A guide to the Best Novel nominees, Part 2: How Theft of Fire, Swim Among the People, God’s Girlfriend and Lord of a Shattered Land fit the Prometheus Award

By Michael Grossberg

What makes an sf/fantasy novel eligible for nomination for a Prometheus Award?

How many different types of genres, styles and themes can fit the distinctive dual focus of the Prometheus Award – at once literary in quality and thematic in libertarian/anti-authoritarian substance?

To help illuminate such questions anew, the Prometheus Blog is presenting a series of posts offering capsule descriptions of the 17 2023 novels nominated for the 44th Prometheus Award for Best Novel.

We hope this guide will help the public better understand the specific focus and broad scope of our award, one of the oldest continually presented after the Hugo and the Nebula awards.

In addition, we hope these descriptions will stimulate interest in reading these diverse novels among Libertarian Futurist Society members, other freedom-loving sf/fantasy fans and the general public.

Part Two includes capsule descriptions, alphabetized by author, of four Best Novel nominees: Devon Eriksen’s Theft of Fire, Karl K. Gallagher’s Swim Among the People, Dr. Insensitive Jerk’s God’s Girlfriend, and Howard Andrew Jones’ Lord of a Shattered Land.

Continue reading A guide to the Best Novel nominees, Part 2: How Theft of Fire, Swim Among the People, God’s Girlfriend and Lord of a Shattered Land fit the Prometheus Award

A bountiful crop: The 2024 Best Novel nominees are remarkably varied in genre, style, and theme

By Michael Grossberg

Some are science fiction, some fantasies, while several bid to become classics of dystopian literature.

Many are dramatic and suspenseful, some heroic or inspirational, and a few are comical or outright satirical.

Prometheus brought the gifts of fire and liberty to humanity

Some novels are set in the distant future, some in the near future, some in ancient eras or mythologized histories and one in an alternate history.

While quite a few are sequels, some launch promising new series – and seven appear to be self-contained, stand-alone works with a beginning, middle and satisfying end.

This year’s bountiful crop of Prometheus Best Novel nominees, whose titles and authors were recently announced in this blog, display a remarkable range of genres, themes and styles.

Continue reading A bountiful crop: The 2024 Best Novel nominees are remarkably varied in genre, style, and theme

Tor.com’s new website Reactor worth visiting – and not just for its stories about the Prometheus Award and Prometheus-winning fiction

Tor Published Group, one of the major sf/fantasy publishers, has redesigned and renamed its Tor.com website to reflect the online magazine’s independence and enhanced publisher neutrality.

Libertarian Futurist Society members should keep track of the new website, now named Reactor.

And not only for its broad coverage for 15 years of “SFF (science fiction and fantasy) books and pop culture.

Continue reading Tor.com’s new website Reactor worth visiting – and not just for its stories about the Prometheus Award and Prometheus-winning fiction

17 works of science fiction, fantasy and dystopian literature are nominated for the next Prometheus Award for Best Novel

Libertarian Futurist Society members have made 17 nominations for the Best Novel category of the next Prometheus Award.

Of the authors whose works are nominated, a majority are being recognized for the first time by the LFS and the Prometheus Awards.

Ten novelists are being recognized for the first time with Prometheus nominations. Listed in alphabetical order, those authors are Stephen Albrecht, Devon Eriksen, Howard Andrew Jones, Naomi Kritzer, Paul Lynch, Sandra Newman, Salman Rushdie, C. T. Rwizi, Fenton Wood and Alan Zimm.

Continue reading 17 works of science fiction, fantasy and dystopian literature are nominated for the next Prometheus Award for Best Novel

British Science Fiction Association Awards’ 2023 long list includes several Prometheus-nominated authors

Prometheus-winning author Charles Stross and Prometheus-finalists Martha Wells and John Scalzi are on the BSFA list.

So is Sandra Newman, author of Julia, the acclaimed sequel to Orwell’s 1984 that’s recently been nominated along with a dozen other 2023 novels for the next Prometheus Award for Best Novel.

What list are they on? It’s the fascinating and far-flung long list of nominees for the BSFA Awards, recently announced for works published in 2023.

Sponsored by the British Science Fiction Association, the BSFA awards have been presented annually since 1970 – and can be a harbinger of the Hugos, the Nebulas and other major sf/fantasy awards.

The BSFA awards also overlap to some extent with the Prometheus Awards over the decades, recognizing several of our favorite writers.

Continue reading British Science Fiction Association Awards’ 2023 long list includes several Prometheus-nominated authors

Publishers, authors, LFS members & sf/fantasy fans: Please heed our early call for Best Novel submissions (and why timeliness matters)

By Michael Grossberg

Have you come across a 2024 sf/fantasy novel that seems to fit the distinctive dual focus of the Prometheus Awards?

If so, it’s not too early to bring it to our attention.

In fact, the right time is now – rather than later.

And that good advice applies not only to Libertarian Futurist Society members, but also to publishers, authors, sf/fantasy fans and libertarians outside our organization.

Continue reading Publishers, authors, LFS members & sf/fantasy fans: Please heed our early call for Best Novel submissions (and why timeliness matters)

New autobiography by Rush rock star Geddy Lee sheds light on the libertarian roots of the Canadian prog-rock band

By Michael Grossberg

For Rush fans, the recent publication of Canadian rock star Geddy Lee’s autobiography should spark interest.
LFS members, currently weighing this year’s slate of Prometheus Hall of Fame finalists including the Rush fantasy song “The Trees,” should find My Effin’ Life (Harper) especially timely and intriguing.

Continue reading New autobiography by Rush rock star Geddy Lee sheds light on the libertarian roots of the Canadian prog-rock band

Rabbit Test: Samantha Mill’s story, which swept this past year’s sf awards, has been hailed as libertarian (But that depends on your view of its central issue.)

By Michael Grossberg

One short story swept the major sf awards this past year – including the Hugos, the Nebulas and the Locus awards.

That story is “Rabbit Test,” by Samantha Mills.

According to at least one veteran libertarian sf fan, Mill’s story fits the distinctive focus of the Prometheus Award.

“The well-written story has a strong individual-liberty theme,” said Fred Moulton, a now-retired former LFS leader and Prometheus judge. (And the vast majority of libertarians likely would agree.)

But does it?

Continue reading Rabbit Test: Samantha Mill’s story, which swept this past year’s sf awards, has been hailed as libertarian (But that depends on your view of its central issue.)

“The Emperor’s New Clothes” – Andersen’s fable remains a useful metaphor and illustrative lesson for today

By Michael Grossberg

One of the best choices that LFS members have made in voting annually in the Best Classic Fiction category, in my opinion, was the decision to induct “The Emperor’s New Clothes” in 2000 into the Prometheus Hall of Fame.

Hans Christian Andersen’s timeless anti-authoritarian parable isn’t merely a fable for children but a cautionary tale for everyone about the presumptions and illusions of power — not to mention the dangers of sheep-like conformity…. lessons that still apply today. (Perhaps especially today.)

Possibly because the Danish author’s 1837 story is often grouped somewhat diminutively with Anderson’s other stories as mere “children’s” literature or perhaps for other reasons, “The Emperor’s New Clothes” often seems to be overlooked or dismissed by contemporary columnists and bloggers as a still-resonant metaphor for the blind spots and knee-jerk tribalism of our increasingly conformist, censorious, culture-cancelling and fearful era.

So it’s a pleasure to come across a relatively rare reference to Andersen’s classic among today’s vast social commentary – moreover, not just a brief reference, but a full column from a regular Substack writer who makes the story central to his insightful and timely themes.

The column is even titled in honor of the fable: “The Emperor’s New Art.”

Continue reading “The Emperor’s New Clothes” – Andersen’s fable remains a useful metaphor and illustrative lesson for today

Who was Prometheus? Writer Virginia Postrel exposes modern misconceptions while highlighting the Greek myth’s pro-liberty, pro-technology themes

“The ancient myth of Prometheus is not a cautionary tale. It is a reminder that technē raises human beings above brutes. It is a myth founded in gratitude.” – Virginia Postrel

By Michael Grossberg

Who was Prometheus?

Despite modern misconceptions and fears, why does the titan of Greek mythology remain a positive and inspiring symbol of freedom, hope, revolution and progress today?

Virginia Postrel – the former Reason-magazine editor and Atlantic and New York Times columnist, and notable author of the seminal The Future and Its Enemies – brilliantly but concisely challenges common contemporary misunderstandings about the Greek legend in a fascinating and insightful essay on her Substack column.

Continue reading Who was Prometheus? Writer Virginia Postrel exposes modern misconceptions while highlighting the Greek myth’s pro-liberty, pro-technology themes