Libertarian Steve Burgauer has written a dozen novels.
Although Burgauer writes historical and adventure novels, too – including his recently released The Mystery of the Broken Gargoyle – much of his work falls within the genre of science fiction.
Among his SF novels: The Railguns of Luna, Skullcap, The Grandfather Paradox, A More Perfect Union, Moonbeam and The Fornax Drive.
How was Burguauer first attracted to science fiction?
What makes him keep writing it?
And how does he relate such speculative fiction to the future, to progress and to liberty?
BURGAUER’S EVOLUTION
In a recent email interview, the Florida resident and long-time LFS member explained that his devotion to science fiction has everything to do with what he learned from his professional career and day job.
“In my professional life, I was a stockbroker. I founded a successful mutual fund,” Burgauer said.
“As a regular trader in the financial markets, I soon became fascinated by biological evolution and how natural selection had favored those archaic human beings who evolved adaptions that allowed them to prosper from trading goods and services with other human beings, one man becoming skilled at tanning leathers, for example, while another became skilled at knapping, i.e., fashioning spear-points.”
Such evolutionary adaptations, he learned, led directly to the evolution of speech and language “as well as the development of writing as human beings began to keep records of their trading activities — with whom, where, and when,” he said.
“This sequence of biologic events provided the evolutionary underpinnings for capitalism and free trade.”
Once Burgauer grasped what he calls “the natural selective bias in favor of free trade,” he began applying science fiction to envision future trends in evolution and trading.
“It was clear to me that unfettered trading (libertarianism) would produce the highest standards of living hundreds of years down the road,” he concluded.
“I wanted to write about that future.”
So he did.
BURGAUER’S SCIENCE FICTION
Some of his first SF novels were the direct result of those musings – such as Moon Beam and Skullcap.
Of his SF works, Burgauer suggests that LFS members and other science fiction fans unfamiliar with his fiction read as an introduction perhaps his best book on the subject: The Night of the Eleventh Sun (BookSurge Publishing, 2007), about late Neanderthals meeting early humans and how the two species competed for limited resources.
In fact, he said, readers might be advised to read that book first, or perhaps Moon Beam (Battleground Press, 2018), a suspense thriller set on the moon as a fresh team arrives from Earth to erect the first lunar space elevator.
THE MYSTERY OF THE BROKEN GARGOYLE
Set in England during World War I, Burger’s latest novel revolves around two Boy Scouts who uncover a secret German plot to assassinate a brilliant British scientist.
A review in Indies Today praised the novel as “historical fiction that is equal parts education and entertainment” and as “a heartfelt exploration of courage, legacy, and the heroism of ordinary people.”
Here’s the back-cover description:
“World War 1. England is under siege. Zeppelin attacks are something to be feared, especially in and around London. In the north of the country, where this story takes place, things are quieter. Two Boy Scouts, fast friends, while working on their Astronomy badge, uncover a secret German plot to assassinate a brilliant scientist who is developing a cutting edge offensive weapon for the British military.
“The mystery unfolds in a setting that includes a nearby German prisoner-of-war camp, as well as an abandoned abbey dating to the Middle Ages, and a turncoat prison camp guard who has lost one arm to the war. In an unexpected display of bravery, the two Scouts foil the German plot and capture the foreign agent, for which they are awarded the King’s Scout Award, the highest honor a British Boy Scout can earn.”
BURGAUER’S OTHER HISTORICAL NOVELS
Other historical novels by Burgauer include:
* Nazi Saboteurs on the Bayou, billed as “an exciting and fast-paced story about the famed steel-ramped Higgins boats;”
* Flights for Freedom, an adventure story about American flyers in WW1; and
* The Road to War: Duty & Drill, Courage & Capture, described as “the heartfelt story of a soldier who landed at Normandy Beach in WW2 and later was wounded and captured.”
ABOUT THE LFS AND THE 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 international 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.
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