from two probing series to an unusually moving and stimulating 45th Prometheus Awards ceremony

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 

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

Prometheus Hall of Fame news: Novels by James Blish, Aldous Huxley, C.S. Lewis, Adam Roberts and Charles Stross selected as 2026 finalists

By Michael Grossberg

Fresh titles dominate this year’s slate of just-announced finalists for the next Prometheus Hall of Fame Award for Best Classic Fiction.

This year’s five finalists – first published between 1932 and 2003 – include novels by James Blish (The Star Dwellers), C.S. Lewis (That Hideous Strength), Aldous Huxley (Brave New World), Adam Roberts (Salt) and Charles Stross (Singularity Sky).

James Blish in the 1960s (Creative Commons license)

Blish and Roberts are first-time Hall of Fame nominees, while this is the first time that Huxley’s classic dystopian novel has been recognized as a finalist.

Blish, a Hugo-winning author widely admired in the 1950s and 1960s during the peak of the so-called Golden Age of modern sf, has never before been nominated for the Prometheus Award – perhaps in retrospect a major omission that at last has been corrected.

Although Huxley’s classic dystopian novel was nominated during the first decade of our awards in the 1980s, this is the first nomination for Brave New World in roughly four decades.

Continue reading Prometheus Hall of Fame news: Novels by James Blish, Aldous Huxley, C.S. Lewis, Adam Roberts and Charles Stross selected as 2026 finalists

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