![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Powerless-harry-Turtledove.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a>Powerless, <\/i>one of six novels nominated so far for the next Prometheus Award for Best Novel, <\/i>is the first novel I have read by Harry Turtledove. I chose to read it because of its anti-authoritarian message.<\/p>\nThe structure and function of this alternate reality – in which communism has taken over the United States (and apparently much or all of the world) – seemed familiar and frighteningly plausible to me based on my study of the years under Lenin and Stalin.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Our protagonist is Charlie Simpkins, more of a regular guy than any kind of superhero. But he is a regular guy with more spine than most around him who buckle under every order and demand of the West Coast People\u2019s Democratic Republic.<\/p>\n
A GOOD CITIZEN WHO\u2019S HAD ENOUGH<\/b><\/p>\n
This is a static society and economy where communist-party members are in control and want to continue enjoying their benefits at the expense of everyone else and at the cost of halting progress.<\/p>\n One of the local party members, Mary Ann Hannegan, drops in every so often to lecture, berate, and threaten him. As she says, \u201cAny change threatens the system. Any unauthorized change, all the more.\u201d \u201cDeviationism will not be tolerated, will not be permitted.\u201d<\/p>\n A THORN IN THE SIDE OF THE SYSTEM<\/b><\/p>\n Charlie persists in being a thorn in the side of the system, encouraged and infused with a flicker of hope by a rising party member who seeks to loosen things up a bit.<\/p>\n The situation seems to be improving a little for a while but this is a dystopian tale in which the authoritarians reassert their dominance. Charlie\u2019s initial act of defiance is small but leads toward major trouble in a world where conformity and obedience are required to be absolute.<\/p>\n BROADER PARALLELS TO OTHER ORTHODOXIES<\/b><\/p>\n Although the story is set in a communist world, the events painfully reminded me of the less extreme pressures to not speak out against a proclaimed orthodoxy or consensus, whether relating to woke obsessions or climate apocalypticism.<\/p>\n It also reminded me of some other recent novels, especially two excellent 2025 Prometheus Best Novel finalists: Cancelled: The Shape of Things to Come<\/i> by Danny King and Mania<\/i> by Lionel Shriver, as well as as a Prometheus Hall of Fame winner for Best Classic Fiction that I only recently read: This Perfect Day<\/i>, by Ira Levin.<\/p>\n PAYING THE PRICE FOR FREEDOM<\/b><\/p>\n My one criticism is that Turtledove gets a little repetitive in hammering home some obvious points. An example: \u2018Then Eichenlode said, \u201cMaybe you\u2019d like to talk outside, where we have more space?\u201d Charlie heard: Maybe you\u2019d like to talk outside, where the Nibbies can\u2019t listen?\u2019 Similar unnecessary passages appear throughout, which feels a bit like being spoon-fed.<\/p>\n While not an uplifting read, Powerless<\/i> is focused on a man who stands up against the powers that be, a man willing to pay the price.<\/p>\n I was expecting to feel depressed when I finished it but the ending could have been worse for Charlie and others.<\/p>\n Powerless <\/i>does leave us with some hope, however faint.<\/p>\n Note: Harry Turtledove won the Prometheus Award for Best Novel in 2008 for The Gladiator, <\/a><\/em>\u00a0 which similarly envisions a twenty-first century where which Soviet Communism not only survived but triumphed.<\/p>\n His fantasy novel Between the Rivers<\/em><\/a> was selected as a 2024 Prometheus Hall of Fame finalist for Best Classic Fiction.<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Max More Powerless, one of six novels nominated so far for the next Prometheus Award for Best Novel, is the first novel I have read by Harry Turtledove. I chose to read it because of its anti-authoritarian message. The structure and function of this alternate reality – in which communism has taken over the … Continue reading Review: Harry Turtledove\u2019s Prometheus-nominated Powerless critiques communism and blind obedience to authority<\/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":[2353,8,35],"tags":[2266,229,386,2718,2719,16],"class_list":["post-9900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-review","category-selected-book-reviews","tag-best-novel-nominee","tag-communism","tag-harry-turtledove","tag-obedience-to-authority","tag-powerless","tag-prometheus-award"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-2zG","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9900","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=9900"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10011,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9900\/revisions\/10011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/b>Charlie manages a small (state-owned) vegetable shop in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. Under threat of the hammer coming down on him, he has so far obeyed orders and been a \u201cgood\u201d (obedient) citizen. But one day he is told to put up a ludicrous propaganda poster in his shop window. Charlie has had enough and tosses it in the trash, thereby setting off a chain of unpleasant events.<\/p>\n<\/a>Like the communists of our world, \u201cThe leaders might talk about the arrival of true Communism and the withering away of the state, but they ruled as if they and their successors, like the dead leaders who appeared only on coins and postage stamps and monuments these days, were in for the long haul.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>ABOUT HARRY TURTLEDOVE<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n