1996 Prometheus Awards

By Anders Monsen

The 1996 Prometheus Awards ceremony at the 1996 Worldcon in Los Angeles drew perhaps the largest gathering of past winners of the Prometheus Award. Who could imagine that in the same convention, and for the most part in the same room were the following: Vernor Vinge, Brad Linaweaver, Victor Koman, James P. Hogan, Victor Milán, J. Neil Schulman, Michael Flynn, Larry Niven, and Jerry Pournelle. Noted libertarian writer and editor Melinda Snodgrass also was at the Worldcon, as well as a multitude of libertarian fans.

Countless horror stories circulate among libertarian sf fans from previous Worldcons. The Awards always appear to end up in some basement or backroom, due to the program committee's deliberate or accidental planning. It was a pleasant surprise instead this year, to find the Awards set for Saturday evening in a large and well-attended room. Many of the attendees and organizers of the event spoke of this as one the best Award ceremonies ever.

Thanks to the efforts of the smooth-talking Brad Linaweaver, LFS received a fantastic time spot, 5pm on a Saturday.

As one of the organizers, I did not get a chance to meet as many of the people there as I would have liked, and next year in San Antonio, LFS definitely is planning a party after the event, unconstrained by the time limit imposed by the ceremony.

Linaweaver introduced the Master of Ceremonies, two-time Prometheus Award winning hard sf writer James P. Hogan. Hogan presented the main prize, the 1996 Prometheus Award for best libertarian sf novel published in 1995. Hogan, the past recipient of two Prometheus Awards (in 1983 for Voyage from Yesteryear, and 1993 for The Multiplex Man), announced that the award went to a fellow Brit, Ken MacLeod, for his critically acclaimed debut novel, The Star Fraction.

John Jarrold, MacLeod's editor at Legend, accepted the Award on behalf of MacLeod, a one-half ounce gold coin mounted on a very handsome plaque. MacLeod was unable to attend, and Jarrold read to the crowd a note from the author:

“Many thanks to the Libertarian Futurist Society for this award. I deeply appreciate it, and I'll always be proud of it.

“Libertarianism ideas influenced me through science fiction for a long time before I ever heard of libertarianism. It usually begins with Ayn Rand…but for me, it began with Poul Anderson's The Last of the Deliverers, and continued through his Trader to the Stars, as well as Heinlein's If This Goes On—, Eric Frank Russell's The Great Explosion, Kornbluth's The Syndic, and several other dangerous subversive stories. I read the entire Illuminatus trilogy without getting any of their in-jokes—I mean, who is John Guilt?

“On the left-hand path, so to speak, there were the imagined stateless socialisms, the austerity of Le Guin's, Annares, the workmanship of Morris's Nowhere, the technological exuberance of Iain Banks's Culture. Long may Libertaria and Utopia continue their Cold War in our minds.

“As well as science fiction there's Real Life™ and the arguments and activity over the years, with socialists and libertarians. Thanks to all of them, and to all of you.”

MacLeod's thank you note was well-received, and laughter erupted at the John Guilt reference.

Unfortunately, MacLeod's novel is only available in a UK edition. The hard cover edition is available via the Internet for 10 pounds at http://www.bookshop.co.uk/ A paperback edition is due in October, 1996. The sequel to The Star Fraction, called The Stone Canal, was released in late September. The Stone Canal will be reviewed in the January issue of Prometheus, and we hope by then that MacLeod will have found a publisher in the US. The strange fact is that it isn't as if MacLeod is not selling in the UK—quite the contrary, as the hardcover has sold more than 4,000 copies over there. Several copies of the British edition have been snapped up in the US at specialty SF bookstores.

Hogan spoke warmly about the spirit of the Awards, and also presented the Hall of Fame Award to Robert Heinlein, for his 1948 novel, Red Planet. Heinlein's widow, Virginia had asked libertarian writer J. Neil Schulman to accept on Heinlein's behalf.

Schulman gave an eloquent and moving speech on Heinlein's influence on his life. Unfortunately, the convention only taped panels, not award ceremonies, and I did not bring my tape recorder. Still, the gist of Schulman's speech is such that few can forget it.

Schulman said that without Heinlein, Schulman probably would not have been there, in more than one sense. Heinlein's writing, he said, rescued him from probable suicide at the age of 14. Heinlein's writings both saved and inspired him, and helped him write his own fiction, Alongside Night and The Rainbow Cadenze.

For one person to have such a profound impact on another, literally midwifing a rebirth, speaks volumes. Robert Heinlein's impact in the libertarian sf is no less profound. No author ever bats 1000, but Heinlein's powerful style, compelling characters, and

uncompromising ideas make him the father of libertarian sf. Red Planet, as several people have said, is one of his best juvenile novels, and highly deserving of the honor of the Hall of Fame Award.

Looking back at this year's Prometheus Award I think we can say that the future for LFS and libertarian sf looks bright. New libertarian writers are emerging who one day may claim their own Prometheus award. The libertarian sf movement is still going strong, and perhaps revitalized. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the announcement that Free Space—a major libertarian sf anthology—would finally see light of day was made at the worldcon.

Thanks to Linaweaver for his organizational skills, Victoria Varga for the wonderfully made plaques, Fred Moulton for taking pictures, and everyone who attended the 1996 Prometheus Awards, and made it the best ever.

The 1997 Prometheus Awards will be held at the 1997 Worldcon, Lonestar Con II, to be held in San Antonio, quite possibly the best city in Texas.