C.S. Lewis – Prometheus Blog

How to approach A.I. ethically: Chronicles magazine reminds us of the wisdom of C.S. Lewis and George Orwell

It’s always encouraging to see a Prometheus-recognized writer remembered in any contemporary article, especially about one of the hottest, most divisive and misunderstood issues of our day.

But it’s wonderful – and rare – to find two such authors remembered in the same article, especially one that quotes them with accuracy and insight.

The enduring wisdom of both C.S. Lewis and George Orwell is at the core of a sensible article about Artificial Intelligence by Benjamin M. Osborne in Chronicles magazine.

Orwell, of course, is a two-time Prometheus Hall of Fame inductee for his novels Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm. Lewis, meanwhile, is again a Hall of Fame finalist this year for his 1945 science fiction novel That Hideous Strength.

So what ideas and insights by Lewis and Orwell are explored and applied in Osborn’s June 2026 article, “What Would C.S. Lewis Have Thought of AI?”

Continue reading How to approach A.I. ethically: Chronicles magazine reminds us of the wisdom of C.S. Lewis and George Orwell

A final reminder: Vote for the Prometheus Awards by July 4 

By Michael Grossberg

Which finalist will win the Prometheus Award for Best Novel? And which work will be inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame?

Libertarian Futurist Society members will help answer those questions by participating in the final stage of judging this year’s Prometheus Awards.

With the July 4 voting deadline just a few days away, it’s not too late for LFS members to submit their ballots.

Continue reading A final reminder: Vote for the Prometheus Awards by July 4 

A guide to Prometheus Awards voting: Check out our reviews of this year’s five Hall of Fame finalists by Blish, Lewis, Huxley, Roberts and Stross 

By Michael Grossberg

As a guide to the Prometheus Awards and for the convenience of Libertarian Futurist Society members, the Prometheus Blog has once again published full-length and in-depth reviews of all of this year’s Prometheus Hall of Fame finalists for Best Classic Fiction.

Libertarian Futurist Society members, who have the right to vote to select the annual Best Classic Fiction winner from the finalists, are invited to read our reviews of the five novels selected as 2026 finalists – hopefully, to whet your appetite to read each finalist and vote in this year’s Prometheus Awards.

First published between 1932 and 2003, the five finalists were written by James Blish (The Star Dwellers), C.S. Lewis (That Hideous Strength), Aldous Huxley (Brave New World), Adam Roberts (Salt) and Charles Stross (Singularity Sky).

Other SF/fantasy fans and other libertarians, outside the LFS, also are invited to check out the reviews to better understand how they fit the distinctive dual focus of the Prometheus Awards on both quality and liberty.

Continue reading A guide to Prometheus Awards voting: Check out our reviews of this year’s five Hall of Fame finalists by Blish, Lewis, Huxley, Roberts and Stross 

Hall of Fame Finalist Review: C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength dramatizes warring ideologies of good and evil, freedom and tyranny

By Michael Grossberg

Bestselling British author C.S. Lewis wrote more than 30 books of fiction and non-fiction. With estimated sales approaching 200 million copies in print, Lewis (1898-1963) is best-known for his children’s fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia and his devilish epistolary novel The Screwtape Letters.

Lewis also wrote science fiction – most notably, his Space Trilogy, which culminates with That Hideous Strength, Lewis’ most libertarian novel.

Selected by LFS judges as one of this year’s Prometheus Hall of Fame finalists for Best Classic Fiction, That Hideous Strength offers a dystopian and metaphysical vision that dramatizes warring ideologies of good and evil, freedom and tyranny.

Continue reading Hall of Fame Finalist Review: C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength dramatizes warring ideologies of good and evil, freedom and tyranny

Prometheus Hall of Fame news: Novels by James Blish, Aldous Huxley, C.S. Lewis, Adam Roberts and Charles Stross selected as 2026 finalists

By Michael Grossberg

Fresh titles dominate this year’s slate of just-announced finalists for the next Prometheus Hall of Fame Award for Best Classic Fiction.

This year’s five finalists – first published between 1932 and 2003 – include novels by James Blish (The Star Dwellers), C.S. Lewis (That Hideous Strength), Aldous Huxley (Brave New World), Adam Roberts (Salt) and Charles Stross (Singularity Sky).

James Blish in the 1960s (Creative Commons license)

Blish and Roberts are first-time Hall of Fame nominees, while this is the first time that Huxley’s classic dystopian novel has been recognized as a finalist.

Blish, a Hugo-winning author widely admired in the 1950s and 1960s during the peak of the so-called Golden Age of modern sf, has never before been nominated for the Prometheus Award – perhaps in retrospect a major omission that at last has been corrected.

Although Huxley’s classic dystopian novel was nominated during the first decade of our awards in the 1980s, this is the first nomination for Brave New World in roughly four decades.

Continue reading Prometheus Hall of Fame news: Novels by James Blish, Aldous Huxley, C.S. Lewis, Adam Roberts and Charles Stross selected as 2026 finalists

Prometheus Hall of Fame nominees for Best Classic Fiction include novels by Blish, Dick, Huxley, Lewis, Roberts, Stross and Turtledove, a Pohl short story and Straczynski’s Babylon 5 

By Michael Grossberg

James Blish in the 1950s (Creative Commons license)

Works by James Blish, Philip K. Dick, Aldous Huxley, C.S. Lewis, Frederik Pohl, Adam Roberts, J. Michael Straczynski, Charles Stross and Harry Turtledove have been nominated for the next Prometheus Hall of Fame Award for Best Classic Fiction.

Aldous Huxley (Creative Commons license)

A majority of this year’s Hall of Fame nominees are appearing on the short list for the first time – a promising sign that this category for time-honored classic fiction remains full of notable and lasting works worth recognizing.

The oldest nominee on the list is Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel Brave New World, with the second-oldest C.S. Lewis’ 1945 novel That Hideous Strength.

While Lewis’ cautionary sf novel has been nominated before and previously has ranked as a Best Classic Fiction finalist, Huxley’s dystopian classic has never before been nominated for the Prometheus Award – and is arguably overdue.

Continue reading Prometheus Hall of Fame nominees for Best Classic Fiction include novels by Blish, Dick, Huxley, Lewis, Roberts, Stross and Turtledove, a Pohl short story and Straczynski’s Babylon 5 

Prometheus Hall of Fame nominees, Part 1: Capsule reviews of Kipling’s 1912 novelette and C.S. Lewis’ 1945 novel 

By Michael Grossberg

“As Easy as A.B.C.,” a novelette by Rudyard Kipling, was published in 1912.

That Hideous Strength, a novel by C.S. Lewis, was published in 1945.

Of the 10 classic works of fiction nominated for the next Prometheus Hall of Fame, these Kipling and Lewis works are the oldest.

Thus, perhaps these two classic works are a good place to begin our Prometheus Blog series offering capsule reviews of each nominee.

Continue reading Prometheus Hall of Fame nominees, Part 1: Capsule reviews of Kipling’s 1912 novelette and C.S. Lewis’ 1945 novel 

From the late great Kipling, Lewis and Clarke to living authors Turtledove and Stross, LFS members nominate 10 classic works for the 2025 Prometheus Hall of Fame 

By Michael Grossberg

Five are novels, two are novelettes, one a novella, one a story and one a song, reflecting the wide range of fiction eligible for consideration in the Prometheus Hall of Fame.

Author Arthur C. Clarke (Creative Commons license)

The authors of these classic works range from the late great Rudyard Kipling, C.S. Lewis and Arthur C. Clarke to still-living authors, such as Harry Turtledove and Charles Stross.

Ten works of speculative fiction, first published or performed more than 20 years ago, have been nominated by LFS members for the next Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.

Continue reading From the late great Kipling, Lewis and Clarke to living authors Turtledove and Stross, LFS members nominate 10 classic works for the 2025 Prometheus Hall of Fame 

Final call for 2023 Prometheus Hall of Fame nominations (LFS members have nominated 6 novels, 2 stories, a song and a film so far)

With less than two weeks left until the Sept. 30 nominating deadline, Libertarian Futurist Society members have nominated ten works for the next Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.

Among the Hall of Fame nominees so far this year: six novels, two stories, a film and a song. That includes novels by Poul Anderson, Cecilia Holland, C.S. Lewis, Terry Pratchett and E.C. Tubb; both a novel and a story by Harry Turtledove; a story by R.A. Lafferty; a song by the Canadian art-rock group Rush; and, for the first time, a feature film written and directed by and starring Woody Allen.

Such varied forms of art and fiction reflects the broad scope of the Hall of Fame – an annual Prometheus Awards category that incorporates stories, novellas, novels, graphic novels, songs, albums, musicals, operas, plays, poems, films, TV episodes/series, anthologies or trilogies.

Read on to see the current list of nominees so far and how to nominate works (if you’re an LFS member) or submit works for consideration by members (if you’re an author, publisher or non-member).

Continue reading Final call for 2023 Prometheus Hall of Fame nominations (LFS members have nominated 6 novels, 2 stories, a song and a film so far)

Lafferty, Heinlein stories and Pratchett novel make it as first-time nominees onto this year’s Prometheus Hall of Fame finalist list

Most years tend to see at least some continuity in the annual Prometheus Hall of Fame , since any eligible work can be renominated if it doesn’t win.

Since 1983, when the first classic works were inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame, it’s become common for works to be nominated repeatedly, often with returning nominees dominating the list of selected finalists.

Not this year, notable for several fresh contenders.

Continue reading Lafferty, Heinlein stories and Pratchett novel make it as first-time nominees onto this year’s Prometheus Hall of Fame finalist list