{"id":8399,"date":"2024-12-24T00:08:07","date_gmt":"2024-12-24T06:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/?p=8399"},"modified":"2024-12-21T14:45:15","modified_gmt":"2024-12-21T20:45:15","slug":"best-of-the-blog-2024-more-reviews-posted-than-ever-including-of-the-years-two-prometheus-award-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/best-of-the-blog-2024-more-reviews-posted-than-ever-including-of-the-years-two-prometheus-award-winners\/","title":{"rendered":"Best of the blog 2024: More reviews posted than ever, including of the year\u2019s two Prometheus Award winners\u2028"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg<\/p>\n

For the first time, the Prometheus Blog was able to post timely reviews of all five Best Novel finalists and all four Prometheus Hall of Fame finalists for Best Classic Fiction this past year.<\/p>\n

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Thanks to all the LFS members and Prometheus judges who took the time and effort to write thoughtful, insightful and illuminating reviews, just as Libertarian Futurist Society members were seriously considering the merits of the nominees and finalists and reading and ranking their favorites to help choose the 2024 Prometheus Award winners.<\/p>\n

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This enormous effort and success fulfills a long-term goal for the Prometheus Blog, established in mid-2017 as a replacement for Prometheus, the LFS\u2019 former printed quarterly.<\/p>\n

Our purpose in soliciting more full-length, in-depth reviews of our awards winners and contenders was twofold:<\/p>\n

* to increase the substantive content of the blog, for both our membership and our wider public readership,<\/p>\n

* to further enhance our annual awards-judging process by offering members more food for thought as they read and ranked the 2024 Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction finalists.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In both cases, the reviews were written to make clear how each work of speculative fiction fits the distinctive dual focus of the Prometheus Awards on both liberty and literary quality while illuminating why each work merited such recognition.<\/p>\n

Those are commitments that we aim to continue next year on the blog.<\/p>\n

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For instance, we aim to post reviews (or links to previous reviews) of all four recently announced Hall of Fame finalists: Poul Anderson\u2019s 1983 novel Orion Shall Rise, <\/i>Rudyard Kipling\u2019s 1912 story \u201cAs Easy as A.B.C.,\u201d Charles Stross\u2019 2003 novel Singularity Sky <\/i>and \u201cThe Trees,\u201d Rush\u2019s 1978 fantasy rock song.<\/p>\n

And once the Prometheus Best Novel Finalist Judging Committee is in the final months next spring of reading, discussing and selecting the next slate of finalists in that annual category, we intend to write and post reviews of each of those works, too.<\/p>\n

OUR TWO PROMETHEUS WINNERS<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

Of the 28 full-length or capsule reviews written and published in 2024 on the Prometheus Blog, perhaps the two most significant were reviews of the two finalists that went on to win Prometheus Awards this year: Daniel Suarez\u2019s Critical Mas<\/i>s, the 2024 Best Novel winner, and Terry Pratchett\u2019s The Truth,<\/i> the 2024 Best Classic Fiction winner.<\/p>\n

To whet your appetite to read both reviews, here are excerpts, along with convenient web links:<\/p>\n

TERRY PRATCHETT\u2019S THE TRUTH
\n<\/b>
\nHere\u2019s an excerpt from our review of The Truth, t<\/i>he 48th and <\/i>most recent inductee into the Prometheus Hall of Fame:<\/p>\n

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“Terry Pratchett\u2019s comic fantasy tells a smart, sly and ultimately inspirational tale of underdogs seeking the truth against formidable opposition.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnderdogs,\u201d though, might be a potentially confusing word to describe this richly diverse tale, the 25th\u00a0novel in the late author\u2019s bestselling Discworld series. After all, Discworld brims with self-aware species of all sorts \u2013 humans, dwarves, vampires, trolls, werewolves, zombies and, in this whimsical story, a grumpy, canny dog eager to talk humans out of believing that he can talk.<\/p>\n

Overall, Pratchett achieves both a satisfying crime\/mystery and an imaginative saga that dramatizes how good journalism can assist in dispelling false rumors and sometimes can even help avert injustice.<\/p>\n

Along with Pratchett\u2019s background in journalism, The Truth<\/i>\u00a0is enriched by Pratchett\u2019s wry wisdom and very British understanding of human folly, stupidity and bureaucracy.<\/p>\n

As most newspaper reporters learn early on, whether on Earth or on Discworld, finding the truth is never automatic or easy \u2013 especially within the political pressures, criminal elements and diverse citizenry of a bustling city.<\/p>\n

In reality, truth tends to emerge gradually, one difficult-to-verify fact at a time. Pratchett instinctively grasps the epistemic modesty of the great Austrian economist\/liberal political theorist Friedrich Hayek (The Road to Serfdom, The Constitution of Liberty, The Use of Knowledge in Society)\u00a0<\/i>about the limits of knowledge and the near-impossibility of central government planning in a dynamic modern economy and multifaceted world.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more, read the full blog review of The Truth.<\/i><\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

DANIEL SUAREZ\u2019S CRITICAL MASS
\n<\/b>
\nHere\u2019s an excerpt from our review of Critical Mass, <\/i>our 46th and most recent Best Novel winner:<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWith a high level of granular detail and engineering expertise unusual even in the hardest of hard-SF novels, Suarez convincingly portrays both the human drama and scientific complexities that emerge as the plucky crew face a series of daunting and unexpected challenges.<\/p>\n

With too many other contemporary sci-fi novels framing capitalistic entrepreneurs as the cliched bad guys while uncritically portraying expansive government as somehow the automatic source of goodness and progress, Suarez refreshingly offers a dramatically different and more realistic perspective enriched by his understanding of economics, history and politics.<\/p>\n

Critical Mass<\/i> brims with implicit libertarian themes. Governments are shown as largely wishing to restrict human action and individual choice, while the protagonists want to expand human possibilities.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, at considerable risk to their own safety, the central band of space engineers admirably try their best to avoid killing, even in self-defense or when it would be easier or less costly toward achieving their goals.<\/p>\n

That private, peaceful and cooperative behavior \u2013 representative of how most people typically strive to work together to achieve goals in free or largely free societies \u2013 stands in marked contrast to the fundamental tendencies of many governments.<\/p>\n

Historically, the State, allying with or manipulated by other bad actors, tends to kill, enslave or otherwise coerce innocent people \u2013 all too often \u201cfor their own good\u201d and in the name of misconceived ideals or misbegotten true-believer ideologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more, read our full blog review of Critical Mass<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

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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<\/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!<\/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 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, human dignity, individuality and peaceful choices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg For the first time, the Prometheus Blog was able to post timely reviews of all five Best Novel finalists and all four Prometheus Hall of Fame finalists for Best Classic Fiction this past year. Thanks to all the LFS members and Prometheus judges who took the time and effort to write thoughtful, … Continue reading Best of the blog 2024: More reviews posted than ever, including of the year\u2019s two Prometheus Award winners\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":[2353,1125],"tags":[2426,414,2262,488,2513,1282,341,1698],"class_list":["post-8399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-updates","tag-best-classic-fiction-finalists","tag-best-novel-finalists","tag-critical-mass","tag-daniel-suarez","tag-prometheus-winners","tag-reviews","tag-terry-pratchett","tag-the-truth"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-2bt","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8399","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=8399"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8404,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8399\/revisions\/8404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}