Unlike the annual Prometheus Award for Best Novel, the other annual Prometheus category for Best Classic Fiction is open to works being renominated.
Of the 10 works of fiction nominated for the next Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction, three are returning nominees after reaching the level last year of Hall of Fame finalists.
One is the Rush fantasy-fable song “The Trees,” first recorded in 1978.
The other is Poul Anderson’s novel Orion Shall Rise, published in 1984.
Here, in the fourth part of the Prometheus Blog’s series about this year’s Hall of Fame nominees, are capsule review-descriptions of those two finalists.
RUSH’S “THE TREES”
”The Trees,” a 1978 song by Rush, was released on the Canadian rock group’s album “Hemispheres”.
The lyrics are by Neil Peart and the music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. Clearly framed within the fantasy genre and a cautionary tale, the song warns against coerced equality in a beast fable – or in this case, a “tree fable.”
Peart poetically present a Nature-based fable of envy, “oppression” and misguided revolution motivated by a true-believer ideology of coercive egalitarianism.
The survival and individuality of different kinds of trees – both agitating Maples and lofty Oaks – are threatened when a seemingly “noble law” is adopted in the forest to keep the trees “equal by hatchet, axe and saw.”
For more information, read the full Prometheus Blog review of “The Trees,” one of last year’s Hall of Fame finalists.
ANDERSON’S ORION SHALL RISE
Orion Shall Rise, a 1983 novel (Timescape) by frequent Prometheus winner Poul Anderson, explores the corruptions and temptations of power and how a free society might survive and thrive after an apocalypse.
The story is set in a post-nuclear-war Earth with four renascent civilizations in conflict over the proper role of technology: the libertarian Northwest Union, the neofeudal Skyholm, and the environmentalism of the Maurai and the Mong (the former an oceanic federation, the latter a continental interior society based on military discipline oddly combined with something like Buddhism).
While Anderson regards all four civilizations with some sympathy and characteristically plays fair with both sides (ultimately making the side he favors more sympathetic), his novel focuses on forward-thinking visionaries in a now-feudal, empire-dominated world who dream of reaching for the stars while trying to revive forbidden nuclear technology.
That’s something that most of these future societies can’t afford to do, deeply dread and are willing to pay a high price to avoid – or to stop if anyone looks likely to succeed at it, which gives the novel its central conflict.
Among the most intriguing elements: the depiction of a clearly libertarian society with minimal government operating in formerly western Canada and northwestern United States.
For more information, read the full Prometheus Blog review of Orion Shall Rise, one of last year’s Hall of Fame finalists.
THE FULL LIST OF HALL OF FAME NOMINEES
Here, for the record, are the 10 Hall of Fame nominees for the 2025 Prometheus Awards, listed in chronological order of publication or recording:
“As Easy as A.B.C.,” by Rudyard Kipling (1912), a novelette
That Hideous Strength, by C.S. Lewis (1945), a novel
“Death and the Senator,” by Arthur C. Clarke (1961), a short story
“Ultima Thule,” by Mack Reynolds (1961), a novella
“Conquest by Default,” by Vernor Vinge (1968), a novelette
The Demon Breed, by James H. Schmitz (1968), a novel
“The Trees,” by Rush (1978), a song
Orion Shall Rise, by Poul Anderson (1984), a novel
Between the Rivers, by Harry Turtledove (1998), a novel
Singularity Sky, by Charles Stross (2003), a novel
For more information about all 10 works listed above, read the Prometheus Blog announcement of the Hall of Fame nominees.
Coming up in part five of this series: Capsule reviews of Harry Turtledove’s 1998 novel Between the Rivers and Charles Stross’s 2003 novel Singularity Sky.
For capsule review/descriptions of the two oldest works nominated this year, check out Part 1 of this series, exploring Rudyard Kipling’s 1912 novelette “As Easy as A.B.C.” and C.S. Lewis’ 1945 novel That Hideous Strength.
Read Part 2 of this series, offering capsule reviews of the two Hall of Fame nominees first published in 1961: Arthur C. Clarke’s short story “Death and the Senator” and Mack Reynolds’ novella “Ultima Thule.”
Read Part 3 of this series, offering capsule reviews of the Hall of Fame nominees “Conquest by Default,” a 1968 novelette by Vernor Vinge; and The Demon Breed, a 1968 novel by James H. Schmitz.
Coming up: Part 5 of our series offering capsule review/descriptions of the Prometheus Hall of Fame nominees Between the Rivers and Singularity Sky.
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 recent 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.
