Prometheus
Newsletter of the LFS
Best Novel
Best Classic Fiction
The Libertarian Futurist Society has announced Best Novel and Hall of Fame finalists for this year’s Prometheus Awards, which will be presented at Denvention 3, the 66th World Science Fiction Convention August 6-10, 2008 in Denver, Colorado.
Best Novel
First presented in 1979 at the World Science Fiction Convention, the Prometheus Award for Best Novel recognizes pro-freedom novels of speculative fiction or science fiction/fantasy that dramatize the value of personal liberty, expose abuses of coercive power, the injustice of tyranny, offer anti-authoritarian satires, or imagine a fully free future.
All five finalists are splendid stories that carry potent messages about the preciousness of freedom. They range from the near future to the far, and from planet Earth to planets so distant they can only be reached through wormholes.
Ragamuffin, by , is set in the same world as his first novel, Crystal Rain. Humanity has spread through much of the galaxy and met several interesting and picturesque alien races. But all races are under the domination of a technologically advanced race called the Satrapy. Being the uppity type we are, humans scrabble about under the oppression attempting to form loose alliances to break free of the Satraps. There are exciting escapes and battles, heroic individuals, turncoat humans, odd cultures, and even Aztec warriors! A nicely complicated story that never bores. This is the first time has been nominated for the Prometheus.
The Execution Channel, by , tells of a near future that extrapolates painfully well on the excesses of our own time. Terrorism, paranoia, espionage, and disinformation have become common, as has torture by governments. Like a cautionary Greek chorus, a rogue media outlet broadcasts murders and executions via high tech spying all over the world. This is a convincing and detailed depiction of governments grown too large. shows us that beyond a certain size, governments acquire a life of their own, they become unaccountable, and they become dangerous to human life. This is the ninth nomination for , who has won three times (The Star Fraction, The Stone Canal, and Learning the World).
Fleet of Worlds, by and , is a prequel to 's classic Ringworld. Here is a novel that takes a very close, very personal look at what it means to be free. A technologically advanced alien race, called “Citizens,” has among its worlds a small population of humans, called “Colonists,” who are grateful for the support of their hosts. But are the hosts really benevolent, really honest? This remnant of humanity learns to ask questions and to rediscover truth and justice. In this complex plot and fascinating world, even the Citizens learn something about themselves. The reader is left with the feeling that this story is almost epic in its working out of change in at least three intelligent races. This is the third nomination (all collaborations) for , who won in 1992 for Fallen Angels (with and ).
The Gladiator, by is one of his Crosstime Traffic tales. The story takes place in Italy. The Soviet Union has won the Cold War, leaving the stamp of Marxism-Leninism all over Europe. Some curious teenagers frequent a gamestore, where they rediscover capitalism by playing games that illustrate its principles. Who runs this game store? Why haven't the authorities shut it down? The kids discover the answers to these questions and many more in several harrowing adventures. The reader, meanwhile, rediscovers his love of independence and the horror of living under powerful ideologues. This short book was written for a younger audience (young people need this book!), but is well written enough to be savored by mature readers as well. Turtledove has been nominated once before, for his novel, Between the Rivers (1999).
Ha'penny, by , an alternate-history story set in 1940's Great Britain. It is a sequel to Farthing and will be followed in September 2008 by Half a Crown. In this story, Hitler did not lose WWII, and Britain signed a costly truce with him. Part of this cost is a growing loss of civil liberties and persecution of minorities. How this fascist state of affairs could work and grow is portrayed by the interaction of very well drawn characters. This is a complex, moving, and beautifully written story of how injustice works its ugliness into the lives of everyone. This the first nomination for .
Special congratulations to TOR Books, for its grand slam of all five finalist slots for only the second time in this category's three-decade history. The Best Novel finalist-judging committee considered more than 15 novels this past year, including nine official nominees. The other nominees were: The Guardener's Tale, by (Sam's Dot Publishing); Echoes of an Alien Sky, by (Baen Books); Gradisil, by (Prometheus Books' Pyr); and Off Armageddon Reef, by (TOR).
, A Clockwork Orange (1963), a stylized cautionary novel of behavior modification gone wrong and a classical-liberal warning against the denial of human free will.
, “As Easy as A.B.C.” (1912), a short story by the great 19th-century novelist that looks back at the racial conflicts of the twentieth century from the perspective of a global civilization of the future.
, That Hideous Strength (1945), a novel that completes ' science-fiction trilogy and brings out the libertarian strain in his Christian faith in its portrayal of a corrupted research organization that hides totalitarian ambitions behind the name of science.
, The Lord of the Rings (1954), a three-part fantasy novel that affirms the classic values of Western and British civilization by weaving lessons about the terrible temptations of unlimited power through an epic journey to destroy the Ring of Power and the Ringbearer's struggle against the Ring's addicting nature in a war against the totalitarian state of Mordor.
, The Once and Future King, a separately published five-part novel (1938-1958) including a posthumously published finale The Book of Merlyn (1977) weaves anarchist-libertarian themes into its classic fantasy retelling of the Arthurian legends as an attempt to subordinate power to the service of justice, freedom and peace.
The Hall of Fame finalist-judging committee considered more than 20 classic works of fiction in all categories.
The annual Best Novel winner receives a plaque and one ounce gold coin, recently worth more than a thousand dollars. The Hall of Fame winner receives a plaque and a smaller gold coin. A full list of past winners in all Prometheus categories is posted on the Libertarian Futurist Society website: http://www.lfs.org
[Written through the collaborative efforts of Michael Grossberg, Chris Hibbert, Anders Monsen, William H. Stoddard, and Rick Triplett]
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