By Michael Grossberg
Even after all of the inspiring, thought-provoking and occasionally poignant or amusing speeches by presenters and acceptors, the 45th Prometheus Awards ceremony was worth watching through the very end of its 48 minutes.
During the post-ceremony Q&A discussions of the live Zoom event (recorded and later posted on YouTube), guest Hall of Fame presenter David Friedman offered interesting and revealing comments on a wide variety of science-fiction novelists – including Poul Anderson, the 2025 Hall of Fame winner for his novel Orion Shall Rise; Robert Heinlein, Jerry Pournelle and Vernor Vinge.
A leading economist and libertarian theorist and author of half a dozen non-fiction books, Friedman’s views are worth quoting – especially because he understands the challenges of writing fantastical fiction from his own experience as a Prometheus-nominated writer of three fantasy novels: Harald, Salamander and Brothers.
Here is what Friedman had to say about C.J. Cherryh, among half a dozen sf authors that he commented on in the post-ceremony question period.