{"id":10189,"date":"2025-12-29T00:03:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T06:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/?p=10189"},"modified":"2025-12-26T13:33:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T19:33:33","slug":"the-best-of-the-blog-our-2025-reviews-of-prometheus-winners-finalists-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/the-best-of-the-blog-our-2025-reviews-of-prometheus-winners-finalists-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"The best of the blog: Our 2025 reviews of Prometheus winners, finalists and more\u2028"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of the most important, impactful and lasting articles posted on the Prometheus Blog this year were reviews.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Of the 120 posts published here in 2025, more than 10 percent were reviews – perhaps most notably, the latest review-essays in our ongoing Appreciation series<\/a> devoted to honoring each year\u2019s Prometheus Awards winners for Best Novel and the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.<\/p>\n

That may seem like a relatively small percentage of our posts, but it actually represents a major sustained effort – in terms of both time and thought – by Prometheus judges and other Libertarian Futurist Society members.
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Certainly, it takes time and careful attention to write, edit, illustrate and publish the many posts focusing on awards news, LFS progress reports, author\u2019s updates, essays, features and trend pieces about the influence of Prometheus-winning works and their authors on today\u2019s culture and politics.<\/p>\n

Yet it generally takes substantially more effort, insight and creativity to write thoughtful reviews of the most significant fiction nominated each year for a Prometheus Award.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are the most noteworthy reviews we published in 2025, along with convenient links allowing you to read or reread any that spark your curiosity or interest:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

HALL OF FAME FINALISTS<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>* Reviews of several our 2026 Hall of Fame finalists: The Star Dwellers, <\/i><\/a>a 1961 novel by James Blish: Brave New World, <\/i><\/a>a 1932 novel by Aldous Huxley; and Salt,<\/i><\/a> a 2000 novel by Adam Roberts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Published in 2024 was our review of the finalist Singularity Sky<\/a>, <\/i>a 2003 novel by Charles Stross.<\/p>\n

Coming up soon, in early January, is our review of the fifth finalist: That Hideous Strength, <\/i>a 1945 novel by C.S. Lewis.<\/p>\n

BEST NOVEL FINALISTS<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/b>* Reviews of our 2025 Best Novel finalists: Alliance Unbound,<\/i><\/a> by C.J. Cherry and Jane S. Fancher (DAW); In the Belly of the Whale,<\/i><\/a> by Michael Flynn (CAEZIK SF & Fantasy); Cancelled: The Shape of Things to Come<\/a>,<\/i> by Danny King (Annie Mosse Press); Beggar\u2019s Sky<\/i>,<\/a> by Wil McCarthy (Baen Books); and Mania,<\/i><\/a> by Lionel Shriver (HarperCollins Publishers).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Our hope is that Prometheus Blog reviews of Best Novel and Hall of Fame finalists will be helpful to LFS members as they read and consider the finalists before voting to choose the winners.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In addition, we hope these reviews (which strive to minimize or avoid spoilers) may encourage more members to participate in the final stage of choosing the Prometheus Awards. The reviews strive to avoid or at least drastically minimize spoilers, but are also written to highlight what makes each finalist worth reading and how it fits the distinctive dual focus of our awards on both liberty and satisfying storytelling.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>OTHER PROMETHEUS NOMINEES<\/b><\/p>\n

* Other reviews of Prometheus nominees, including Alastair Reynolds\u2019 Machine Vendetta<\/a>, <\/i>a 2024 novel nominated for Best Novel; and Stuart Turton\u2019s The Last Murder at the End of the World,<\/i><\/a> a 2024 novel nominated for Best Novel.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Plus, Harry Turtledove\u2019s Between the Rivers,<\/i><\/a> nominated this past year for the Hall of Fame; and Turtledove\u2019s Powerless<\/a>, <\/i>our first review of several planned of the 10 2025 novels nominated so far for the next Prometheus Award for Best Novel.<\/p>\n

APPRECIATIONS OF OUR ANNUAL WINNERS
\n<\/b>
\n* Perhaps the most important type of review published on the Prometheus Blog are Appreciations of our annual Prometheus winners.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>LFS President William H. Stoddard wrote the appreciation of Poul Anderson\u2019s Orion Shall Rise<\/a>,<\/i> the 2025 Hall of Fame inductee.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>LFS co-founder Michael Grossberg wrote the appreciation of Michael Flynn\u2019s In the Belly of the Whale.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Stoddard chairs the Prometheus Hall of Fame Finalist Judging Committee; Grossberg, the Prometheus Best Novel Finalist Judging Committee. \u00a0Each committee of volunteer LFS members reads and considers each year\u2019s nominees – as well as considering a larger number of potential candidates for nomination – to select a slate of finalists for the final stage of judging and voting by the full LFS membership.<\/p>\n

While it typically only takes an hour or two to write a news story, and perhaps between half a day to a day in writing a feature or trend piece, reviews for the blog can take a week or two, on and off, and go through many drafts of writing and self-editing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
LFS President William H. Stoddard (Photo: Carol Stoddard)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is also an excellent moment to express our end-of-year appreciation to Stoddard, a professional editor and copy editor who is often asked to take a final look at the \u201cfinal\u201d draft of a review. And virtually every time, he identifies a half-dozen to a dozen things that can be improved – in both style and content.<\/p>\n

Special thanks also go to those who wrote things for the blog in 2025 – and especially those who wrote reviews, including Steve Gaalema, Grossberg, Max More, Charlie Morrison, and Stoddard.<\/p>\n

* We invite LFS members and Prometheus-nominated authors to write for the blog, including reviews. If interested in writing something for the blog, contact Grossberg at mgrossberg1@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

ABOUT THE LFS AND THE PROMETHEUS AWARDS<\/b><\/p>\n

*\u00a0Join us!<\/b> To help sustain the Prometheus Awards and support a cultural and literary strategy to appreciate and honor freedom-loving fiction, \u00a0join<\/a> the Libertarian Futurist Society, a non-profit all-volunteer international association of freedom-loving sf\/fantasy fans.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s rights, human dignity, individuality and peaceful choices.<\/p>\n

* Prometheus winners:\u00a0<\/b>For a full list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees \u2013 including in the annual Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) categories and occasional Special Awards \u2013 visit the enhanced \u00a0Prometheus Awards page<\/a>\u00a0on 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\u2019 distinctive dual focus on both quality and liberty.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0Watch 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\u2019s\u00a0Video page.<\/a><\/p>\n

* Read \u201cThe Libertarian History of Science Fiction,\u201d<\/a> an essay in the international magazine\u00a0Quillette<\/i>\u00a0that favorably highlights the Prometheus Awards, the Libertarian Futurist Society and the significant element of libertarian sf\/fantasy in the evolution of the modern genre.<\/p>\n