{"id":10605,"date":"2026-04-15T00:02:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T05:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/?p=10605"},"modified":"2026-04-13T20:49:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T01:49:46","slug":"one-prometheus-nominated-author-hails-another-in-john-c-a-manleys-rave-review-of-dave-freers-young-adult-oriented-storm-dragon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/one-prometheus-nominated-author-hails-another-in-john-c-a-manleys-rave-review-of-dave-freers-young-adult-oriented-storm-dragon\/","title":{"rendered":"One Prometheus-nominated author hails another in John C.A. Manley\u2019s rave review of Dave Freer\u2019s Young-Adult-oriented Storm-Dragon"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg<\/p>\n

Dave Freer\u2019s Storm-Dragon, <\/i>one of 14 works nominated for the next Prometheus Award for Best Novel, has been receiving some nice reviews from readers.<\/p>\n

One of the most appreciative reviews has come from science-fiction novelist John C.A. Manley, himself nominated in the same Prometheus category this year for All the Humans Are Sleeping. <\/i>Exploring issues of consent, freedom and technocracy, <\/i>Manley\u2019s dystopian SF novel focuses on a man who refuses to enter a virtual reality simulation prepared for survivors of a nuclear apocalypse.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Left to right: Jonah Manley and his father, author John C.A. Manley with a favorite book (Image from Manley’s blog)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To put it mildly, Manley\u2019s nominated novel is quite different from Freer\u2019s Young-Adult-oriented nominee.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/i>Imagine Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn appearing in Cressida Cowell’s How to Train Your Dragon<\/i>, add a little of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game<\/i>, and you’ve got Storm-Dragon<\/i> by Dave Freer,\u201d Manley writes.<\/p>\n

Titled \u201cThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer (but with Big Spaceships and a Small Dragon),\u201d Manley\u2019s review begins with a confession: He\u2019s not \u201ca big fan\u201d of young adult fiction – and he offers several of the best-known examples to prove it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Storm-Dragon<\/i> had my son and me hooked by chapter two,\u201d Manley writes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

He\u2019d purchased the novel as a Christmas gift in December, \u201cwith some reluctance,\u201d with plans to read it to Jonah, his blind 19-year-old son.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cIt’s rated for ages eight and up \u2014 so I suspected we both might be too old to enjoy it\u2026. I was wrong,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Initially, Manley was motivated to buy Storm-Dragon<\/em> because of its nomination for this year’s Prometheus Award.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Prometheus Awards are for novels that promote freedom and oppose tyranny. So I assumed I’d find both the message and quality of Storm-Dragon<\/i> to my liking \u2014 especially since Dave Freer won the 2022 Prometheus Award with his other novel, Cloud-Castles,\u201d <\/i>Manley writes in his first post<\/a> about the novel.<\/p>\n

In reading it with and to Jonah, Manley found several other things that made him glad he bought it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoyed the story immensely. It contains great role models for children, teaching kids how to be independent, curious, adventurous, brave, loyal, and not to put up with abuse from anyone (whether it’s the bullies at Skut’s school, the corrupt council running their settlement, or the invading army holding them hostage),\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cAnd… it also teaches kids how to take care of their pet. That said, their miniature, telepathic storm-dragon is hardly the focal point of the story (despite the book’s title). This fantastical extraterrestrial serves as a symbol of the children’s own budding potential, talents and strengths. That said, if you have kids who forget to walk the dog, this book might inspire them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manley devoted three separate columns on his BlazingPineCone.com<\/a> website and blog to Storm-Dragon,<\/i> making it a three-part review.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a tidbit about the novel\u2019s libertarian themes from his second column<\/a>, but visit his website to read the whole thing:<\/p>\n

“Unquestionably, Dave Freer’s story is rich in many pro-liberty themes \u2014 true to the author’s surname \u2014 including home-schooling, free-market economics, civil disobedience and the right to self-defense.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>“Rather than preaching, these ideas are portrayed through incidents that both young and old readers will enjoy \u2014 including a cunning battle with the corrupt town council over the right to grow vegetables on one’s own property.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Manley also offers Freer\u2019s novel, as well as All the Humans Are Sleeping<\/em> and his other novels, for sale on his website<\/a> through his Blazing Bookshop.<\/p>\n

Manley also has posted quite a few articles about the Prometheus Awards over the past year to his more than 1,000 followers, for which we thank him.<\/p>\n


\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 the 106 works that have won a Prometheus 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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg Dave Freer\u2019s Storm-Dragon, one of 14 works nominated for the next Prometheus Award for Best Novel, has been receiving some nice reviews from readers. One of the most appreciative reviews has come from science-fiction novelist John C.A. Manley, himself nominated in the same Prometheus category this year for All the Humans Are … Continue reading One Prometheus-nominated author hails another in John C.A. Manley\u2019s rave review of Dave Freer\u2019s Young-Adult-oriented Storm-Dragon<\/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":[2353,8],"tags":[2787,1841,2769,2590],"class_list":["post-10605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-review","tag-all-the-humans-are-sleeping","tag-dave-freer","tag-john-c-a-manley","tag-storm-dragon"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-2L3","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10605","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=10605"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10612,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10605\/revisions\/10612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}