{"id":8664,"date":"2025-11-23T00:03:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T06:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/?p=8664"},"modified":"2025-11-16T21:52:58","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T03:52:58","slug":"which-prometheus-hall-of-fame-winner-is-ranked-among-the-best-sf-stories-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/which-prometheus-hall-of-fame-winner-is-ranked-among-the-best-sf-stories-of-all-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Which Prometheus Hall of Fame winner is ranked among the best SF stories of all time?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>If you were picking the 26 best science fiction short stories of all time, what would be on your list?<\/p>\n

That requires some serious thought, but in the meantime, it can be helpful to check out what\u2019s on other\u2019s best lists.<\/p>\n

Case in point: New Scientist<\/i> magazine, whose writers recently compiled such a list – one that interestingly includes a story inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

E.M. FORSTER<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

If you guessed E.M. Forster\u2019s \u201cThe Machine Stops,\u201d you\u2019re correct.<\/p>\n

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

Although Forster is best known for his acclaimed novels, especially A Passage to India, A Room with a View <\/i>and Howards End <\/i>(all adapted into fine films), he also wrote many short stories – including science fiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Machine Stops,\u201d inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame in 2012, is widely hailed as a pioneering 1909 story in the category of technological dystopian fiction.<\/p>\n

The story, set in a world where humanity lives underground and relies on a giant machine to provide its needs, Forster\u2019s story anticipates several modern technologies, from the Internet to instant messaging.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cForster wrote about a society of enforced physical isolation where everyone can be in constant communication via the Machine,\u201d Chris Hibbert wrote in his review-essay Appreciation of the Hall of Fame inductee for the Prometheus Blog.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a cautionary tale about the dangers of government and the possibilities for absolute control growing out of people\u2019s demands. Early in the story we\u2019re told that people\u2019s distaste for contact with nature and each other drove the development of the technology. Eventually the technology is used to control people\u2019s choices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the full Prometheus Appreciation<\/a> of Forster’s classic.<\/p>\n

Coming up on the blog: Other Prometheus-winning authors included on the New Scientist best-26 list<\/a> (though not for their particular works recognized by the Prometheus Awards.<\/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<\/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 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 If you were picking the 26 best science fiction short stories of all time, what would be on your list? That requires some serious thought, but in the meantime, it can be helpful to check out what\u2019s on other\u2019s best lists. Case in point: New Scientist magazine, whose writers recently compiled such … Continue reading Which Prometheus Hall of Fame winner is ranked among the best SF stories of all time?<\/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":[1585],"tags":[2559,1053,2558,268,1052],"class_list":["post-8664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction-in-the-news","tag-best-stories","tag-e-m-forster","tag-new-scientist","tag-prometheus-hall-of-fame","tag-the-machine-stops"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-2fK","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8664","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=8664"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9031,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8664\/revisions\/9031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}