{"id":9892,"date":"2025-10-30T00:05:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T05:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/?p=9892"},"modified":"2025-12-23T13:35:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T19:35:53","slug":"why-the-special-prometheus-award-for-ya-fiction-isnt-well-known-yet-but-that-could-change-with-the-nomination-of-dave-freers-storm-dragon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/why-the-special-prometheus-award-for-ya-fiction-isnt-well-known-yet-but-that-could-change-with-the-nomination-of-dave-freers-storm-dragon\/","title":{"rendered":"The Special Prometheus Award for YA fiction isn\u2019t well-known yet, but that could change with the nomination of Dave Freer\u2019s Storm-Dragon\u2028"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Many publishers and authors may not be aware of the newest category of Special Prometheus Awards, set up to recognize Young Adult (YA) fiction. Even some Libertarian Futurist Society members may be unaware of the award, only added as a possibility a few years ago.<\/p>\n

Yet, that could be about to change, with the recent nomination of Dave Freer\u2019s YA novel Storm-Dragon<\/i> for a Special Award.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Travis Corcoran (File photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Inspired by a suggestion and donation by two-time Prometheus winner Travis Corcoran (the 2018 and 2019 Best Novel winner for The Powers of the Earth<\/a> <\/i>and its sequel Causes of Separation<\/a>)<\/i>, the LFS board of directors approved a motion in 2021 to establish a Special Prometheus Award for Young Adult Fiction.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the LFS created a Prometheus Award Young Adult Honor Roll to list all the previous Prometheus winners that were written specifically for teenagers or children or that were written for adults but that have a broad and clear appeal to younger readers.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, there\u2019s a good reason why most YA-oriented publishers and authors may not be aware of this relatively fresh opportunity for recognition. That\u2019s simply because no Young Adult-oriented work of fantastical fiction has received this type of Special Prometheus Award – at least, so far.<\/p>\n

DAVE FREER’S YA NOVEL STORM-DRAGON<\/strong><\/p>\n

Happily, that awareness should increase, with the greater visibility resulting from the nomination of Storm-Dragon.<\/p>\n

<\/i>Under Prometheus Awards rules, all LFS members have the right to nominate eligible works for all awards categories. Storm-Dragon,<\/em> initially nominated for Best Novel, also was eligible as a YA novel for our occasional Special Awards, which recognize a variety of categories including Young Adult fiction. And so LFS members also have nominated it for a Special Award.<\/p>\n

Just as nominations in our annual categories for Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (the Prometheus Hall of Fame) are submitted to their own judging committees, Special Award nominations are submitted to its judging committee, which is the LFS Board of Directors. While the Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction awards committees ultimately rank and select a slate of finalists for the full LFS membership to consider before choosing winners in those categories, the Board carefully considers each nomination to determine whether it merits a further recommendation to the general membership to consider it on the final awards ballot.<\/p>\n

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Dave Freer with his 2023 Prometheus Awards Best Novel plaque for Cloud-Castles (Photo courtesy of Freer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Freer, who won the Prometheus Award for Best Novel in 2023 for Cloud-Castles, <\/i><\/a>wrote Storm-Dragon <\/i>specifically for young readers between the ages of 8 and 18.<\/p>\n

Set centuries from now in a small human colony on a harsh \u201cfrontier\u201d planet dominated by complex and dangerous sea life, the science-fiction adventure story revolves around Skut, a young boy and a new kid in town who struggles with grade-school bullies.<\/p>\n

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A Raconteur Press illustration of Storm-Dragon (Photo from publisher)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His life and social situation changes when Skut rescues a small, mysterious creature with telepathic powers – and both will play key roles as their town, led by corrupt leaders, comes under threats from within and without.<\/p>\n

Published by Raconteur Press in April 2025, the 200-page novel is available as a paperback ($14.99) and a Kindle ebook ($4.99).<\/p>\n

OTHER YA SF-FANTASY FICTION<\/strong><\/p>\n

Suggestions about other YA novels that might fit the distinctive dual focus of the Prometheus Awards on both literary quality and liberty are welcome.<\/p>\n

Whether a submission by an outside publisher or author or a formal nomination by an LFS member, please bring potentially worthy and eligible YA fiction to our attention.<\/p>\n

Under our awards rules, the LFS board of directors is responsible for considering all Special Awards. Whenever a work is nominated for a Special Award, the LFS board reads and considers it at its May meeting, to confirm its eligibility and judge its overall focus and quality. If the board approves a nomination, a recommendation is submitted to the full LFS membership for a Yes\/No vote on the final Prometheus Awards ballot.<\/p>\n

If you are aware of any new 2025 YA work that might fit the Prometheus Awards, please send the book\u2019s title, author, publication date and page length, along with a brief description of the work, to LFS President William H. Stoddard at president@LFS.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Who knows? If the Special Prometheus Award for Young Adult Fiction becomes more widely known and sparks more freedom-loving sf\/fantasy aimed at younger readers, then the occasional award might be expanded by the LFS Board to become more frequently presented.<\/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. 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 Many publishers and authors may not be aware of the newest category of Special Prometheus Awards, set up to recognize Young Adult (YA) fiction. Even some Libertarian Futurist Society members may be unaware of the award, only added as a possibility a few years ago. Yet, that could be about to change, … Continue reading The Special Prometheus Award for YA fiction isn\u2019t well-known yet, but that could change with the nomination of Dave Freer\u2019s Storm-Dragon\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":[2236,31,1124,1125,2664,996],"tags":[1841,2716,1421,2590,42,2717,997],"class_list":["post-9892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-award-submissions","category-awards-news","category-lfs-programs","category-updates","category-travis-corcoran","category-young-adult-fiction","tag-dave-freer","tag-skut","tag-special-prometheus-award","tag-storm-dragon","tag-travis-corcoran","tag-ya-novels","tag-young-adult-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-2zy","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9892","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=9892"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10159,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9892\/revisions\/10159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}