{"id":8288,"date":"2024-11-03T00:01:53","date_gmt":"2024-11-03T05:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/?p=8288"},"modified":"2024-11-01T15:17:51","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T20:17:51","slug":"prometheus-hall-of-fame-nominees-capsule-reviews-of-vinges-conquest-by-default-and-schmitzs-the-demon-breed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/prometheus-hall-of-fame-nominees-capsule-reviews-of-vinges-conquest-by-default-and-schmitzs-the-demon-breed\/","title":{"rendered":"Prometheus Hall of Fame nominees, part 3: Capsule reviews of Vinge\u2019s \u201cConquest by Default\u201d and Schmitz\u2019s The Demon Breed\u2028"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg<\/a><\/p>\n

Of the 10 works of fiction nominated for the next Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction, two coincidentally were published in 1968.<\/p>\n

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

One is “Conquest by Default,” a novelette by Vernor Vinge – a frequent Prometheus Award nominee, finalist and winner.<\/p>\n

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

And the other is The Demon Breed,<\/i> a novel by James H. Schmitz – a first-time Prometheus nominee.<\/p>\n

Here, in part 3 of the Prometheus Blog\u2019s series about this year\u2019s candidates for induction into our Hall of Fame, are capsule review-descriptions of each work.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Along with the previous two posts of the four oldest nominees (by Rudyard Kipling, C.S. Lewis, Arthur C. Clarke and Mack Reynolds), these capsule reviews and descriptions are written, edited and compiled in part from the nominating statements of LFS members and descriptions by the judges on the Hall of Fame finalist-selection committee, chaired by LFS President William H. Stoddard. Thanks to all involved!<\/p>\n

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Vernor Vinge at an SF con (File photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

VINGE\u2019S \u201cCONQUEST BY DEFAULT\u201d
\n<\/b>
\n\u201cConquest by Default,” by Vernor Vinge (first published 1968 in Analog), was Vinge’s first exploration of anarchism.<\/p>\n

He tells a story about human civilization being overwhelmed by a superior alien force, told from the point of view of an alien sympathetic to the underdogs. The alien finds a way to save the humans by breaking up governments into much smaller components.<\/p>\n

The alien culture uses a legal twist to foster extreme cultural diversity, as characters draw explicit parallels between the plight of humanity in the face of superior alien tech and the fate of Native Americans faced with European invaders.<\/p>\n

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James H. Schmitz (Creative Commons license)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SCHMITZ\u2019S<\/b> THE DEMON BREED<\/em>
\n<\/b>
\nThe Demon Breed,<\/i> first serialized in Analog<\/i> as The Tuvela <\/i>and part of the author\u2019s Hub series, is a 1968 SF adventure novel by James H. Schmitz.<\/p>\n

Notably, this was one of the first SF novels to have a strong female protagonist. An optimistic writer, Schmitz was forward-thinking in his well-thought-out and richly detailed ecology and in focusing on heroines who save the day.<\/p>\n

Unlike Schmitz’s earlier Hub-series character Telzey Amberdon with her wide range of psionic abilities, Nile Etland is a competent everywoman, further reinforcing Schmitz\u2019s universalist themes of individualism and self-determination.<\/p>\n

The story centers on Nile\u2019s resourcefulness as a young female scientist who faces an alien invasion on Nandy-Cline, an isolated water world.<\/p>\n

As prelude to a wider invasion, the aggressive amphibian Parahuans have stealthily invaded Nandy-Cline to gather information about the Federation\u2019s strengths and weaknesses.<\/p>\n

Trapped on a floating-plant island that the previously defeated Parahuans (believed wiped out 70 years ago) are preparing to take over, Nile strives to stay alive, working only with two intelligent mutated otters as allies.<\/p>\n

Her ultimate goals include using guerrilla tactics to try to rescue an imprisoned friend and sending a message to the rest of the population and her interstellar Federation\u2019s warships, while doing everything possible to impede the alien invaders and demonstrate how difficult it would be to invade and take over humans.<\/p>\n

Most intriguingly, Schmitz shows us more of how the Hub is governed and what its \u201cover government\u201d thinks it\u2019s doing – which is a kind of libertarian alternative to war, based not on centralization and regimentation but on encouraging individual adaptability and initiative.<\/p>\n

THE FULL LIST OF HALL OF FAME NOMINEES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here, for the record, are the 10 Hall of Fame nominees for the 2025 Prometheus Awards, listed in chronological order of publication or recording:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Easy as A.B.C.,” by Rudyard Kipling (1912), a novelette<\/p>\n

That Hideous Strength,<\/i><\/b> <\/i>by C.S. Lewis (1945), a novel<\/p>\n

“Death and the Senator,” by Arthur C. Clarke (1961), a short story<\/p>\n

“Ultima Thule,” by Mack Reynolds (1961), a novella<\/p>\n

“Conquest by Default,” by Vernor Vinge (1968), a novelette<\/p>\n

The Demon Breed,<\/i><\/b> by James H. Schmitz (1968), a novel<\/p>\n

“The Trees,” by Rush (1978), a song<\/p>\n

Orion Shall Rise,<\/i><\/b> by Poul Anderson (1984), a novel<\/p>\n

Between the Rivers<\/i><\/b>, by Harry Turtledove (1998), a\u00a0 novel<\/p>\n

Singularity Sky,<\/i><\/b> by Charles Stross (2003), a novel<\/p>\n

For more information about all 10 works listed above, visit the Prometheus Blog\u2019s announcement<\/a> of the Hall of Fame nominees.<\/p>\n

For capsule review\/descriptions of the two oldest works nominated, check out the recent Prometheus Blog post<\/a> about Rudyard Kipling\u2019s 1912 novelette \u201cAs Easy as A.B.C.\u201d and C.S. Lewis\u2019 1945 novel That Hideous Strength.<\/i><\/p>\n

Read the capsule reviews<\/a> of the two Hall of Fame nominees first published in 1961: Arthur C. Clarke\u2019s short story \u201cDeath and the Senator\u201d and Mack Reynolds\u2019 novella \u201cUltima Thule.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coming up:<\/strong> Part 4 of our series offering capsule review\/descriptions of each of this year’s Prometheus Hall of Fame nominees.<\/p>\n

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

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

* Prometheus winners:\u00a0For 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<\/a>\u00a0on 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<\/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 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.<\/a><\/p>\n

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

*\u00a0Join us! 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 association of freedom-loving sf\/fantasy fans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg Of the 10 works of fiction nominated for the next Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction, two coincidentally were published in 1968. One is “Conquest by Default,” a novelette by Vernor Vinge – a frequent Prometheus Award nominee, finalist and winner. And the other is The Demon Breed, a novel … Continue reading Prometheus Hall of Fame nominees, part 3: Capsule reviews of Vinge\u2019s \u201cConquest by Default\u201d and Schmitz\u2019s The Demon Breed\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":[31,8],"tags":[1649,2503,1827,268,2511,69],"class_list":["post-8288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-awards-news","category-review","tag-conquest-by-default","tag-james-h-schmitz","tag-nominations","tag-prometheus-hall-of-fame","tag-the-demon-breed","tag-vernor-vinge"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-29G","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8288","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=8288"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8320,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8288\/revisions\/8320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}