By Michael Grossberg
Dave Freer’s novel Storm-Dragon will be the first work to receive a Special Prometheus Award for Young Adult Fiction Aug. 16 at the 46th Prometheus Awards ceremony. Yet, it’s far from the only example of Young Adult Fiction to be recognized in the awards’ history.
By my latest count – and including this year’s three winners – 111 works of fantastical fiction have been named as winners of a Prometheus Award since 1979. Of those works, 14 fall clearly into the Young Adult realm or are deemed accessible enough to appeal to younger readers.
Those works should be of great interest to younger readers, roughly anyone between the ages of eight and 18.
They also should spark the curiosity of parents, grandparents, teachers and other adults seeking good pro-freedom SF/fantasy to share or gift.
So which Prometheus Award winners do fit the parameters of Young Adult Fiction?
First of all, let’s look at the Best Novel winners.
Five of them fall into the Young Adult category: Homeland, by Cory Doctorow (the 2014 winner); The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman (2012); Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow (2009); The Gladiator, by Harry Turtledove (2008); and Learning the World, by Ken MacLeod (2006.)
Second, let’s look at the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.
Four Hall of Fame inductees fit the category: Alongside Night, by J. Neil Schulman (the 1989 winner); Red Planet, by Robert Heinlein (1996); “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” by Hans Christian Andersen (2000); and Citizen of the Galaxy, by Heinlein (2022).
Third, let’s look at our occasional Special Awards.
Two Special Award winners have strong Young Adult appeal: Dave Freer’s Heinleinesque Storm-Dragon, explicitly targetted for readers from ages eight to 18; and Leslie Fish’s novella Tower of Horses and her related filk song “The Horsetamer’s Daughter,” which together received a 2014 Special Award.
RAND AND ORWELL’S SHORT CLASSICS
Other Prometheus-winning works that may appeal to younger readers include Ayn Rand’s Anthem, a 1987 Hall of Fame winner; and George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the 2011 Hall of Fame winner.
A possible caveat: Although these two novels are relatively short and written in simpler and more direct language accessible to readers old and young, they also dramatize serious themes that arguably might be inappropriate or even disturbing for very young children.
OTHER PROMETHEUS-RECOGNIZED YOUNG ADULT WORKS
Finally, let’s also consider some works that didn’t win a Prometheus award but did become finalists.
Among the Best Novel finalists with Young Adult appeal:
OTHER PROMETHEUS-RECOGNIZED YOUNG ADULT WORKS
Finally, let’s also consider some works that didn’t win a Prometheus award but did become finalists.
Among the Best Novel finalists with Young Adult appeal:
Golden Son, by Pierce Brown (2016)
In the Shadow of Ares, by Thomas L. James and Carol C. Carlsson (2012)
RebelFire: Out of the Gray Zone, by Claire Wolfe and Aaron Zelman (2006)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J. K. Rowling (2004)
Among the Hall of Fame finalists and nominees with Young Adult appeal:
The Once and Future King, by T. H. White (especially Part One, The Sword in the Stone, and the belatedly published 1977 “sequel” section The Book of Merlyn (2004 and 2009 Hall of Fame finalist)
The Girl Who Owned a City, by O.T. Nelson (2011 Hall of Fame nominee)
“The Trees,” a Rush song (a 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025 Hall of Fame finalist)
Storm-Dragon, as the 2026 Special Award winner for Young Adult Fiction, has been added to a special page of the LFS website devoted to a Prometheus Award Young Adult Honor Roll.
WATCH THE AUG. 16 PROMETHEUS AWARDS CEREMONY
The 46th annual Prometheus Awards will be presented online Sunday afternoon Aug. 16, 2026, in a zoom awards ceremony open to the public.
This year’s roughly hourlong ceremony, scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Eastern time (10 a.m. Pacific time) and emceed by LFS President William H. Stoddard, will feature a notable and impressive variety of guest speakers.
Lifelong science-fiction fan Ilya Somin (George Mason University law professor, Cato Institute scholar and author) will be the keynote speaker on “Libertarian Currents in Science Fiction” and present the Hall of Fame award to Aldous Huxley’s classic dystopian novel Brave New World. Pulitzer-winning author Jack Miles and Aldous Huxley’s two grandchildren Tessa and Trev Huxley will each speak about Huxley’s legacy and his novel’s enduring relevance.
Two-time Prometheus winner Travis Corcoran (The Powers of the Earth, Causes of Separation) will present the Special Award and speak about the importance of Young Adult Fiction. Dave Freer, based in Tasmania Australia, will accept the Special Award for his novel Storm-Dragon.
LFS co-founder Michael Grossberg, who chairs the Prometheus Best Novel Judging Committee, will present the Best Novel category. J. Kenton Pierce, the 2026 winner for A Kiss for Damocles, will accept the award from his home in Pennsylvania.
And Raconteur Press’s publisher Ian McMurtie will say a few words at the end about the three-year-old publishing company winning its first literary award – and achieving the rare feat of having published novels that won two of the three Prometheus Award categories (Best Novel and a Special award) in the same year.
Now scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. (Pacific time) Sunday Aug. 16 (1 p.m. Eastern Time, the roughly hourlong Zoom event will be emceed by LFS President William H. Stoddard and will be open to the public.
Here is the Zoom link to watch the awards live:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87824388418?pwd=CsoznF4wtlLNTYvEotlIpVJkCoGb9I.1
* Read the full press release announcing the 2026 Best Novel and Hall of Fame winners.
ABOUT THE LFS AND THE PROMETHEUS AWARDS
* 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 international association of freedom-loving sf/fantasy fans.
Libertarian futurists understand that culture matters. We believe that literature and the arts can be vital in envisioning a freer and better future. In some ways, culture can be even more influential and 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, human dignity, individuality and peaceful choices.
* Prometheus winners: For a full list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees – including in 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. This page includes convenient links to all published essay-reviews in our Appreciation series explaining why each of the 106 works that have won a Prometheus since 1979 fits the awards’ distinctive dual focus on both quality and liberty.
* Watch videos of past Prometheus Awards ceremonies, Libertarian Futurist Society panel discussions with noted sf authors and leading libertarian writers, and other LFS programs on the Prometheus Blog’s Video page.
* 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.
* Check out the Libertarian Futurist Society’s Facebook page for comments, updates and links to the latest Prometheus Blog posts.
