{"id":10819,"date":"2026-06-05T00:03:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T05:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/?p=10819"},"modified":"2026-05-17T21:03:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T02:03:47","slug":"read-our-reviews-of-this-years-best-novel-finalists-by-freer-gallagher-hoyt-pierce-and-turtledove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/read-our-reviews-of-this-years-best-novel-finalists-by-freer-gallagher-hoyt-pierce-and-turtledove\/","title":{"rendered":"Read our reviews of this year\u2019s Best Novel finalists by Freer, Gallagher, Hoyt, Pierce and Turtledove\u2028"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg<\/p>\n

As a guide to Prometheus Awards voting, the Prometheus Blog has once again published full-length and in-depth reviews of each of this year\u2019s five Best Novel finalists.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Here, for your convenience, are the embedded links to the reviews of the five Best Novel finalists:\u00a0 Dave Freer\u2019s Storm-Dragon<\/a>, Sarah Hoyt\u2019s No Man\u2019s Land<\/a>, <\/i>J. Kenton Pierce\u2019s A Kiss for Damocles<\/a>),<\/i> Karl K. Gallagher\u2019s War By Other Means <\/a>and Harry Turtledove\u2019s Powerless<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Whether Libertarian Futurist Society members read the reviews (which do contain a few spoilers) before, during or after reading the finalists themselves, the reviews are designed to illuminate and raise the visibility of each novel.<\/p>\n

Other SF\/fantasy fans and other libertarians, outside the LFS, also are invited to check out the reviews to better understand how they fit the distinctive dual focus of the Prometheus Awards on both quality and liberty.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

To spark your interest, here are condensed excerpts from each review:<\/p>\n

Dave Freer\u2019s <\/b>Storm-Dragon<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Storm-Dragon <\/i>offers an entertaining tale embodying golden-age SF themes of initiative, imagination, resilience and self-reliance.<\/p>\n

Dave Freer\u2019s Young Adult novel revolves around a boy who adopts an intelligent-alien pet on Vann\u2019s World, an ocean-dominated planet with a small human colony facing dangers alien and human, visible and hidden\u2026<\/p>\n

Above all, Storm-Dragon<\/i> is fun to read. It\u2019s full of action, adventure and character \u2013 most notably, likable, hard-working people of good character pushed far enough to organize against an abusive central authority.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Freer shapes something of a coming-of-age story that charts the boys\u2019 dawning awareness that not all adults are good or fair or reasonable \u2013 as Skut, Podge, their friends and families cope with mob behavior and suffer from the arrogance and corruption of local officials.<\/p>\n

Freer focuses more on the vivid alien ecology and boy-centered adventure than the politics of this plausible frontier planet, while allowing his live-and-let-live, peace-and-freedom themes to emerge naturally.<\/p>\n

Karl K. Gallagher\u2019s <\/b>War by Other Means<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/i><\/b>After several volumes focused on military conflict, the seventh volume in Karl K. Gallagher\u2019s future history series Fall of the Censor\u2026 changes its focus to diplomatic relations among the worlds fighting against the Censorate, a totalitarian polity founded on the suppression of all historical information.<\/p>\n

In doing so, the novel brings Wynny Landry, the wife of Marcus Landry, the protagonist of several previous books, as a new protagonist, in the role of the ambassador from her native planet, Corwynt.<\/p>\n

Ironically, one advantage of the rebellion is that it has access to historical records of past wars and military strategies. Censorate military officers are constantly having to reinvent forgotten strategies, in ignorance of which ones worked or didn\u2019t in past battles.<\/p>\n

Gallagher\u2019s exploration of the tension between fighting to preserve freedom and giving up freedom to fight more effectively drives much of the plot, and makes this novel profoundly interesting for libertarians.<\/p>\n

Sarah Hoyt\u2019s <\/b>No Man\u2019s Land<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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

Blending the appeal of science fiction and fantasy, Hoyt weaves space opera, mystery, romance, adventure, suspense, intrigue and politics into the three-volume novel, a vivid \u201cfirst contact\u201d saga leavened with humor and humanity\u2026.<\/p>\n

Told in alternating chapters with an initial focus on different worlds, No Man\u2019s Land is framed mostly by the radically different perspectives of two central characters, each from a different society and each facing new experiences and unexpected encounters. Perhaps most affectingly, this is a cross-cultural story of first contact \u2013 sparking an endearing love story \u2013 with dramatic and poignant ripple effects.<\/p>\n

The libertarian themes in No Man\u2019s Land emerge gradually, and only take center stage in the novel\u2019s third volume. Thus, it\u2019s hard to discuss such themes in any detail without revealing major plot twists \u2013 and this is an exhilarating tales whose manifold pleasures definitely rely on a thrilling and surprising plot.<\/p>\n

Suffice to say that when two drastically different cultures come into contact, conflicts inevitably arise. And when one culture is much freeer than the other, such conflicts involve fundamental issues of individual rights, tyranny and slavery.<\/p>\n

J. Kenton Pierce\u2019s A Kiss for Damocles<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This compellingly readable work of science fiction offers its readers an inherently dramatic situation: The struggle to survive and rebuild civilization in the aftermath of an apocalyptic war\u2026.<\/p>\n

A certain amount of trade takes place between homesteads, but towns are the main sites for market activity. There are also groups without fixed geographical bases: the Gentle Walkers, who seem to be something like a religious order, and the Riders, apparently a band of patrollers somewhat like Tolkien\u2019s Rangers (also inhabitants of a depopulated land created by massively destructive wars).<\/p>\n

What there isn\u2019t is a system of centralized authority. Instead, Pierce examines how people survive without one, relying on customary law and on market transactions, under conditions of extreme scarcity\u2026<\/p>\n

This novel\u2019s viewpoint character\u2026 \u201cShai,\u201d seems to be a girl in her early to mid teens, but one who, under the hard conditions of her society, is already being entrusted with serious responsibilities\u2026 Its issues aren\u2019t Shai\u2019s alienation from a dystopian society, but her struggle for practical, pro-survival goals, on one hand, and the long-term project of rebuilding a viable planetary economy, on the other.<\/p>\n

And an issue that emerges from these is the threat of local authorities using more advanced technology as a resources for dominating other communities. All of these are important libertarian issues, at a level more basic than legislation and government policy.<\/p>\n

Harry Turtledove\u2019s Powerless<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The structure and function of this alternate reality \u2013 in which communism has taken over the United States (and apparently much or all of the world) \u2013 seemed familiar and frighteningly plausible to me based on my study of the years under Lenin and Stalin.<\/p>\n

Our protagonist is\u2026 a regular guy with more spine than most around him who buckle under every order and demand of the West Coast People\u2019s Democratic Republic.<\/p>\n

Under threat of the hammer coming down on him, he has so far obeyed orders and been a \u201cgood\u201d (obedient) citizen. But one day he is told to put up a ludicrous propaganda poster in his shop window. Charlie has had enough and tosses it in the trash, thereby setting off a chain of unpleasant events.<\/p>\n

Charlie persists in being a thorn in the side of the system\u2026 (His) initial act of defiance is small but leads toward major trouble in a world where conformity and obedience are required to be absolute. \u2026 Powerless does leave us with some hope, however faint.<\/p>\n

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

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

In addition, as previously announced on the blog, reviews have now been posted of all five Prometheus Hall of Fame finalists for Best Classic Fiction.<\/p>\n

Here are links to reviews of the Hall of Fame finalists: James Blish\u2019s The Star Dwellers<\/a>,<\/i><\/b> Aldous Huxley\u2019s Brave New World<\/a>,<\/i><\/b> C.S. Lewis\u2019 That Hideous Strength,<\/a> Adam Roberts\u2019 Salt,<\/a> and Charles Stross\u2019s Singularity Sky<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

The voting deadline for this year\u2019s Prometheus Awards is July 4, 2026.<\/p>\n

All LFS members should have received an email around the start of June with the ballot. (Any member who didn\u2019t receive the ballot should contact LFS Webmaster Chris Hibbert at webmaster@lfs.com<\/a> or LFS Secretary Michael Grossberg at secretary@lfs.org<\/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 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 As a guide to Prometheus Awards voting, the Prometheus Blog has once again published full-length and in-depth reviews of each of this year\u2019s five Best Novel finalists. Here, for your convenience, are the embedded links to the reviews of the five Best Novel finalists:\u00a0 Dave Freer\u2019s Storm-Dragon, Sarah Hoyt\u2019s No Man\u2019s Land, … Continue reading Read our reviews of this year\u2019s Best Novel finalists by Freer, Gallagher, Hoyt, Pierce and Turtledove\u2028<\/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":[2353,1124,8],"tags":[414,1841,386,2773,1006,1282,18],"class_list":["post-10819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-lfs-programs","category-review","tag-best-novel-finalists","tag-dave-freer","tag-harry-turtledove","tag-j-kenton-pierce","tag-karl-k-gallagher","tag-reviews","tag-sarah-hoyt"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-2Ov","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10819","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=10819"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10824,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10819\/revisions\/10824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}