Here’s the Zoom link to watch the 46th Prometheus Awards ceremony, with speakers Ilya Somin, Travis Corcoran, 2026 winners Dave Freer and J. Franklin Pierce and Aldous Huxley’s grandchildren


By Michael Grossberg

The 46th Prometheus Awards ceremony is shaping up to be one of the most interesting, thought-provoking and exciting in years.

Ten speakers from around the world have been lined up for the roughly hourlong awards show, which will present the two annual categories for Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (the Prometheus Hall of Fame) plus an occasional Special Award – the first  the first for Young Adult Fiction.

Here is the Zoom link to watch the awards live:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87824388418?pwd=CsoznF4wtlLNTYvEotlIpVJkCoGb9I.1

All Libertarian Futurist Society members and other freedom-loving SF/fantasy fans are invited to watch the live Zoom event, which will begin at 10 a.m. Pacific time (1 p.m. Eastern time) on Sunday Aug. 16, 2026.

So who are the 10 presenters, winners and other speakers?

Continue reading Here’s the Zoom link to watch the 46th Prometheus Awards ceremony, with speakers Ilya Somin, Travis Corcoran, 2026 winners Dave Freer and J. Franklin Pierce and Aldous Huxley’s grandchildren


Best Novel winner J. Kenton Pierce on gratitude, good fortune, a journeyman’s skill at writing and his advice to writers


By MIchael Grossberg

J. Kenton Pierce insists he’s no master craftsman.

“I’m a maladjusted ape with a keyboard and a lifetime subscription to Maladaptive Daydreaming With ADHD,” Pierce wrote in a July post on his Substack column Tales from the Long Night.

Yet, somehow, Pierce’s first novel A Kiss for Damocles won the 2026 Prometheus Award for Best Novel. Moreover, in this past year’s highly competitive process, Pierce’s novel beat out four other widely admired and first-rate novels ranked as finalists, each written by a well-respected previous Best Novel winner.

“I’m still having some trouble wrapping my brain around this. I’ve read in many places over the years that the conventional wisdom is thus: a writer’s first novel is mediocre at best, and even that’s considered unlikely. Yet here I am, sitting on a debut novel that’s placed ahead of authors who’ve written some of my favorites,” Pierce wrote.

Continue reading Best Novel winner J. Kenton Pierce on gratitude, good fortune, a journeyman’s skill at writing and his advice to writers


Why a Prometheus-winning writer is relieved he didn’t win a second Best Novel award this year (and why his publisher is thrilled)


By Michael Grossberg

One would reasonably expect any writer who becomes an awards finalist to feel disappointed if they don’t win – even in a year with especially strong competition.

Dave Freer with his 2023 Prometheus Awards Best Novel plaque for Cloud-Castles (Photo courtesy of Freer)

Thus, it seemed a bit strange to learn that Dave Freer was relieved that he didn’t win the Best Novel category this year.

Freer won his first Prometheus Award for Best Novel in 2023 for Cloud-Castles. So why wouldn’t he want to win a second for Storm-Dragon, his 2026 Best Novel finalist?

“I was actually a little worried that STORM-DRAGON would win the Prometheus,” Freer told his publisher Raconteur Press in a special awards-news update on their Substack column.

Continue reading Why a Prometheus-winning writer is relieved he didn’t win a second Best Novel award this year (and why his publisher is thrilled)


A Pulitzer-winning writer and Aldous Huxley’s two grandchildren to accept Hall of Fame award Aug. 16 for Brave New World

By Michael Grossberg

Brave New World, the classic dystopian novel by Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) warning about a future “soft tyranny” under a seemingly benevolent State, will be the 50th work to be inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame.

The Libertarian Futurist Society is pleased to announce that Huxley’s two grandchildren Tessa and Trevenan Huxley and Pulitzer-winning author Jack Miles will accept the posthumous award following the keynote speech by Ilya Somin, guest presenter of the Hall of Fame category.

The Huxleys and Miles, co-trustee of the Aldous and Laura Huxley Literary Trust, will deliver acceptance speeches at the 46th Prometheus Awards ceremony, roughly an hourlong live Zoom event beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday (Eastern time) Aug. 16 and open to the public.

Tessa Huxley, Aldous Huxley’s granddaughter (Photo courtesy of Tessa Huxley)

“I was delighted to learn of the honor being bestowed upon my grandfather,” Tessa Huxley said in an email.

“I am pleased that others find Brave New World as important and relevant as I do.  I re-read Brave New World early this year and was really struck by the seductive nature of his imaginary world and that of the USA… In particular, in 2026 where Americans seem endlessly obsessed by consumerism and pleasure seeking and apparently rather proud of it.”

Continue reading A Pulitzer-winning writer and Aldous Huxley’s two grandchildren to accept Hall of Fame award Aug. 16 for Brave New World

An Appreciation of Prometheus winner C.J. Cherryh, on her retirement


By Michael Grossberg

Amazingly prolific, C.J. Cherryh has written more than 80 novels and several short-story collections since her first fiction was published in 1976. But there will be no more. Alas, Cherryh, widely acclaimed as one of the best SF/fantasy writers of the past half century, has retired.

C.J. Cherryh (File photo)

Sadly, her many fans – including Libertarian Futurist Society members – must accept the fact that she will write no more. But what a legacy the Hugo- and Prometheus-winning writer leaves us!

“Over the years, she has created a vast, complex universe of stories that encompass whole space-faring civilizations, interstellar wars, political upheavals, and personal challenges,” Barbara Krasnoff wrote in a heartfelt appreciation of Cherryh published by Reactor magazine.

“Cherryh’s talent for worldbuilding—or, rather, universe-building—is incredible. And once each universe is built, she has the ability to expand on it in any number of directions.”

Continue reading An Appreciation of Prometheus winner C.J. Cherryh, on her retirement


Prometheus-winning novelist Travis Corcoran to present first Special Award for Young Adult Fiction at the Aug. 16 ceremony

By Michael Grossberg

Travis Corcoran (Photo courtesy of author)

Travis Corcoran, a two-time Prometheus-winning novelist, will present the first Special Prometheus Award for Young Adult Fiction.

Corcoran was invited to speak because he’s a passionate believer in encouraging younger generations to read – and convinced that writing good young-adult SF/fantasy can help young readers better envision more positive futures – including a future of freedom.

Corcoran will discuss the vital importance of young-adult fiction in his speech presenting that occasional category at the 46th Prometheus Awards. The roughly hourlong ceremony, open to the public via Zoom and with Ilya Somin as the keynote speaker, is set to start at 1 p.m. (Eastern time) Sunday Aug. 16.

Corcoran has praised YA fiction for its potential to offer positive portraits of young people as capable, rational and independent-minded individuals. Such characters can be admirable role models for the young, in Corcoran’s view, because they tend to be better suited for living in, and sustaining, the dynamic live-and-let-live interactions of free societies.
 Continue reading Prometheus-winning novelist Travis Corcoran to present first Special Award for Young Adult Fiction at the Aug. 16 ceremony

“Sixteen fun facts” about Cato scholar and SF fan Ilya Somin, our keynote speaker Aug. 16 at the 46th annual Prometheus Awards ceremony


By Michael Grossberg

Who is Ilya Somin?

Ilya Somin (File photo)

Somin, our keynote speaker at the upcoming 46th Prometheus Awards ceremony is one of today’s most interesting and impactful libertarian thinkers and authors. That should become evident at the roughly hourlong ceremony, which will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday Aug. 16, 2026 (Eastern time) and will be open to the public on Zoom.

A lifelong science-fiction fan who’s written for the former Prometheus quarterly, Somin is perhaps most widely known as a Cato Institute scholar and George Mason University law professor.

But Somin has many fascinating facets to his life and career – and recently shared “16 fun facts” about himself on Reason magazine’s legal- and individual-rights-issues blog, The Volokh Conspiracy.

Continue reading “Sixteen fun facts” about Cato scholar and SF fan Ilya Somin, our keynote speaker Aug. 16 at the 46th annual Prometheus Awards ceremony


Dave Freer’s Storm-Dragon wins first Special Prometheus Award for Young Adult Fiction

By Michael Grossberg

The Libertarian Futurist Society will present its first Special Prometheus Award for Young Adult Fiction to Dave Freer’s Storm-Dragon.

Several years ago, the LFS Board of Directors unanimously approved this new awards category in recognition of the crucial connection between literacy and liberty and the vital importance of writing fiction, including fantastical fiction, that attracts and engages young people.

Storm-Dragon, by Dave Freer, will receive the Special Award Aug. 16, 2026, at the 46th annual Prometheus Awards, along with the previously announced 2026 winners in the two annual categories for Best Novel (J. Kenton Pierce’s A Kiss for Damocles) and the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction (Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.)

Continue reading Dave Freer’s Storm-Dragon wins first Special Prometheus Award for Young Adult Fiction

Brave New World: Huxley’s 1932 dystopian classic ranks among the oldest works to win the Prometheus Hall of Fame award


By Michael Grossberg

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is one of the oldest works to win the  Prometheus Award for Best Classic Fiction.

Published in 1932 by Chatto & Windus, Aldous Huxley’s pioneering dystopian novel has become so well-known around the world that its title has become an emblematic catchphrase signaling the dangers of authoritarianism.

Brave New World is the third-oldest work and the second-oldest novel to be inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame. (The roughly hourlong Zoom ceremony, open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Sunday Aug. 16 (Eastern time), with the Zoom link posted a week or so ahead on the Prometheus Blog.)

Continue reading Brave New World: Huxley’s 1932 dystopian classic ranks among the oldest works to win the Prometheus Hall of Fame award


Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World will be inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame in Aug. 16 ceremony

By Michael Grossberg

Brave New World will be inducted this year into the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction, based on a vote by LFS members.

With its induction Sunday Aug. 16 during the 46th Prometheus awards ceremony, Aldous Huxley’s classic dystopian novel will be the 50th work to win this annual awards category, first presented in 1983.

Brave New World, ranked in fifth place by Modern Library on its list of the 100 Best Novels in English of the 20th century, continues to be considered among the most influential works of dystopian literature.

Continue reading Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World will be inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame in Aug. 16 ceremony