{"id":8083,"date":"2024-08-25T16:01:26","date_gmt":"2024-08-25T21:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/?p=8083"},"modified":"2025-06-19T19:52:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T00:52:00","slug":"highlights-of-the-2024-prometheus-awards-ceremony-three-time-prometheus-winner-victor-komans-speech-on-the-awards-longevity-mortality-the-diversification-of-publishing-and-the-fut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/highlights-of-the-2024-prometheus-awards-ceremony-three-time-prometheus-winner-victor-komans-speech-on-the-awards-longevity-mortality-the-diversification-of-publishing-and-the-fut\/","title":{"rendered":"2024 Prometheus Awards: Best Novel presenter Victor Koman\u2019s speech on mortality, the awards’ longevity, the diversification of publishing and the future of liberty\u2028"},"content":{"rendered":"

Victor Koman, a veteran libertarian SF writer, had the honor of presenting the Best Novel category Sunday at the 44th Prometheus Awards ceremony.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Prometheus-winning novelist Victor Koman in 2019 Photo courtesy of Koman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Who better to fulfill that role than Koman, one of very few writers to win as many as three Prometheus awards for Best Novel?<\/p>\n

Here, for the record, is the transcript of Koman’s speech.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Editor’s introduction: Victor Koman has won the Prometheus Award for Best Novel for these three novels:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u2022 The Jehovah Contract,<\/a><\/i> an audacious thriller-noir fantasy about a dying, atheistic assassin given a contract to kill God;<\/p>\n

\u2022 Solomon\u2019s Knife,<\/a><\/i> a medical thriller going beyond partisan debates over abortion by imagining a plausible future in which a controversial new surgical procedure helps women with unwanted pregnancies and women who want children but can\u2019t become pregnant; and<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n\u2022 Kings of the High Frontier, <\/a><\/i>which imagined a profit-enhanced competition via free enterprise to reach the stars (published before the X Prize that saw SpaceShip One reach space in 2004.)<\/p>\n

Although Koman appeared at previous Prometheus ceremonies to offer eloquent acceptance speeches when he won for Best Novel, the 2024 ceremony is the first time that Koman has participated as an awards presenter – an honor long overdue.<\/p>\n

By Victor Koman<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard for me to grasp the fact that the first Prometheus Award was granted forty-five years ago<\/i> by the originator of the award \u2014 L. Neil Smith \u2014 to F. Paul Wilson for Wheels Within Wheels.<\/i> Paul is still with us, but Neil passed away almost exactly three years ago.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
L. Neil Smith (Creative Commons photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In those forty-five years, in addition to Neil Smith, we\u2019ve lost a number of winners:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Poul Anderson in 2001<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
James Hogan (Creative Commons license)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2022 James P. Hogan in 2010<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sir Terry Pratchett in 2015<\/p>\n

\u2022 Dr. Jerry Pournelle in 2017<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Victor Milan at an sf convention panel File photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2022 Victor Milan in 2018, which really<\/i> hurt because he was only 6 days<\/p>\n

And my close friends, within weeks of each other:<\/p>\n

\u2022 J. Neil Schulman and Brad Linaweaver both five years ago in August<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Brad Linaweaver at an SF convention (Photo provided by author)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2022 And \u2014 last year \u2014 Michael Flynn<\/p>\n

\u2022 And then, just this last March, Vernor Vinge\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Vernor Vinge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Perhaps the fact that I just turned 70 (!) causes me to reflect on mortality, but I also think back to that great philosopher who meditated on \u2014 and I quote \u2014 \u201cthe significance of the passage of time, so when you think about it there is great significance to the passage of time. There is such great significance to the passage of time when you think of a day in the life of our children.\u201d Unquote. So profound.<\/p>\n

But addlepated statists aside, it is<\/i> our children, both literally and metaphorically, for whom we write. As members of the Libertarian Futurist<\/i> Society, we read and we write about a future of Freedom, and of the constant battle between Tyranny and Liberty, Collectivism and Individuality, Dark Ages and Renaissance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is one weapon in that battle of which I am personally proud.<\/p>\n

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

In 1997, my novel Kings of the High Frontier<\/i><\/b><\/a> won the Prometheus Award despite not having been published in any traditional format. Neither hardcover nor paperback nor magazine serialization, Kings<\/i> was published in digital<\/i> format by Neil Schulman\u2019s Pulpless.Com<\/em> and sold exclusively as a download from the nascent World Wide Web.<\/p>\n

It was the first purely digital novel to win a major literary award and paved the way for many more non-traditional publication routes to reaching readers without middlemen or gatekeepers, such as desktop publishing, Print-On-Demand, eBooks, and more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Think about it: For the first time in in the history of the written word, book length didn’t matter.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
J. Neil Schulman in the 1990s. (Creative Commons license)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I pointed out in my 1997 acceptance speech, Neil didn’t have to buy paper or glue or ink, or pay for typesetting, or arrange for warehousing or shipping. He wasn’t concerned that I had several full-color illustrations \u2014 he didn’t have to shoot plates or pay for color proofs.<\/p>\n

He simply had to come up with a way to allow people to buy a digital copy of the book over the Internet and download it immediately. The cost of publishing a novel plummeted. Now, Kindle readers and ePub versions of books abound and are considered valid avenues for publication.<\/p>\n

Nearly all of our nominee novels this year would not<\/i> have been considered \u201clegitimately published\u201d thirty years ago.<\/p>\n

But in the 21st<\/sup> Century, they have found their way almost directly from writer to reader, and now the Libertarian Futurist Society stands ready \u2014 for the forty-fourth time (or forty-third<\/i> \u2014 I\u2019m lookin\u2019 at you<\/i>, 1985!)<\/a> \u2014 to honor an author for a novel of \u201cspeculative fiction that champions individual rights, based on the moral\/legal principle of non-aggression as the ethical and practical foundation for peace, prosperity, progress, justice, tolerance, mutual respect, civility, and civilization itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are the five finalists for this year\u2019s Prometheus Award for Best Novel:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Writer Devon Eriksen (Photo from author)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2022 Devon Eriksen\u2019s Theft of Fire, <\/i><\/a><\/b>set <\/i><\/b>mostly on an asteroid-mining ship diverted to reach what may be hidden alien technology, is a chamber-sized space opera set within an anarchocapitalist, contract-based frontier where industrialization, colonization and free-market innovations have spread throughout the solar system in a free-wheeling future that offers insights into personal agency, ethics, free will, property rights, and other individual rights.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Author Karl K. Gallagher (Creative Commons license)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2022 Karl K. Gallagher\u2019s Swim Among the People<\/i><\/a><\/b> is the fifth novel of his Fall of the Censor <\/i><\/b>series about the fight against an interstellar empire that maintains totalitarian power through censorship, suppression of history, destruction of older books, and other less savory methods.<\/p>\n

Against this occupation, a voluntary covert organization seeks to preserve and disseminate forbidden knowledge.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Writer Gordon Hanka<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2022 God\u2019s Girlfriend <\/a><\/i><\/b>by Gordon Hanka <\/b>(writing as Dr. Insensitive Jerk<\/b>, a fellow PhD, I presume) <\/i><\/b>is the fifth and final novel in his subversive and satirical Gaia\u2019s Wasp<\/i><\/b> series.<\/p>\n

The book raises prickly questions about coercion, consent, sainthood, morality, masculinity, femininity, and the use of weapons of mass destruction amid a taboo-smashing clash of two cultures: Earth humans and Wyrms, human refugees from another planet.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Writer Howard Andrew Jones (Photo courtesy of Baen Books)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2022 In Howard Andrew Jones\u2019 Lord of a Shattered Land<\/a>, <\/i><\/b>a grief-stricken former military general risks his life to free the enslaved remnants of his free-trading people, traveling through a brutal empire filled with human and inhuman dangers, all while embracing a libertarian ethic of non-aggression. This <\/i><\/b>epic sword-and-sorcery fantasy reveals the clash between the evils of slavery and tyranny and the eternal human passion for liberty and individuality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Two-time Prometheus-winning author Daniel Suarez Photo: Steve Payne<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2022 Finally, Daniel Suarez\u2019s Critical Mass<\/i><\/a><\/b> is his sequel to Delta-V <\/i>and concerns heroic near-future \u201castropreneurs\u201d mounting a rescue of colleagues marooned on an asteroid.<\/p>\n

To save them, they must battle nature and governmental impediments in an audacious mission to mine an asteroid, complete the first spin-gravity space station, build a nuclear-powered spaceship, promote the commercialization of the solar system, and create a secure, decentralized currency in the course of proving that space-based industry is not just profitable, but is humanity\u2019s last, best hope for a survivable, peaceful, and prosperous future for all.<\/p>\n

And the winner of this year\u2019s Prometheus Award for best Novel is Daniel Suarez<\/b>, for Critical Mass<\/i><\/b>!<\/a><\/p>\n

Congratulations to Daniel and all<\/i> of this year\u2019s finalists.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Note: The 44th Prometheus awards show was recorded Aug. 25, 2024, by LFS Webmaster Chris Hibbert and will be posted soon on Youtube and later on the LFS website\u2019s Video page.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Prometheus Blog is publishing a series of reports on the \u00a0ceremony that includes the full texts of its eloquent, inspiring and sometimes amusing speeches (including by Best Novel winner Daniel Suarez; Reason\u2019s Robert Poole, who presented the Hall of Fame category; LFS President William H. Stoddard, who emceed the Zoom event and accepted the Hall of Fame award for the late great Terry Pratchett; and LFS co-founder Michael Grossberg, who discussed the impressive track record of the Best Novel category and introduced Koman.)<\/p>\n

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

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE PROMETHEUS AWARDS:<\/b><\/p>\n

* Prometheus winners:\u00a0<\/b>For the full list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees \u2013 including the annual Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) categories and occasional Special Awards \u2013 visit the enhanced\u00a0Prometheus Awards page<\/b><\/a>\u00a0<\/b>on the LFS website, which now includes convenient links to all published essay-reviews in our Appreciation series explaining why each of more than 100 past winners since 1979 fits the awards\u2019 distinctive dual focus on both quality and liberty.<\/p>\n

* Read \u201cThe Libertarian History of Science Fiction,\u201d<\/b><\/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

*\u00a0Watch <\/b>videos of past Prometheus Awards ceremonies (including the recent 2023 ceremony<\/a> with inspiring and amusing speeches by Prometheus-winning authors Dave Freer<\/a> and Sarah Hoyt)<\/a>, Libertarian Futurist Society panel discussions with noted sf authors and leading libertarian writers, and other LFS programs on the Prometheus Blog\u2019s\u00a0Video page.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

* Check out the Libertarian Futurist Society\u2019s Facebook page<\/b><\/a> for comments, updates and links to Prometheus Blog posts.<\/p>\n

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

*\u00a0Join us! <\/i><\/b>To help sustain the Prometheus Awards and support a cultural and literary strategy to appreciate and honor freedom-loving fiction,\u00a0 <\/span>join<\/a> the Libertarian Futurist Society, 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 in envisioning a freer and better future – and in some ways can be even more 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, individuality and human dignity.<\/p>\n

Through recognizing the literature of liberty and the many different but complementary visions of a free future via the Prometheus Awards, the LFS hopes to help spread ideas and ethical principles that help humanity overcome tyranny, end slavery, reduce the threat of war, repeal or constrain other abuses of coercive power and achieve universal liberty, respect for human rights and a better world (perhaps ultimately, worlds) for all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Victor Koman, a veteran libertarian SF writer, had the honor of presenting the Best Novel category Sunday at the 44th Prometheus Awards ceremony. Who better to fulfill that role than Koman, one of very few writers to win as many as three Prometheus awards for Best Novel? Here, for the record, is the transcript of … Continue reading 2024 Prometheus Awards: Best Novel presenter Victor Koman\u2019s speech on mortality, the awards’ longevity, the diversification of publishing and the future of liberty\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":[2080,249,31,2203,2665,1861,2021,2429],"tags":[2487,594,75,2262,488,23,101,17,29,204,6,341,69,66,171],"class_list":["post-8083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-award-presenter-speech","category-awards-history","category-awards-news","category-l-neil-smith","category-michael-flynn","category-poul-anderson","category-vernor-vinge","category-victor-koman","tag-44th-prometheus-awards-ceremony","tag-best-novel","tag-brad-linaweaver","tag-critical-mass","tag-daniel-suarez","tag-j-neil-schulman","tag-james-hogan","tag-jerry-pournelle","tag-l-neil-smith","tag-michael-flynn","tag-poul-anderson","tag-terry-pratchett","tag-vernor-vinge","tag-victor-koman","tag-victor-milan"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-26n","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8083","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=8083"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8150,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8083\/revisions\/8150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}