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As outlined in a previous blog post, just four authors have won three Prometheus Awards each for Best Novel.<\/p>\n * Cory Doctorow<\/p>\n * Victor Koman<\/p>\n * Ken MacLeod<\/p>\n * L. Neil Smith<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Six more authors have won Prometheus Awards twice for Best Novel:<\/p>\n Travis Corcoran<\/p>\n Michael Flynn<\/p>\n James P. Hogan<\/p>\n Neal Stephenson<\/p>\n Vernor Vinge<\/p>\n F. Paul Wilson<\/p>\n So what did each of the above six authors write that received such Prometheus Award recognition? And which novels should be recommended for first-time readers?<\/p>\n NEAL STEPHENSON<\/strong><\/p>\n Subtle but insightful in highlighting and contrasting the drawbacks of centralized power and politics with the messy but positive voluntary efforts of people and companies to solve various human challenges, Stephenson is known for epic, wide-ranging novels brimming with imagination and intelligent speculation.<\/p>\n I’d recommend System<\/em> because of its fascinating scope and relevance, rooted in the real history of the emergence of the modern liberal\/libertarian order over several centuries of progress, science and innovation. With those two awards, Corcoran achieved a first in the history of our awards: No one had previously won in consecutive years.<\/p>\n Corcoran also is the second author, following Cory Doctorow, to win a Prometheus for both a novel and its sequel. And that makes it easy to decide which novel to recommend reading first: The Powers of the Earth,<\/em> because it’s satisfying and largely self-contained as a story but also nicely sets up the sequel.<\/p>\n MICHAEL FLYNN At once a suspenseful adventure story, love story, historical novel and ingenious satire on conspiracy theories, In the Country of the Blind <\/i>is in my opinion the Flynn novel to read first.<\/p>\n For this fascinating and multi-leveled work envisions a predictive historical science whose practitioners actively work to make society more easily predictable, raising important libertarian implications about lost freedom of choice and the perennial temptations and corruptions of absolute power.<\/p>\n Hogan, who died in 2010, is best known for writing hard-science fiction that also weaves in political realism and strong libertarian themes, <\/em>often in the hybrid format of thrillers or scientific mysteries.<\/p>\n LFS members may prefer Voyage From Yesteryear,<\/em> one of the few sf novels to portray both a fully free society and contrast it with an authoritarian system.<\/p>\n But general sf fans may prefer to read The Multiplex Man<\/em>, which has powerful libertarian themes as a cautionary anti-authoritarian tale of Earthbound statism but also may be more representative of Hogan’s work because of its complex plot, interesting twists, multiple characters and suspenseful framing as a political techno-thriller.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Vinge, widely admired for his sophisticated blend of science, politics and intricate plotting in what came to be called the New Space Opera, was one of the first sf writers to explore the possibilities of cyberspace and the Singularity.<\/p>\n Both novels are brilliant, imaginative and fast-paced – and both introduce readers to a future that’s worth returning to (and that is the setting for other Vinge works.<\/p>\n But for pure thrills, pulse-pounding suspense and epic scope, I’d heartily recommend reading A Deepness in the Sky.<\/em> Wilson, a frequent Prometheus nominee, is notable for having won the very first Prometheus Award with an sf-mystery that\u2019s part of his LaNague Federation trilogy (including Healer<\/em> and An Enemy of the State, <\/em>both inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame.)<\/p>\n Sims<\/em> is self-contained, and thus a good first sampling of Wilson. But I’d recommend reading Wheels Within Wheels<\/em> first for two reasons: It’s one of the few good sf mysteries, with a satisfying ending; and it’s an excellent introduction to Wilson’s great libertarian sf trilogy, which culminates in An Enemy of the State,<\/em> which I consider must-reading for all libertarian sf fans.<\/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 *\u00a0Watch <\/strong>videos <\/strong>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.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/strong>Stephenson won in 2005 for The System of the World <\/em><\/a>and in 2016 for Seveneves.<\/a>
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\nTRAVIS CORCORAN
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\nTravis Corcoran won for Best Novel in 2018 for The Powers of the Earth<\/em> <\/a>and again in 2019 for its sequel, Causes of Separation.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>Both novels, part of Corcoran’s projected four-volume Aristillus series, <\/em>are set on the moon and explore anarcho-capitalist efforts to thrive in a lunar colony while threatened by authoritarian Earth forces.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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\nMichael Flynn won in 1991 for In the Country of the Blind<\/em><\/a> and in 1992 for Fallen Angels<\/a>,<\/em> which he co-authored with Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.<\/p>\n<\/a>JAMES P. HOGAN
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\nJames P. Hogan won in 1983 for Voyage From Yesteryear<\/em><\/a> and in 1993 for The Multiplex Man.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n
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\nVernor Vinge won in 1987 for Marooned in Real Time<\/a> <\/em>and in 2000 for A Deepness in the Sky.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
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\nWILSON<\/strong>
\nF. Paul Wilson won in 1979 for Wheels Within Wheels<\/em><\/a> and in 2004 for Sims<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE:
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\n<\/u><\/strong>* Prometheus winners:\u00a0<\/strong>For the full list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees \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