{"id":11157,"date":"2026-07-18T00:04:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T05:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/?p=11157"},"modified":"2026-07-14T19:44:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T00:44:15","slug":"dave-freers-storm-dragon-wins-first-special-prometheus-award-for-young-adult-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/dave-freers-storm-dragon-wins-first-special-prometheus-award-for-young-adult-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave Freer\u2019s Storm-Dragon wins first Special Prometheus Award for Young Adult Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg<\/p>\n

The Libertarian Futurist Society will present its first Special Prometheus Award for Young Adult Fiction to Dave Freer\u2019s Storm-Dragon.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Several years ago, the LFS Board of Directors unanimously approved this new awards category in recognition of the crucial connection between literacy and liberty and the vital importance of writing fiction, including fantastical fiction, that attracts and engages young people.<\/p>\n

Storm-Dragon<\/i>, by Dave Freer, will receive the Special Award Aug. 16, 2026, at the 46th annual Prometheus Awards, along with the previously announced<\/b><\/a> 2026 winners in the two annual categories for Best Novel (J. Kenton Pierce\u2019s A Kiss for Damocles) <\/i>and the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction (Aldous Huxley\u2019s Brave New World.)
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Storm-Dragon, <\/i>published by Raconteur Press, centers on a boy who saves and adopts an intelligent alien pet on an ocean-dominated colony planet with dangers both alien and human.<\/p>\n

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Dave Freer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the spirit of Robert Heinlein\u2019s Red Planet a<\/i>nd Farmer in the Sky<\/i> and Alan Dean Foster\u2019s Flinx novels, the story centers on two resourceful middle-school boys: Skut, a native of the planet, and Podge, part of a family of refugees who\u2019ve arrived on a starship. As they make friends, the boys confront class bullies and repressive teachers, cope with mob behavior and navigate the ocean\u2019s tricky shores.<\/p>\n

In the process, they interact and communicate more with their orphaned young \u201cdragon,\u201d an electrosensitive six-limbed alien creature who may be more intelligent and formidable than it appears.<\/p>\n

Aimed primarily at ages 8 to 18 and avoiding explicit ideology, the novel gradually expands to include parents, administrators and other adults enmeshed in the colony town\u2019s increasingly corrupt politics, which threatens livelihoods through onerous regulations, taxes and property confiscations. Ultimately, a violent invasion from human raiders threatens the colonists\u2019 broader rights.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dave Freer on the beach in Tasmania Photo courtesy of author<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With a strong career background in fishing and oceanography, Freer focuses more on the plausible ecology and boy-centered adventures than the politics of this plausible frontier planet, while allowing his live-and-let-live, peace and freedom themes to emerge naturally.<\/p>\n

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Australian writer Dave Freer (Photo courtesy of author)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Visit the Prometheus blog for a full review <\/b><\/a>of Storm-Dragon <\/i>that illuminates how it fits the distinctive dual focus of the Prometheus Award on quality and liberty.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s recognition for Storm-Dragon <\/i>marks the first Special Award presented by the LFS since 2017. But it\u2019s not the first recognition for Dave Freer, who won the Prometheus for Best Novel in 2023 for Cloud-Castles<\/b><\/a>.
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WATCH THE AUG. 16 PROMETHEUS AWARDS CEREMONY
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\nThe 46th annual Prometheus Awards will be presented online Sunday afternoon Aug. 16, 2026, in a zoom awards ceremony open to the public.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s roughly hourlong ceremony, tentatively scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Eastern time and emceed by LFS President William H. Stoddard, will feature several guest speakers.<\/p>\n

Two-time Prometheus winner Travis Corcoran (The Powers of the Earth, Causes of Separation) will present the Special Award and speak about the importance of Young Adult Fiction.<\/p>\n

Lifelong science-fiction fan Ilya Somin (George Mason University law professor, Cato Institute scholar and author) will present the Hall of Fame award and discuss the many libertarian and anti-authoritarian themes and currents in science fiction and fantasy.<\/p>\n

Updates will be posted on the Prometheus Blog<\/a> over the next several weeks about additional speakers and the full ceremony line-up.<\/p>\n

* Read the full press release<\/a> announcing the 2026 Best Novel and Hall of Fame winners.<\/p>\n

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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

\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg The Libertarian Futurist Society will present its first Special Prometheus Award for Young Adult Fiction to Dave Freer\u2019s Storm-Dragon. Several years ago, the LFS Board of Directors unanimously approved this new awards category in recognition of the crucial connection between literacy and liberty and the vital importance of writing fiction, including fantastical … Continue reading Dave Freer\u2019s Storm-Dragon wins first Special Prometheus Award for Young Adult Fiction<\/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":[31,1125,10,1166,996],"tags":[1841,2827,2590,997],"class_list":["post-11157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-awards-news","category-updates","category-news","category-special-awards","category-young-adult-fiction","tag-dave-freer","tag-special-award","tag-storm-dragon","tag-young-adult-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-2TX","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11157","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=11157"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11178,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11157\/revisions\/11178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}