FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, February 5, 2018

2018 PROMETHEUS HALL OF FAME AWARD FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

The Libertarian Futurist Society has selected five finalists for the 2018 Hall of Fame Award. This year's finalists are:

• "As Easy as A.B.C.," a short story by Rudyard Kipling (first published 1912 in London Magazine): In the second of his "airship utopia" stories, an unpopular minority in a future society calls for the revival of democracy, and a largely hands-off world government is called in to protect them from mob violence.
• "With Folded Hands . . .," a short story by Jack Williamson (first published 1947 in Astounding Science Fiction): A cautionary tale of a future society under the control of entirely benevolent AIs.
• "Starfog," a short story by Poul Anderson (first published 1967 in Analog): An agent of a mutual aid association spanning many solar systems seeks a way to carry out a large-scale project without taxation or central planning.
• "Conquest by Default," a short story by Vernor Vinge (first published 1968 in Analog): Vernor Vinge's first exploration of the possible form of an anarchistically organized society, set on a post-nuclear war Earth visited by an alien culture.
• The Island Worlds, a novel by Eric Kotani and John Maddox Roberts (first published 1986 by Baen Books): A libertarian independence movement in the asteroids struggles against domination by an Earth-based bureaucracy---and its own disagreements over strategies for attaining freedom.

In addition to these nominees, the Hall of Fame Committee considered six other works: "ILU-486," by Amanda Ching; That Hideous Strength, by C.S. Lewis; 2112, by Rush; A Time of Changes, by Robert Silverberg; "Harrison Bergeron," by Kurt Vonnegut; and The Once and Future King and The Book of Merlyn, by T.H. White, as a combined nomination.

The final vote will take place in mid-2018. All Libertarian Futurist Society members are eligible to vote. The award will be presented at a major science fiction convention.

Nominations for the 2019 Hall of Fame Award can be submitted to committee chair William H. Stoddard (halloffame at this domain) at any time. All LFS members are eligible to nominate. Nominees may be in any narrative or dramatic form, including prose fiction, stage plays, film, television, other video, graphic novels, song lyrics, or epic or narrative verse; they must explore themes revelant to libertarianism and must be science fiction, fantasy, or related genres.

The Libertarian Futurist Society also presents the annual Prometheus Award and welcomes new members who are interested in science fiction and the future of freedom. More information is available at our website, www.lfs.org.