Of the 10 nominees for the next Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction, the two most recently published are novels – one a historical fantasy set at the dawn of civilization, and the other, a work of futuristic science fiction set among interstellar colonies.
Between the Rivers, by Harry Turtledove, was published in 1998 by TOR Books.
Singularity Sky, by Charles Stross, was published in 2003 by Ace Books.
Both authors are Prometheus Award winners for Best Novel, with Stross winning in 2007 for Glasshouse and Turtledove winning in 2008 for The Gladiator.
Both novelists are happily still living and still writing.
That’s actually remarkable and not the norm in the Hall of Fame category, which focuses on older works of speculative fiction (novels, stories, songs, poems, films, plays, TV shows, trilogies, anthologies, etc.) that have stood the test of time.
(To be eligible for nomination, such works must first have appeared at least 20 years ago.)
Yet neither Stross or Turledove has yet won a Prometheus Award for Best Classic Fiction.
Who knows whether they’ll win this year, or even whether their nominees will end up selected as finalists by the Hall of Fame judges by mid-December.
After all, these two works are competing with quite an interesting range of other nominees, each described in capsule reviews previously posted on the Prometheus Blog.
For comparison, here 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
Here, in the fifth and final part of the Prometheus Blog’s series about this year’s candidates for Hall of Fame induction, are capsule review-descriptions of each work, compiled and edited from LFS members and judges.
TURTLEDOVE’S BETWEEN THE RIVERS
Between the Rivers, a 1998 novel (TOR) by Harry Turtledove, tells an alternate-history story about humanity’s attempt to forge its own destiny at the dawn of civilization.
Framed as a Bronze Age mythology based on early Mesopotamia and inspired by Julian Jaynes’s “bicameral-mind” hypothesis in The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, Turtledove’s novel revolves around a city ruled by omnipresent gods and ghosts dominating everyone’s lives.
Yet, people are beginning to think for themselves, assert their emergent free will and make progress through commerce and mathematics, while the emergence of new technologies such as writing and metalworking weakens the power of the gods and perhaps in the long run of kings.
One of those independent-minded men is a young merchant with strange ideas challenging traditional cultural assumptions in a struggle for freedom from divine rule.
Following Jaynes’s lead, Turtledove shows not the political order or legal institutions of individualism, but the birth of a self-awareness that makes individualism possible in the first place.
For a more in-depth look at this nominee, read the Prometheus Blog review of Between the Rivers, a Hall of Fame finalist last year.
STROSS’S SINGULARITY SKY
Singularity Sky, a 2003 novel (Ace Books) by British author Charles Stross, offers a kaleidoscopic blend of SF, adventure, mystery, clashing sociopolitical cultures and new space opera while juggling such concepts as the Singularity, artificial intelligence, bioengineering, nanotechnology, faster-than-light starships and time travel.
Stross imagines a 25th-century scattered interstellar future facing radical transformation, beginning with the static human colony of Rochard’s World exposed to advanced alien technology by the Festival.
A mysterious, unusual and peaceful but highly disruptive cluster of advanced aliens, the Festival seduces the citizenry by dropping cell phones out of the sky and granting any and all wishes, however fantastical, to whoever finds them and offers ideas or art and culture in exchange.
Stross plausibly and insightfully contrasts a variety of planetary cultures and levels of civilization, from an anarcho-capitalist Earth functioning exclusively through private contracts to the New Republic, a reactionary set of colonies with secret police, a ruthless aristocracy and no Internet.
The clash of cultures prompts the New Republic to send a battle fleet to prevent the distribution of forbidden technology through illicit time travel – a bigger threat than they perceive to a super intelligence named the Eschaton, striving in the background to keep the time stream clear and paradox-free.
An Earth contractor, hired to provide technical work for the New Republic’s space fleet, reveals his very different and libertarian view of government during a bureaucrat’s preliminary questioning:
“Government?” Martin rolled his eyes. “I come from Earth. For legislation and insurance, I use Pinkertons, with a backup strategic infringement policy from the New Model Air Force…. For reasons of nostalgia; I am a registered citizen of the People’s Republic of West Yorkshire, although I haven’t been back there for twenty years. But I wouldn’t say I was answerable to any of those, except my contractual partners – and they’re equally answerable to me.”
FOR FURTHER READING
For capsule review/descriptions of the two oldest works nominated, read Part One of this series, focusing on 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.
Read Part 4 of this series, offering capsule reviews of the 1978 fantasy rock song “The Trees” by Rush, and of Poul Anderson’s 1984 novel Orion Shall Rise.
For more information about all 10 works, read the Prometheus Blog’s initial LFS announcement of the Hall of Fame nominees.
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.
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, individuality, and human dignity.
Through recognizing the literature of liberty and the many different but complementary visions of a free future via the Prometheus Awards, the LFS hopes to help spread ideas 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.
