{"id":8974,"date":"2025-04-30T00:04:37","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T05:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/?p=8974"},"modified":"2025-05-05T22:31:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T03:31:12","slug":"how-many-sequels-have-won-a-prometheus-award-you-might-be-surprised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/how-many-sequels-have-won-a-prometheus-award-you-might-be-surprised\/","title":{"rendered":"Sequels, part 2: How many have won a Prometheus Award? You might be surprised\u2026\u2028"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Just how many sequels have won the Prometheus Award for Best Novel?<\/p>\n

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

More than you might expect, as I recently discovered.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

SEQUELS RECOGNIZED IN THIS YEAR\u2019S AWARDS<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I was curious to identify more winning sequels and get a more accurate sense of their numbers, after this year\u2019s Best Novel finalists were announced<\/a> in mid-April.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With four sequels<\/a> out of 11 nominated 2024 novels, the Prometheus judges serving on that finalist-selection committee ended up ranking two high enough to become finalists: C.J. Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher\u2019s Alliance Unbound<\/i> <\/a>and Wil McCarthy\u2019s Beggar\u2019s Sky<\/i><\/a>.
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Such a pattern has recurred virtually throughout the 46-year history of the Prometheus Awards. Yet, after extensive and eye-opening research, I’ve discovered that a much larger number of \u00a0sequels have been nominated, become Best Novel finalists and were recognized as winners over the decades than even many veteran LFS members and Prometheus Awards fans may realize.<\/p>\n

That’s partly what has inspired this Prometheus Blog series about sequels, with at least three or four more “sequels” to this post in the works.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, for fun, can you guess – off the top of your head – how many sequels have become Prometheus Best Novel winners?<\/p>\n

My guess is that many LFS members and Prometheus Awards fans will find it easy to spot at least one sequel that\u2019s won.<\/p>\n

TRAVIS CORCORAN\u2019S CONSECUTIVE WINNERS
\n<\/b>
\nThat would be Travis Corcoran\u2019s Causes of Separation,<\/i> if only because Corcoran is the first SF\/fantasy novelist to win back-to-back Prometheus Awards.<\/p>\n

His original novel The Powers of the Earth <\/i>won Best Novel in 2018, with its direct sequel Causes of Separation <\/i>winning in 2019.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Significantly, both novels tell one continuing story, set mostly on the Moon.<\/p>\n

They chart a suspenseful and uphill struggle by anarcho-capitalist lunar settlers to preserve their liberty and the independence of their moon colonies against aggressive Earth governments.<\/p>\n

If that sounds like Robert Heinlein\u2019s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress<\/a>,<\/i> one of the first two works inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction, that\u2019s no accident: Corcoran is a Heinlein fan.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Corcoran\u2019s lunar scenario not a mere pastiche or retelling of Heinlein\u2019s story,\u201d LFS President William H. Stoddard observed in his Prometheus Blog appreciation.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cIn the first place, it\u2019s a different sort of colony, modeled not on Botany Bay but on the stateless refuges described in James C. Scott\u2019s The Art of Not Being Governed. I<\/i>n the second, the technology of space travel is radically different and creates a different strategic situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in the third, one of its recurring minor themes is a critical dialogue with Heinlein, including several scenes where the enthusiasm of some colonists for the political and military methods of Heinlein\u2019s \u201cLoonies\u201d is criticized,\u201d Stoddard writes.<\/p>\n

Although the two volumes are described as part of a longer Aristillus series, they actually make up an integrated and self-contained story. \u201cHad they both appeared the same year, they could have been nominated as a single work,\u201d Stoddard wrote.<\/p>\n

Such a tightly integrated story, with a clear beginning, middle and end, is a major factor, in my opinion, why Corcoran\u2019s second novel won in the year after his first was honored with a Prometheus Award.<\/p>\n

MOST SEQUELS SHIFT GEARS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yet, such closure is relatively rare in sequels, which often shift gears.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Striving to blend the old and the new in entertaining ways, many sequels tend to go in different directions than the previous novel while retaining certain elements and a common underlying foundation within the same fictional universe.<\/p>\n

Beyond Corcoran\u2019s success, other Prometheus-winning sequels may be much less obvious to spot at first glance.<\/p>\n

Even if you peek at the LFS website\u2019s Prometheus Awards page<\/a> listing all previous winners in all categories (and including links to our \u201chidden\u201d Prometheus Awards pages listing all nominees and finalists respectively in the Best Novel<\/a> and Best Classic Fiction<\/a> categories), you still might have trouble picking out every winning sequel.<\/p>\n

I know I did, until I did more research.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a tantalizing clue to get you started: Just looking at the past decade of the Prometheus Best Novel category, did you realize that three of the 10 winning novels are sequels?<\/p>\n

In fact, two of the winners within the past five years are sequels!<\/p>\n

An upcoming Prometheus Blog post will reveal more novels that won our top prize (which comes with a one-ounce gold coin and a plaque).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, feel free to share in the comments below what other sequels you have enjoyed that have won a Prometheus Award – and what makes them so satisfying in their distinctive blend of the familiar and the fresh.<\/p>\n

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

ABOUT THE PROMETHEUS AWARDS AND THE LFS:<\/b><\/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 understand that culture matters. We believe that literature and the arts can be vital in envisioning a freer and better future.<\/p>\n

In some ways, culture can be even more influential and 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

* 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 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

*\u00a0Watch videos 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.<\/a><\/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

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

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg Just how many sequels have won the Prometheus Award for Best Novel? More than you might expect, as I recently discovered.<\/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":[249,9,2605],"tags":[594,46,1557],"class_list":["post-8974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-awards-history","category-essay","category-sequels","tag-best-novel","tag-prometheus-awards","tag-sequels"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-2kK","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8974","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=8974"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9008,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8974\/revisions\/9008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}