Young Adult fiction – Prometheus Blog

The 46th Prometheus Awards: Dave Freer’s Storm-Dragon acceptance speech about reaching and inspiring young readers  

Editor’s note: Dave Freer won the first Special Prometheus Award for Young Adult Fiction for his novel Storm-Dragon, published by Raconteur Press. Speaking from his home in Tasmania, Australia, Freer delivered this acceptance speech Aug. 16, 2026, via Zoom during the 46th Prometheus Awards ceremony.

“Reading is vital – to civilization, to liberty, to everything we wish for our species, especially for our young.” – Dave Freer

By Dave Freer

Author Dave Freer at his home desk in Tasmania Photo courtesy of author

Good afternoon everybody. For me that is actually ‘good predawn’ because it is 3 AM here. Like many authors I’ve kept a notebook next to the bedside so I could, on waking, hastily write down the gifts of the muse that sorted themselves into brilliance while I slept.

Unfortunately, the morning usually revealed gems like: ‘Orglvard at speed, with minchins and porgies.’ which I am sure meant something at the time, and was quite brilliant. I hope I am a little more awake than that, but I am not betting on it. I plead forgiveness in advance.

Firstly: Thank you all for awarding the Special Prometheus prize for Young Adult Literature to my book Storm-Dragon.

I am delighted to accept it. It’s flattering for me, but that is really rather beside the point. The real delight is that the Prometheus – an award which is a reliable indicator ‘you will love the book’ has put its mark on a YA SF-novel.

Continue reading The 46th Prometheus Awards: Dave Freer’s Storm-Dragon acceptance speech about reaching and inspiring young readers  

The 46th Prometheus Awards: Special Awards presenter Travis Corcoran on wonder, adventure, liberty, culture and the vital need for Young Adult Fiction 

Travis Corcoran, a guest speaker at the 46th Prometheus Awards ceremony, was introduced by LFS President William H. Stoddard with these words:
“The Best Novel and Hall of Fame awards are given annually. But the LFS also gives Special Awards, not every year, but when there’s a deserving recipient. A few years ago, we established the category of Special Awards for Young Adult Fiction. This year, for the first time, we’re giving such an award.
“To present this award, we have invited Travis Corcoran to speak. Corcoran received our Best Novel award in 2018 and 2019 for the two volumes of his Aristillus series, The Powers of the Earth and Causes of Separation; this year he has published a new novel, Red State Mars. He currently serves as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. We look forward to hearing what he has to say about young adult fiction and about this year’s honoree.”

By Travis Corcoran

There’s a strange thing about systems – they have state, and often state comes in two or more types, which trade off against each other.

Pendulums have both kinetic energy and potential energy. When a pendulum is dead still, it’s at its highest altitude, and when it’s moving rapidly, it’s at its lowest. Social phenomena can also have state that’s traded back and forth – hobbies and subcultures often reach their absolute peak at exactly the point when growth has fallen to zero. …but there’s no law of conservation of energy in subcultures – a hobby can lose both size and energy at the same time!

Ham radio, bowling leagues – many hobbies have suffered from losing both “altitude” and “speed” at the same time. Deadly in an airplane as a private pilot, and equally deadly to a subculture. …deadly in a subculture like science fiction, generally, or libertarian science fiction, more specifically.

Continue reading The 46th Prometheus Awards: Special Awards presenter Travis Corcoran on wonder, adventure, liberty, culture and the vital need for Young Adult Fiction 

Dave Freer’s Storm-Dragon wins first Special Prometheus Award for Young Adult Fiction

By Michael Grossberg

The Libertarian Futurist Society will present its first Special Prometheus Award for Young Adult Fiction to Dave Freer’s Storm-Dragon.

Several years ago, the LFS Board of Directors unanimously approved this new awards category in recognition of the crucial connection between literacy and liberty and the vital importance of writing fiction, including fantastical fiction, that attracts and engages young people.

Storm-Dragon, by Dave Freer, will receive the Special Award Aug. 16, 2026, at the 46th annual Prometheus Awards, along with the previously announced 2026 winners in the two annual categories for Best Novel (J. Kenton Pierce’s A Kiss for Damocles) and the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction (Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.)

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The Special Prometheus Award for YA fiction isn’t well-known yet, but that could change with the nomination of Dave Freer’s Storm-Dragon 

By Michael Grossberg

Many publishers and authors may not be aware of the newest category of Special Prometheus Awards, set up to recognize Young Adult (YA) fiction. Even some Libertarian Futurist Society members may be unaware of the award, only added as a possibility a few years ago.

Yet, that could be about to change, with the recent nomination of Dave Freer’s YA novel Storm-Dragon for a Special Award.

Continue reading The Special Prometheus Award for YA fiction isn’t well-known yet, but that could change with the nomination of Dave Freer’s Storm-Dragon 

The newest Prometheus Award: A Special Award for Young Adult fiction – and why it’s important to encourage younger generations to read books

By Michael Grossberg

Did you know that Young Adult novels are eligible for a Special Prometheus Award?

In the broad realm of fantastical fiction, Young-Adult or YA novels have had and continue to have a special and honored place.

Just recall how much of the Golden Age of modern SF was YA books for teenagers or so-called “juvenile fiction” for children or middle-grade readers, including many of Robert Heinlein’s early bestsellers, such as Citizen of the Galaxy or Red Planet, both inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.

That’s a key reason why the Libertarian Futurist Society decided several years ago to set up a process to begin recognizing eligible and worthy YA novels with a Special Prometheus Award – and why we invite our members, as well as publishers and authors, to bring eligible YA works to our attention.

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A song of community and resistance to tyranny, and the novella it inspired: An appreciation of Leslie Fish’s “The Horsetamer’s Daughter” and “Tower of Horses,” the 2014 Special Prometheus Award winner

Here is an appreciation of writer-songwriter-singer Leslie Fish’s song “The Horseman’s Daughter” and related novella “Tower of Horse,” together recognized with a 2014 Special Prometheus Award.

By Steve Gaalema and Michael Grossberg

“Tower of Horses,” Leslie Fish’s rich Darkover novella, may be one of the most libertarian stories ever recognized with a Prometheus Award.

With its very believable and human characters, suspenseful plot and resonant coming-of-age and temptations-of-power themes, Fish’s fantasy novella is certainly one of the most satisfying, and emotionally involving.

Together with Fish’s epic folk-song “The Horsetamer’s Daughter,” the novella received a Special Prometheus Award in 2014 – the first time within the history of the awards that a song was recognized, and the first time that a paired song and novella have received a joint award.

Continue reading A song of community and resistance to tyranny, and the novella it inspired: An appreciation of Leslie Fish’s “The Horsetamer’s Daughter” and “Tower of Horses,” the 2014 Special Prometheus Award winner

LFS adds Prometheus Young Adult Fiction Honor Roll as recommended reading guide for children, teenagers

By Michael Grossberg

Young people are the readers, writers and citizens of tomorrow.

Hopefully, the next generation will also become advocates for liberty, peace and justice for all. Yet, that is not inevitable or automatic; children must be taught the heritage of humankind and must be exposed to the best of our common culture.

Encouraging the younger generations to read good books, including outstanding science fiction and fantasy and the literature of liberty, is the goal of a newly created list of past Prometheus Award-winners.

This recommended reading list, designed for children and teenagers but also as a guide for their parents and grandparents choosing gifts or making suggestions, is now posted on the LFS website as the “Prometheus Award Young Adult Honor Roll.”

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