Prometheus Award | |
---|---|
Awarded for | The best science fiction or fantasy fiction promoting individual freedom and human rights, or critiquing tyranny, slavery, war and other abuses of government power. |
Country | United States |
Presented by | Libertarian Futurist Society |
First awarded | 1979 |
Currently held by | Dave Freer (Cloud Castles) |
Website | lfs.org |
The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society. American author and activist L. Neil Smith established the Best Novel category for the award in 1979, but it was not awarded regularly until the newly founded Libertarian Futurist Society revived it in 1982. The Society created a Prometheus Hall of Fame Award (for classic works of libertarian and anti-authoritarian science fiction and fantasy, not necessarily novels) in 1983, and also presents occasional one-off Special Awards.
While the Best Novel category is limited to novels published in English for the first time during the previous calendar year, Hall of Fame nominees — which must have been published at least 20 years ago — may be in any narrative or dramatic form, including novels, novellas, stories, films, television series or episodes, plays, musicals, graphic novels, song lyrics, or verse.
The Best Novel winner receives a plaque with a one-ounce gold coin, and the Hall of Fame winner a plaque with a smaller gold coin.
Since 2019, LFS members have launched an Appreciation series of review-essays honoring all past winners and making clear why each work of fiction fits the distinctive focus of the award – something that was viewed as not necessarily obvious to sf/fantasy fans unfamiliar with the broad scope of libertarian thinking and analysis, which often overlaps with classical liberalism, its philosophical cousin.
Each Appreciation review-essay is published on the Prometheus Blog at https://www.lfs.org/blog/ and then linked next to each winning title on the past-winners list posted on the LFS website’s Prometheus Awards page.
Some authors have won the award for best novel more than once:
Five authors have won the Prometheus Hall of Fame award more than once:
Books published in a given year are eligible (although books from the last few months of the previous year are also eligible if it is felt that they have been overlooked).
Step 2 happens in the first few months of the following year.
Step 3 happens in early summer of the following year.
The awards are given at the Annual Worldcon or NASFIC or, during and since the pandemic, presented live via Zoom and then posted on YouTube and the Videos page of the LFS website (www.lfs.org).
* Winners + No winner selected
Neal Town Stephenson is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk and baroque.
Poul William Anderson was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until his death in 2001. Anderson also wrote historical novels. He won the Hugo Award seven times and the Nebula Award three times, and was nominated many more times for awards.
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction, and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of hard science fiction. His published works, both fiction and non-fiction, express admiration for competence and emphasize the value of critical thinking. His plots often posed provocative situations which challenged conventional social mores. His work continues to have an influence on the science-fiction genre, and on modern culture more generally.
Joseph Neil Schulman was an American novelist who wrote Alongside Night and The Rainbow Cadenza which both received the Prometheus Award, a libertarian science fiction award. His third novel, Escape from Heaven, was also a finalist for the 2002 Prometheus Award. His fourth and last novel, The Fractal Man, was a finalist for the 2019 Prometheus Award.
The Gandalf Awards, honoring achievement in fantasy literature, were conferred by the World Science Fiction Society annually from 1974 to 1981. They were named after Gandalf the wizard, from the Middle-earth stories by J. R. R. Tolkien. The award was created and sponsored by Lin Carter and the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA), an association of fantasy writers. Recipients were selected by vote of participants in the World Science Fiction Conventions according to procedures of the Hugo Awards.
Cory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of its licences for his books. Some common themes of his work include digital rights management, file sharing, and post-scarcity economics.
The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,000 words or more; awards are also given out in the short story, novelette, and novella categories. The Hugo Awards have been described as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction", and "the best known literary award for science fiction writing".
The Hugo Award for Best Novella is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novella award is available for works of fiction of between 17,500 and 40,000 words; awards are also given out in the short story, novelette and novel categories. The Hugo Awards have been described as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction" and "the best known literary award for science fiction writing".
The Hugo Award for Best Professional Editor is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The award is available for editors of magazines, novels, anthologies, or other works related to science fiction or fantasy. The award supplanted a previous award for professional magazine. The Hugo Awards have been described as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction" and "the best known literary award for science fiction writing".
Michael Francis Flynn was an American science fiction author. Nearly all of Flynn's work falls under the category of hard science fiction, although his treatment of it can be unusual since he applied the rigor of hard science fiction to "softer" sciences such as sociology in works such as In the Country of the Blind. Much of his short fiction appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact.
Libertarian science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction that focuses on the politics and social order implied by right-libertarian philosophies with an emphasis on individualism and private ownership of the means of production—and in some cases anti-statism and anarcho-capitalism.
The Gaylactic Spectrum Awards are given to works of science fiction, fantasy and horror that explore LGBTQ topics in a positive way. Established in 1998, the awards were initially presented by the Gaylactic Network, with awards first awarded in 1999. In 2002 the awards were given their own organization, the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards Foundation.
Freehold is a military science fiction novel by Michael Z. Williamson, published in 2004 by Baen Books. The book tells the story of Kendra Pacelli, a young soldier who begins the book in the service of a world-dominant, authoritarian United Nations. Accused of a crime she did not commit, she flees Earth for the Freehold of Grainne where she struggles to adapt to the climate and culture of an ultra-libertarian planet. She eventually joins the Freehold military and fights in a war against a UN invasion.
Saturn's Children is a 2008 science fiction novel by British author Charles Stross. Stross called it "a space opera and late-period [Robert A.] Heinlein tribute", specifically to Heinlein's 1982 novel Friday.
The Rift is a 1991 novel by American writer Peter David.
The Robert A. Heinlein Award was established by the Heinlein Society in 2003 "for outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings to inspire the human exploration of space". It is named for renowned science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein and is administered by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. It is generally given annually to one or more recipients.
The Star Fox is a science fiction novel by Poul Anderson, first published in 1965. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1965.
The Powers of the Earth is a 2017 libertarian hard science fiction novel by Travis J I Corcoran. It is his debut novel, and the first release in the Aristillus Series. The novel was funded by a 2017 Kickstarter campaign that raised $18,000.
Fran Van Cleave is an American author of libertarian science fiction, born in Boston and educated as a pharmacist. She was an active member of the Libertarian Futurist Society for many years and served as director of the society in 2005. Van Cleave's works include adventure stories with young protagonists, influenced by the Heinlein juveniles. In addition to fiction, Van Cleave has published articles on scientific topics in Analog Science Fiction and Fact.
Wheels Within Wheels is a novel by F. Paul Wilson published in 1978.