By Michael Grossberg
With the Libertarian Futurist Society on the verge of sending Prometheus Awards ballots to LFS members, here’s a quick-reference guide to this year’s finalists.
This guide offers LFS members a timely summary of this year’s finalists in our two annual categories: Best Novel and the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.
Again this year, the Prometheus Blog was able to publish in-depth reviews of each of the finalists to add context and perspective on why each work deserved our recognition. So also included here, for the convenience of Prometheus voters, are links to each review.
Plus, this guide will offer tips on the availability of finalists – including links to those available free and online.
THE 2025 BEST NOVEL FINALISTS
* Alliance Unbound, by C.J Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher (DAW, 404 pages)
* In the Belly of the Whale, by Michael Flynn (CAEZIK SF & Fantasy, 472 pages)
* Cancelled: The Shape of Things to Come, by Danny King (Annie Mosse Press, 456 pages)
* Beggar’s Sky, by Wil McCarthy (Baen Books, 312 pages)
* Mania, by Lionel Shriver (Harper, 288 pages)
READ THE FINALIST REVIEWS
To whet the appetite of LFS Full members, Sponsors and Benefactors to read and rank all five Best Novel finalists on the final ballot, here are links to the recent Prometheus Blog reviews: Alliance Unbound, In the Belly of the Whale, Cancelled: The Shape of Things to Come, Beggar’s Sky and Mania.
THE 2025 HALL OF FAME FINALISTS
* Orion Shall Rise, a 1983 novel by Poul Anderson
* “As Easy as A.B.C.,” a 1912 story by Rudyard Kipling
* ”The Trees,” a 1978 song by Rush
* Singularity Sky, a 2003 novel by Charles Stross
READ THE FINALIST REVIEWS
To whet the appetite of LFS members to read and rank the four Best Classic Fiction finalists on the final ballot, here are links to the recent Prometheus Blog reviews: “The Trees,” “As Easy as A.B.C.,” Orion Shall Rise and Singularity Sky.
HOW TO FIND THE FINALISTS
The Rush song and the Kipling story are available free online, helping to make our Best Classic Fiction category more accessible.
Thanks to the Kipling Society, the full text of “As Easy as A.B.C.” has been posted.
Lyrics to the Rush song can be found several places online.
Google “lyrics to the Rush song The Trees” to find the full text. To watch Rush perform the song, visit YouTube, where several videos are available – or watch one video recording of the song that alternates between images of trees and the band.)
Meanwhile, all five Best Novel finalists as well as the Hall of Fame finalist novels by Anderson and Stross, are widely available at libraries, bookstores and online, often in new and used editions and as a Kindle or ebook.
We hope this reference guide will assist LFS members in familiarizing themselves with the finalists between now and the traditional and aptly symbolic July 4 voting deadline.
FOR FURTHER REFERENCE
Read other Prometheus Blog articles for an overview of the Best Novel finalists and an overview of the Hall of Fame finalists.
Check out the LFS press releases announcing the Prometheus Hall of Fame finalists and the Best Novel finalists, which include 120- to 150-word capsule descriptions of each work that make clear how they fit our award.
ABOUT THE LFS AND PROMETHEUS AWARDS
* Join us! To help sustain the Prometheus Awards and support a cultural and literary strategy to appreciate and honor freedom-loving fiction, join the Libertarian Futurist Society, a non-profit all-volunteer association of freedom-loving sf/fantasy fans.
Libertarian futurists understand that culture matters. We believe that literature and the arts can be vital in envisioning a freer and better future.
In some ways, culture can be even more influential and powerful than politics in the long run, by imagining better visions of the future incorporating peace, prosperity, progress, tolerance, justice, positive social change, and mutual respect for each other’s rights, human dignity, individuality and peaceful choices.
* Prometheus winners: For a full list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees – including in the annual Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) categories and occasional Special Awards – visit the enhanced Prometheus Awards page on the LFS website. This page includes convenient links to all published essay-reviews in our Appreciation series explaining why each of more than 100 past winners since 1979 fits the awards’ distinctive dual focus on both quality and liberty.
* Watch videos of past Prometheus Awards ceremonies, Libertarian Futurist Society panel discussions with noted sf authors and leading libertarian writers, and other LFS programs on the Prometheus Blog’s Video page.
* Read “The Libertarian History of Science Fiction,” an essay in the international magazine Quillette that favorably highlights the Prometheus Awards, the Libertarian Futurist Society and the significant element of libertarian sf/fantasy in the evolution of the modern genre.
* Check out the Libertarian Futurist Society’s Facebook page for comments, updates and links to the latest Prometheus Blog posts.
