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.
C.J. CHERRYH’S GRASP OF ECONOMICS
In answer to a question about what other science fiction writers he admires and recommends, Friedman first singled out C.J. Cherryh for great praise.
With her partner Jane S. Fancher, Cherryh wrote Alliance Rising, the 2020 Prometheus Best Novel winner. Alliance Unbound, a 2025 Best Novel finalist, is the second novel in their Hinder Stars trilogy. Both novels are part of her far-flung interstellar-future Alliance-Union series
Friedman praised Cherryh for her understanding of economics and history.
He said he admires her first novel (which he didn’t mention by name, but it likely would have been either Gate of Ivrel or Brothers of Earth, both published in 1976, according to an encyclopedia bio of Cherryh’s career.)
“C.J. Cherryh is one of the authors I like,” he said.
CARTS, RESOURCES AND THE MAGNA CARTA
“One thing that struck me in one of her quite-good fantasies was recognizing that carts in a medieval society are an important military resource. There’s a scene in the novel where you’ve got two people, a king and his ally, who are worrying about whether one of them is using the carts for too long to get them back for the other one’s campaign,” Friedman said.
“It turns out that if you read the Magna Carta, one of the issues in the Magna Carta is the seizure of carts for military purposes,” he said.
“It’s economics in a sense, recognizing that inputs are not just guns. but it’s also history, so that certainly impressed me.
Cherryh’s first novel, Friedman recalled, was praised in an introduction by Andre Norton, one of the most popular sf authors of the 1950s-1960s.
When he read the novel, Friedman felt it was very much like one of Norton’s sf novels, only better written. He added that he was impressed with Norton for being able to recognize and acknowledge that, suggesting that Cherryh, even in her first book, was already a better writer.
WATCH THE 45TH PROMETHEUS AWARDS CEREMONY
* Watch the full 45-minute video of the 45th Prometheus Awards ceremony, which was recorded, posted on YouTube and is available to see here.
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.
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