{"id":10279,"date":"2026-01-06T00:09:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T06:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/?p=10279"},"modified":"2026-01-06T12:01:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T18:01:07","slug":"r-i-p-john-varley-a-cutting-edge-heinleinesque-sf-writer-and-prometheus-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/r-i-p-john-varley-a-cutting-edge-heinleinesque-sf-writer-and-prometheus-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"R.I.P., John Varley, a cutting-edge Heinleinesque sf writer and Prometheus winner"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg<\/a><\/p>\n

John Varley, winner of the 1999 Prometheus Award for Best Novel, is being remembered for his intelligent, imaginative, cutting-edge science fiction.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
John Varley. Photo: Creative Commons license<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Varley, who died in December at the age of 78 in Beaverton, Oregon, was \u201ctruly one of the greatest science fiction authors of all time,\u201d wrote his fellow sf writer and friend David Brin in a tribute in the just-published January 2026 issue of Locus<\/i> magazine.<\/p>\n

An American science fiction writer (1947-2025), Varley often was Heinleinesque in his positive vision of human resilience and innovation and his ability to tell stories that blended adventure, suspense, believable characters, intelligent world-building and an epic sense of wonder.<\/p>\n

In fact, Varley\u2019s work often has been compared to frequent Prometheus winner Robert Heinlein, especially by the Canadian SF critic-author John Clute. So it made a lot of sense when Varley received the Robert A. Heinlein Award in 2009.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was fresh, he was complex, he understood the imaginative implications of transformative developments,\u201d Clute wrote about Varley in his entry in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

According to the obit<\/a> in Locus<\/i> magazine, Varley suffered from COPD and diabetes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
John Varley, 2009 (Photo by Lee Emmett)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Suffering a quadruple bypass, COVID-19 and bacterial pneumonia and other health problems in 2021, Varley largely became unable to write, sparking a crowdfunding campaign organized by colleagues to cover his expenses.<\/p>\n

Yet during the decades when Varley was able to write, he created a body of work that helped define contemporary science fiction.<\/p>\n

Varley won Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards for his novellas \u201cThe Persistence of Vision\u201d and and \u201cPRESS ENTER \u25a0.\u201d<\/p>\n

VARLEY\u2019S \u201cTHE EIGHT WORLDS\u201d SERIES
\n<\/b>
\nMany of Varley\u2019s best novels and stories are set within \u201cThe Eight Worlds,\u201d a future history in which most of our solar system has been colonized.<\/p>\n

His complex and multifaceted world-building offered ample room for stories, with human beings having established settlements and colonies in virtually every other corner of the solar system after mysterious and powerful aliens almost completely eradicated humans from the Earth to protect whales and dolphins, which they regard as superior lifeforms.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cHis Eight Worlds universe explored so many brash concepts that were both science-grounded and brave\/prophetic for their time – like a future when people might change their sex\/gender as an outpatient procedure, many times in life\u2026 and exploring what it even means to claim that humans are \u2018intelligent life,\u201d wrote Brin, himself a Prometheus Best Novel finalist in 1988 for The Uplift War.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/i>Varley also wrote the acclaimed and epic Gaean trilogy of visionary sf novels, which include Titan, Wizard<\/i> and Demon <\/i>and begin with humanity\u2019s exploration of a massive satellite orbiting Saturn that opens the door to alien contact.<\/p>\n

VARLEY\u2019S PROMETHEUS WINNER: THE GOLDEN GLOBE
\n<\/b>
\nNominated 15 times for a Hugo Award, nine times for a Nebula award and 40 times for a Locus Award, Varley won his Prometheus Award for The Golden Globe.
\n<\/i>
\nThe title of the novel refers to Earth’s Moon, the most heavily inhabited world in the solar system since alien invaders obliterated human civilization on Earth.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Loosely situated as Book 3 within his Eight Worlds future history (which includes the novels The Ophiuchi Hotline, Steel Beach, Irontown Blues<\/i>, and Gens de La Lune,<\/i> among others), The Golden Globe <\/i>takes place a few years after the conclusion of Steel Beach.<\/i><\/p>\n

Told mostly in first person by Kenneth \u201cSparky\u201d Valentine, an itinerant actor and skilled con man, with many flashbacks, The Golden Globe <\/i>offers an often comic account of his adventures in the solar system\u2019s outer worlds as he makes his way to Luna.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, after reclaiming his fortune from his years as the child star of a popular children\u2019s adventure show Sparky and His Gang, Valentine joins forces with the Heinleiners, described as a reclusive group of libertarian idealists\u00a0 <\/span>who are building a starship and planning a voyage to the stars.<\/p>\n

In the Prometheus Blog\u2019s Appreciation essay-review<\/a> of The Golden Globe, <\/i>Varley\u2019s novel is hailed as a rare picaresque sf comedy among Best Novel winners.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond its anti-authoritarian humor and spirit, The Golden Globe<\/i>\u00a0appeals to libertarians as a portrait of a poor but free man, striving to maintain his independence and support himself through his own wits and resourcefulness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe novel also works as a Heinleinesque romance of space adventure, with Sparky\u2019s odyssey propelled by an extended chase as he struggles to stays mere steps ahead of the Charonese mafia while heading for Luna to perform in King Lear \u2013 aptly symbolic here as one of Shakespeare\u2019s most mature dramas with the wisdom and perspective of old age, folly and regret.\u201d<\/p>\n

VARLEY\u2019S STORIES ON SCREEN
\n<\/b>
\nMore than most science fiction writers, Varley saw several of his works move from page to screen.<\/p>\n

His Eight Worlds story \u201cOverdrawn at the Memory Bank\u201d was adapted for a PBS movie starring Raul Julia in 1984, while his short stories \u201cOptions\u201d and \u201cBlue Champagne\u201d were adapted for episodes of Welcome to Paradox,<\/i> a 1998 Sci-Fi Channel TV series.<\/p>\n

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

Perhaps most widely seen of Varley\u2019s work was the film Millennium,<\/i> a dystopian time-travel drama starring Kris Kristofferson, Cheryl Ladd, Robert Joy, Brent Carver and Daniel J. Travanti.<\/p>\n

Varley wrote the screenplay based on \u201cAir Raid,\u201d his 1977 short story about an anomaly related to the passengers of a commercial airliner about to be struck by another plane from above. Kristofferson plays a National Transportation Safety Board investigator of the accident who becomes involved with a mysterious woman (Ladd) with a desperate mission from a distant future.<\/p>\n

A PERSONAL REMINISCENCE
\n<\/b>
\nSpeaking personally, I\u2019m a big fan of Varley\u2019s novels – not only The Golden Globe,<\/em> one of the few that centers libertarian themes, but also his Gaea trilogy and many of the other works in and outside his \u201cEight Worlds\u2019 series.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>So it was thrilling to meet and interact with Varley in 2016 at Milehicon, Colorado’s largest annual sf convention in Denver.<\/p>\n

Attending Milehicon that year primarily to present a Special Prometheus Award<\/a> for Lifetime Achievement to L. Neil Smith (The Probability Broach,<\/a> Pallas<\/a>, The Forge of the Elders<\/a>) <\/i>as part of the program, <\/i>I also spoke on several panel discussions and served as a panel moderator.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when I was fortunate to sit next to Varley, who happened to be speaking on that panel. It was interesting to interact with him during the panel, but the opportunity to chat with him before and after was especially satisfying – and seems more precious in retrospect.<\/p>\n

Of course, I gushed like a fan about his work. And when I mentioned that The Golden Globe ranked<\/i> high among my favorite Varley novels – and not simply because it won the Prometheus Award, but especially because of its humor and rollicking sense of adventure – Varley seemed especially appreciative.<\/p>\n

As I recall, Varley mentioned that The Golden Globe <\/i>had not been as widely praised or widely read as some of his other fiction, but it was one of his favorites, and partly because of its comic dimensions.<\/p>\n

So he especially appreciated its recognition in the Prometheus Awards. And I\u2019m glad that the LFS could recognize Varley.<\/p>\n

For more information about Varley\u2019s life and writings, visit varley.net<\/a><\/p>\n

VARLEY\u2019S 1999 BEST NOVEL ACCEPTANCE SPEECH<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is an excerpt from Varley\u2019s acceptance speech:<\/p>\n

\u201cI am particularly gratified to receive this award for The Golden Globe<\/b>, which\u2014in my opinion\u2014is my best novel so far. I certainly worked harder on this one than I ever have before.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso I did more research than I ever have. I had to learn a lot about the theater, so I watched every one of Shakespeare’s plays at least once\u2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael Grossberg, in his review for the Libertarian Futurist Society, described my book as “a hilarious libertarian comedy and picaresque adventure, with a wonderfully irreverent antiauthoritarian spirit.” That is pretty much what I was aiming for.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I have to admit, I wasn’t specifically thinking “libertarian” when I wrote it. I am not a member of any political party, though if I were to join one it would probably be the Libertarians.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Actually, to my knowledge, I am not now a member of anything except the History Book Club, which I only joined to get their four free books and now can’t seem to resign from, no matter how hard I try. I made it a policy many years ago never to join anything and never to respond to polls or surveys. But “antiauthoritarian” and “irreverent” are words I like, particularly when applied to me or my work. “Picaresque” I’m going to have to look up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Robert Heinlein, a drawing (Creative Commons license)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYou can’t say Libertarian without thinking of Robert A. Heinlein, and I was gratified to see his work well-represented in the list of past Prometheus and Hall of Fame Award winners. I have tried to pay homage to his influence both in The Golden Globe <\/em>and in my previous book, Steel Beach.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read Varley\u2019s full acceptance speech,<\/a> published in the Fall 1999 issue of the Prometheus print quarterly.<\/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

* Check out the Libertarian Futurist Society\u2019s Facebook page<\/a> for comments, updates and links to the latest Prometheus Blog posts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg John Varley, winner of the 1999 Prometheus Award for Best Novel, is being remembered for his intelligent, imaginative, cutting-edge science fiction. Varley, who died in December at the age of 78 in Beaverton, Oregon, was \u201ctruly one of the greatest science fiction authors of all time,\u201d wrote his fellow sf writer and … Continue reading R.I.P., John Varley, a cutting-edge Heinleinesque sf writer and Prometheus winner<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[32,30,37],"tags":[290,2762,2760,298,2761,287,1490],"class_list":["post-10279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-updates","category-obit","category-memorial-tributes","tag-john-varley","tag-millennium","tag-prometheus-best-novel-winner","tag-steel-beach","tag-the-eight-worlds","tag-the-golden-globe","tag-titan"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-2FN","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10279"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10294,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10279\/revisions\/10294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}