If you don’t already have the books to read of the five novels selected as 2026 finalists for the next Prometheus Hall of Fame award, here’s some helpful tips on where you can find each of them.
First published between 1932 and 2003, the five Best Classic Fiction finalists are James Blish’s The Star Dwellers, C.S. Lewis’ That Hideous Strength, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Adam Roberts’ Salt and Charles Stross’ Singularity Sky.
Surprisingly, it turns out the total cost of buying copies of all five novels right now – as ebooks or in print – is remarkably low. In fact, a recent price check on Amazon confirms that all five finalists can be purchased for just $5.87 total, assuming you’re willing to get most as ebooks.
Of course, if you prefer to check your local library for these titles, you should be able to borrow the books for free. Yet it’s possible one of the older and lesser-known titles may not be widely available, and anyway, some LFS members often prefer to buy their own copies to add to their home library.
In most cases, each novel is available in multiple formats – including hardback, paperback and ebook, sometimes also as an audio book.
Here’s a roundup of each title’s availability:
HUXLEY’S BRAVE NEW WORLD
Perhaps the most widely available finalist should be no surprise: Brave New World, Aldous Huxley’s bestselling and enduring dystopian novel.
For instance, multiple hardback, paperback and ebook editions are available on Amazon. Some used print copies can be purchased for as low as $2.39, with one edition available on Kindle for just 99 cents.
One interesting edition, with a foreword by Christopher Hitchens, combines the novel with Brave New World Revisited, Huxley’s nonfiction mid-1950s nonfiction examination of his 1932 novel’s warnings a generation later.
BLISH’S THE STAR DWELLERS
This 1961 YA science fiction novel – originally published by Faber and Faber and later Avon Books – may be the hardest finalist to find, since Blish’s novel is long out of print.
For instance, Amazon currently offers only has two separate listings for this title, with limited numbers of copies in hardback (from $44.99), paperback (from $4) or mass-market paperback ($15.48) – but doesn’t offer the novel in a Kindle ebook format.
Of the four used print copies currently offered for sale, one is available at the bargain price of $1, or $6 including delivery, with the others at $15.48.
C.S. LEWIS’ THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH
Lewis’ dystopian science fiction novel, published in 1945 novel by Scribner), is widely available in multiple formats – including hardback, paperback, ebook and audiobook.
On Amazon, you can find the novel in paperback for as low as $3.15, the audiobook for $14.95 (or free with an Audible trial) and on Kindle for $11.49.
That Hideous Strength is Book 3 of Lewis’ Space Trilogy, which includes Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra. Perhaps the best bargain on Amazon is the combined edition of the trilogy. As a Kindle ebook, it’s available for only 99 cents. (In paperback, it’s $17.31, or as low as $14.06 used.)
ADAM ROBERTS’ SALT
Adam Roberts’ cross-cultural science fiction novel, published in 2000 by Gollancz, is also a bargain as an ebook.
On Amazon, the Kindle version is just $1.99. It can also be purchased in hardcover from $20, and in paperback for $8.19.
CHARLES STROSS’ SINGULARITY SKY
Stross’ kaleidoscopic interstellar SF novel, published in 2003 by Ace Books, is available on Amazon in multiple formats.
The biggest bargain is the mass-market paperback, on sale from $1.90.
The novel also is available s a Kindle ebook for $7.99. It also can be purchased in hardback for $11.92, and on audiobook for $5.31
OUR GOAL: AWARDS ACCESSIBILITY
Accessibility is important for literary awards.
That’s why, for instance, the World Science Fiction Society elicits cooperation from publishers and authors to provide all Hugo Awards finalists to its voting members in the form of ebooks – and why the LFS offers similar help, when publishers cooperate, to our upper-level members who vote in the Best Novel category.
That’s not usually possible here, though, partly because Hall of Fame nominees must have been published, staged, broadcast or released at least 20 years ago, and publishers often change or let older titles go out of print over such decades.
Still, the LFS does what it can to encourage full participation and voting by our members – and thus we hope posts like this will guide our members in finding affordable or free library copies to read before they vote in the Hall of Fame category.
NOTE: For convenient links to Prometheus Blog reviews of each Hall of Fame finalists, check out our recent post.
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 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.
