By Michael Grossberg
With only a month left before this year’s Prometheus Hall of Fame nominating deadline, it’s time for Libertarian Futurist Society members to seize the opportunity to consider what might be worthy of our recognition.
So far, just seven widely varied works have been nominated for possible induction into our Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.
Between eight and 12 classic works – first published, performed, recorded, released, screened or staged at least two decades ago – have been nominated annually by LFS members in recent years for this annual Prometheus category. In each of the past two years, an eclectic variety of 10 works were nominated – including novels, novellas, stories and songs (just a subset of the many types of fiction eligible to consider for the Hall of Fame). So there’s certainly room for a few more nominations.
What older works of fantastical fiction (including but not limited to science fiction and fantasy) do you believe have stood the test of time and ripened into classics deserving of a nomination?
If you have any candidates to formally nominate or simply suggest, please let us know before this year’s deadline of Sept. 30, 2025. (The earlier, the better.)
THE NOMINATIONS TALLY SO FAR
The seven works nominated so far range in age from 93 to 22 years old – with one well-known bestseller originally published as long ago as the early 1930s.
Here is the current and interim list of nominees, in alphabetical order by author:
* The Star Dwellers, a 1961 novel by James Blish
* Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, a 1974 novel by Philip K. Dick
* Brave New World, a 1932 novel by Aldous Huxley
* “The Kindly Isle,” a 1984 story by Frederik Pohl
* Salt, a 2000 novel by Adam Roberts
* Singularity Sky, a 2003 novel by Charles Stross
* Between the Rivers, a 1998 novel by Harry Turtledove
Of the above, four works (and their authors) have been nominated for the first time for the Prometheus Hall of Fame: Blish’s The Star Dwellers, Dick’s Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said; Pohl’s “The Kindly Isle” and Roberts’ Salt.
Why were these “new” works (i.e. new to our award) nominated?
The Star Dwellers, a coming of age “juvenile-SF” story about a young space cadet who establishes Earth’s first contact with benevolent star-dwelling energy beings in distant space, focuses on the discovery of the benefits of peaceful exchange and voluntary contracts among a variety of libertarian themes of mutual consent and non-aggression.
Dick, best known for his spirit of questioning authority (and questioning reality), examines themes of individuality against the backdrop of an authoritarian police state in Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, a Hugo- and Nebula-finalist novel. Dick’s novel is available to read free here on the Internet Archive.
Pohl’s twisty story is part of the anthology Platinum Pohl, first published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine in November 1984, and available to read free online here.
“The Kindly Isles” explores the possibility of human interactions improving to become more peaceful and respectful, as an alternative to coercion, even in our current and frequently aggressive world.
Salt, the first novel by British sf author Adam Roberts, charts a conflict between two groups of human migrants who settle on the salt-covered eponymous planet – one a patriarchic hierarchy and the other anarchical – as the dire incompatibilities between the two societies becomes clear.
Roberts previously was nominated for a Prometheus Award for his novel Purgatory Mount, a 2022 Best Novel nominee.
Meanwhile, Huxley’s Brave New World – the influential and bestselling dystopian novel offering a cautionary tale about an oppressively “benevolent” and eugenics-based future of collectivism that denies individuality, history, literature, and culture – is being nominated for only the second time in the 46-year history of the Prometheus Awards.
The only other time Huxley’s classic was nominated was early in the first decade of the Hall of Fame category in the 1980s.
Finally, two recent Hall of Fame finalists have been renominated this year.
Stross’ Singularity Sky – a kaleidoscopic novel imagining a fascinating variety of cultures and levels of civilization coming into contact and conflict (including a libertarian Earth without coercive government and functioning exclusively through private contract) – was first nominated and became a finalist in 2025 (ultimately losing to Poul Anderson’s novel Orion Shall Rise).
Turtledove’s Between the Rivers – which imagines the Bronze Age beginnings of a freer society – was first nominated and ranked a finalist in 2024 (ultimately losing to Terry Pratchett’s novel The Truth.)
For more about these renominated Prometheus finalists, read the Prometheus Blog reviews of Singularity Sky and Between the Rivers.
WHY WE CONSIDER PAST NOMINEES
Eligible works generally can be renominated for the Hall of Fame if they haven’t won yet.
Although no work can win a Prometheus Award more than once, works previously nominated (including finalists) for the Hall of Fame, as well as old-enough Best Novel nominees and finalists remain eligible for consideration. The idea here is that even if they didn’t initially win our award, some works age well and develop the reputation of a genuine classic.
For reference, check out the links on the LFS website’s Prometheus Awards page listing all previous nominees and finalists in the history of each category: Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction.
For a full list of past winners in all categories, visit the www.lfs.org website’s Prometheus Awards page.
GUIDELINES FOR ELIGIBILITY AND NOMINATION
The Prometheus Awards focus on fantastical fiction (including science fiction, fantasy, fable, mythology, alternate history, futuristic political-tech thrillers, etc.) that dramatize the perennial conflict between Liberty and Power.
Eligible fiction can explore such libertarian and/or anti-authoritarian themes in a wide variety of ways.
We generally are interested in stories that favor voluntarism and cooperation in Society over the institutionalized coercion of the State, expose the abuses and excesses of coercive government, critique or satirize authoritarian systems, ideologies and assumptions, and/or champion individual rights and freedoms as the ethical and practical foundation for peace, prosperity, progress, justice, mutual respect, and civilization itself.
Many types of fiction are eligible for induction into our Hall of Fame, in practically any format.
Past nominees, finalists and winners have included novels, stories, songs, records, fables, films, TV episodes/series and graphic novels; also eligible are poems, plays, musicals, operas, etc.
To be eligible for nomination, such works must first have been published, broadcast or presented at least 20 years ago. (For 2025, the original release year must be 2005 or earlier.)
HOW TO NOMINATE A WORK
When nominating or suggesting a classic work, include the full title, author and original year of publication/broadcast/staging.
If you can, please also tell us why you’re nominating it, and how it fits the distinctive focus of our awards.
Contact William H. Stoddard, chair of The Prometheus Hall of Fame Finalist-Selection Judging Committee, at halloffame@lfs.org
WHO CAN NOMINATE WORKS
All LFS members have the right to nominate works for all Prometheus categories, including the Hall of Fame.
Non-members, including publishers, authors and other sf/fantasy fans, are welcome to bring to our attention other works they believe may fit the distinctive focus of the Prometheus Awards. But these are considered submissions, not formal nominations – and are subject to further review by LFS members to certify their eligibility and consider them for potential nomination.
For more information about how to submit a work for consideration, read the submission-guidelines letter posted under the sub-headline “Award Submissions” on the main home page of the LFS website.
ABOUT THE PROMETHEUS AWARDS AND THE LFS
* 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 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 more than 100 past winners 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.
