David Friedman, the influential economist, legal scholar, libertarian theorist and novelist, has graciously agreed to speak and present a category at this year’s 45th Prometheus Awards ceremony.
Friedman is best known for his academic scholarship and for The Machinery of Freedom, his pioneering libertarian classic. With an empirical focus on the practical solutions to many social problems that private markets can address optimally, and far better than governments, Friedman’s nonfiction book had a major impact on the early libertarian movement in the 1970s and 1980s.
Yet, Friedman is also a science fiction fan and a novelist who has written three fantasy novels, apt and additional reasons the Libertarian Futurist Society board of directors invited him to speak and present the Prometheus Hall of Fame category for Best Classic Fiction at our 2025 Prometheus Awards ceremony.
His first novel, Harald, published by Baen Books in 2006, was nominated for a Prometheus Award for Best Novel.
Friedman’s other fantasy novels include Salamander (2011) and its 2020 sequel Brothers.
His nonfiction books have been reviewed in the Wall Street Journal and the Times Literary Supplement, discussed in an episode of Booknotes and used as university textbooks.
Among Friedman’s nonfiction books: Price Theory: An Intermediate Text (1986), Law’s Order: What Economics Has to Do with Law and Why It Matters (2000), Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life (1996), and Future Imperfect: Technology and Freedom in an Uncertain World (2008).
Friedman (the son of Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman) has a home page at www.daviddfriedman.com, but more recently has launched an interesting and insightful Substack column where he offers regular columns that analyze both everyday life and the more complex or timely issues of today from the perspective of economics and law.
THE AWARDS CEREMONY
Most awards presenters over the years have focused in their speeches on a constellation of topics and themes, such as the importance of and relevance of libertarian SF/fantasy to the broader culture, the value and track record of the Prometheus Awards, their personal favorites among past Prometheus winners, or personal stories about how SF/fantasy in general or libertarian speculative fiction has made a difference in your life.
Given Friedman’s expertise in the relationship of law and economics and his lifelong interest in developing and applying libertarian theory, who knows?
His speech might illuminate how such complex realities and themes apply to libertarian speculative fiction in general or perhaps his favorite Prometheus Award winners in particular.
It will be exciting to hear what David ends up discussing in his speech.
Meanwhile, the specific date and time of the 2025 Prometheus Awards ceremony should be confirmed by late July, after winners in the Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) categories have been selected by voting LFS members, announced on the blog and notified to check their availability.
Typically, in recent years, the hourlong awards ceremony is scheduled in mid- to late August on a Saturday early afternoon (Eastern time). The Zoom-hosted event is free and open to the public.
This year’s four Best Classic Fiction finalists competing to be inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame are:
* 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 fantasy rock song by Rush
* Singularity Sky, a 2003 novel by Charles Stross
For capsule descriptions of each finalist and how it fits the Prometheus Award, read the 2025 Prometheus Hall of Fame press release.
Although the Prometheus Best Novel finalists won’t be selected by judges and announced until April, the Prometheus Blog recently posted an announcement and description of this year’s 11 Best Novel nominees, a varied slate that includes science fiction and fantasy, suspenseful futuristic thrillers and satirical cautionary tales.
Look for awards news updates on the Prometheus blog (and if you’re an LFS member, in the quarterly emailed LFS News.)
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE PROMETHEUS AWARDS:
* Prometheus winners: For the full list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees – including 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, which now 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.
* 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.
* Watch videos of past Prometheus Awards ceremonies (including the 2023 ceremony with inspiring and amusing speeches by Prometheus-winning authors Dave Freer and Sarah Hoyt), Libertarian Futurist Society panel discussions with noted sf authors and leading libertarian writers, and other LFS programs on the Prometheus Blog’s Video page.
* Check out the Libertarian Futurist Society’s Facebook page for comments, updates and links to Prometheus Blog posts.
* 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 believe that culture matters. We understand that the arts and literature can be vital in envisioning a freer and better future – and in some ways can be even more 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.
Through recognizing the literature of liberty and the many different but possible and complementary visions of a free future via the Prometheus Awards, the LFS hopes to help spread ideas, humane ideals and ethical principles that help humanity overcome tyranny, end slavery, reduce the threat of war, repeal or constrain other abuses of coercive power and achieve universal liberty, respect for human rights and a better world (perhaps ultimately, worlds) for all.
