![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lfs.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/books-1.png?ssl=1\")
<\/a>This year\u2019s interesting and varied slate of five Best Novel finalists, selected from 16 nominees by LFS members serving as judges on the Best Novel finalist-selection committee, happens to reflect several intriguing \u201cfirsts\u201d or rarities in the history of the awards.<\/p>\nHere are the five finalists, all published in 2021 and contenders for the 2022 Prometheus Award, to be presented online in August at a time and place to be announced: Just from looking over the finalists list, can you guess any of those “firsts?<\/p>\n As a sort of fun “pop quiz,” why not take a moment to ponder that – before clicking over to the jump page of this blog, which has the answers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here are the answers \u2013 plus a few follow-up questions, for more fun.<\/p>\n 1. This is the first time in the history of the Prometheus awards that recognizes a Nobel Prize-winning author among the Best Novel finalists.<\/p>\n Bonus question: Can you guess which one?<\/strong><\/p>\n 2. This year was the first time the Prometheus Awards recognized one up-and-coming sf writer with his\/her first Best Novel nomination and finalist position.<\/p>\n Bonus question: Can you guess who that is?<\/strong><\/p>\n Hint: This science- and industry-oriented sf writer is especially prolific, with quite a few novels and other books published.<\/p>\n 3. This is only the third time in Prometheus Award history where one author has had two novels published within the same year that were both nominated and selected as Best Novel finalists.<\/p>\n Of course, just looking at the list of Best Novel finalists above will reveal who that is. (Congratulations, Mr. Gallagher. Or, should we say: Double congrats!)<\/p>\n So here are two related bonus questions:<\/p>\n * What was the first and second years in which this rare double recognition occurred?<\/strong><\/p>\n * And which authors were the first to be recognized twice in this way within the same year?<\/p>\n <\/strong>Hint: Both authors were previous Prometheus Award winners.<\/p>\n P.S. This impromptu pop quiz is designed to not only be fun, but to whet your appetite to learn more about each of the authors behind this year\u2019s five Best Novel finalists.<\/p>\n (It should be especially enjoyable to anyone who shares the same \u00a0focus on the Prometheus Awards’ history and statistics as one co-founding LFS member – an obsession comparable to the way some guys pore over sports-history statistics in baseball or football.)<\/p>\n So consider this a somewhat whimsical introduction to something Prometheus Blog readers can look forward, over the next month or two: a new \u201cMeet the author\u201d series, which hopefully will introduce more about these authors, their other works and bios.<\/p>\n We hope such awards-related blogs will provide additional helpful context as LFS members read and rank this year’s finalists over the next three months before voting by July 4 to select the annual Prometheus Award winners.<\/p>\n * Prometheus winners:\u00a0<\/strong>For a full list of winners \u2013 for the annual Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) categories and occasional Special Awards \u2013 visit the enhanced\u00a0Prometheus Awards page\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>on the LFS website, which now includes convenient links to the full set of published appreciation-reviews of past winners.<\/p>\n * Read\u00a0\u201cThe Libertarian History of Science Fiction,\u201d<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0an essay in the international magazine\u00a0Quillette<\/em>\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 * Read the\u00a0introductory essay<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0of the LFS\u2019 40th\u00a0<\/sup>anniversary retrospective series of Appreciations of past Prometheus Awards winners, with an overview of the awards\u2019 four-decade-plus history, that was launched in 2019 on the 40th<\/sup>anniversary of the awards and continues today.<\/p>\n *\u00a0Join us<\/strong>! To help sustain the Prometheus Awards,\u00a0join\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>the Libertarian Futurist Society (LFS), a non-profit all-volunteer association of freedom-loving sf\/fantasy fans.<\/p>\n Libertarian futurists believe that culture matters! We understand that the arts and literature can be vital, and in some ways even more powerful than politics in the long run, by sparking innovation, better ideas, positive social change, and mutual respect for each other\u2019s rights and differences.<\/p>\n Through recognizing the literature of liberty and the many different visions of a free future via the Prometheus Awards, the LFS hopes to help spread better visions of the future that help humanity achieve universal liberty and human rights and a better world (perhaps eventually, worlds) for all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Even after building up a relatively consistent track record over 43 years, the Prometheus Awards can surprise by venturing here and there into new territory and new authors. This year\u2019s interesting and varied slate of five Best Novel finalists, selected from 16 nominees by LFS members serving as judges on the Best Novel finalist-selection committee, … Continue reading The 2022 Best Novel finalists reflect a few interesting “firsts”<\/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],"tags":[414,1494,1504,1478,1486,1372,46,1487,1495,1373,1484],"class_list":["post-4329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-awards-news","category-updates","category-news","tag-best-novel-finalists","tag-between-home-and-ruin","tag-karl-h-gallagher","tag-kazoo-ishiguro","tag-klara-and-the-sun","tag-lionel-shriver","tag-prometheus-awards","tag-rich-mans-sky","tag-seize-whats-held-dear","tag-should-we-stay-or-should-we-go","tag-wil-mccarthy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-17P","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4329","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=4329"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4417,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4329\/revisions\/4417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u2022 Between Home and Ruin, <\/em>by Karl K. Gallagher (Kelt Haven Press, 227 pages)
\n<\/em>\u2022 Seize What\u2019s Held Dear, <\/em>by Karl K. Gallagher (Kelt Haven Press, 244 pages)
\n\u2022 Klara and the Sun,\u00a0<\/em>by Kazuo Ishiguro (Faber and Faber, 321 pages)
\n\u2022 Rich Man\u2019s Sky<\/em>, by Wil McCarthy (Baen Books, 291 pages)
\n\u2022 Should We Stay Or Should We Go,\u00a0<\/em>by Lionel Shriver (Harper Collins, 266 pages)<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n