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<\/a>In a fascinating question and answer session at the end of the 45th Prometheus Awards ceremony, Friedman singled out just a few science fiction authors for praise – including Vernor Vinge, Robert Heinlein, C.J. Cherryh, Lois McMaster Bujold and Gallagher.<\/p>\n Gallagher\u2019s novels are \u201cwell-written and interesting,\u201d said Friedman, himself a Prometheus-nominated fantasy novelist.<\/p>\n Friedman, nominated for Harald, <\/i>also has written Salamander, <\/i>which he views as his favorite and best-written novel, and Brothers, <\/i>a\u00a0sequel to Harald.<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n THE TORCHSHIP TRILOGY<\/strong><\/p>\n Friedman said he especially enjoyed the three novels in Gallagher\u2019s interstellar Torchship trilogy: Torchship, Torchship Pilot\u00a0<\/i>and Torchship Captain.<\/i><\/p>\n Set centuries from now when human beings inhabit several solar systems, the trilogy charts the perilous voyage and obstacles faced of the captain and crew of an interstellar freighter, as they strive to make a profit even after being caught up in a civil war.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has interesting ideas in it, and an interesting story,\u201d Friedman said.<\/p>\n One is the idea of recognizing the role of status in human care, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the modern world, one solution to that is to create imaginary people who have the lowest status, and pretending that the really lowest people are really on a level above,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought that was a very clever idea, and possibly with real-world relevance.”<\/p>\n GALLAGHER\u2019S ONGOING FALL OF THE CENSOR SERIES The story begins when merchants in a ship from an isolated group of solar systems discover a new hyperspatial route to regain long-lost contact with the rest of humanity. They must deal with a centralized human empire founded on a fictitious history while establishing trade relations with businesses that operate through family ties and underground barter.<\/p>\n Gallagher\u2019s cautionary tale illuminates the repercussions of official truth, censorship and the denial of history, while exploring strategies for economic survival and the pursuit of knowledge under a repressive government.<\/p>\n The series continues with Between Home and Ruin<\/i> (Book 2), Seize What\u2019s Held Dear <\/i>(<\/a>Book 3), Captain Trader Helmsman Spy<\/em> (Book 4), Swim Among the People<\/i> <\/a>(Book 5), Trouble In My Day <\/i>(Book 6) and War by Other Means<\/i> (Book 7).<\/p>\n The Prometheus Awards Best Novel Judging Committee won\u2019t select a slate of finalists until April 2026 from the 2025 nominees. So far, seven novels have been nominated by Libertarian Futurist Society members for the next Prometheus Award: Storm-Dragon, <\/i>by Dave Freer; War by Other Means, <\/i>by Karl K. Gallagher; All the Humans Are Sleeping<\/em>, by John C.A. Manley; Planting Life: Shut the Kingdom,<\/em> by Laura Montgomery; Where the Axe is Buried, <\/i>by Ray Nayler; Caballeros del Camino,<\/em> by R.H. Snow; and Powerless, <\/i>by Harry Turtledove.<\/p>\n To suggest (by outside publishers and authors) or nominate (by LFS members) other eligible 2025 novels for the next Prometheus Award, contact Michael Grossberg<\/a>, who chairs the Prometheus Best Novel Judging Committee.<\/p>\n WATCH THE 45TH PROMETHEUS AWARDS CEREMONY * <\/i>Watch the full 45-minute video of the 45th Prometheus Awards ceremony, which was recorded, posted on YouTube and is available to see here.<\/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. 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 a full list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees \u2013 including in 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. This page 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 Leading libertarian thinker and economist David D. Friedman counts himself a fan of science-fiction writer Karl K. Gallagher. In a fascinating question and answer session at the end of the 45th Prometheus Awards ceremony, Friedman singled out just a few science fiction authors for praise – including Vernor Vinge, Robert Heinlein, C.J. … Continue reading Why leading libertarian, economist and novelist David Friedman admires the science fiction of Karl K. Gallagher\u2028\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":[2080,2353,2218],"tags":[2705,1521,1006,2706,175,1522,2704],"class_list":["post-9799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-award-presenter-speech","category-book-reviews","category-economics-in-fiction","tag-david-d-friedman","tag-fall-of-the-censor-series","tag-karl-k-gallagher","tag-magna-carta","tag-science-fiction","tag-torchship-trilogy","tag-war-by-other-means"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-2y3","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9799","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=9799"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10041,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9799\/revisions\/10041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>The three Torchship novels were combined by Libertarian Futurist Society judges into one nomination (since together, they tell one complete story) and became a 2018 Best Novel finalist – Gallagher\u2019s first recognition in the Prometheus Awards.<\/p>\n<\/a>Friedman singled out two aspects of Gallagher\u2019s stories and themes for their insight and relevance to our understanding of real-world economics, history and human nature.<\/p>\n<\/a>The other is \u201cthe idea that societies are threatened by people who feel they are low status,\u201d Friedman said.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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\nNow a seven-time Prometheus Awards nominee and Best Novel finalist, Gallagher is currently nearing completion of his epic and ambitious 8- or 9-volume Fall of the Censor series.<\/p>\n<\/a>Launched with Storm Between the Stars,<\/i> a 2021 Best Novel finalist, the libertarian-themed space-opera saga explores a vast interstellar polity’s use of narrative control and memory-holing to cement power.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>All the novels have gone on to become Best Novel finalists except for Trouble in My Day<\/i> and War By Other Mean<\/i>s, only recently nominated for the next Prometheus Award, which will be presented in 2026.
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