1939 retro Hugo Awards feature Rand, Lewis

Several classic works of fiction of interest to libertarians are on the just-announced ballot for the retro Hugo Awards. These awards are part of a project over the past decade or two to extend backwards through time the reach of the Hugo Awards, the leading annual recognition of outstanding sci-fi and fantasy by the world's science fiction fans.

C. S. Lewis' novel, a finalist nominee in the top Best Novel category, is the first of his sci-fi trilogy that includes Perelandra and culminates with That Hideous Strength (a frequent nominee for the Prometheus Hall of Fame award for its strong critique of mid-20th-century collectivism and scientism).

T. H. White's The Sword in the Stone, also a finalist nominee for Best Novel, is the first of the five “books” that make up “The Once and Future King,” White's popular retelling of the legend of King Arthur and explicitly champions individualism over collectivism.

Ayn Rand's early work Anthem, a poetic parable about the rediscovery of the ego in a collectivist world, is one of five finalists in the Best Novella category. Rand's most serious rival for the honor may be Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell, the legendary sf editor who is considered a father of modern sci-fi and who worked closely as an editor with Robert Heinlein and other masters of sci-fi's golden age.

Who Goes There? was voted one of the finest sf novellas ever written in 1973 by the Science Fiction Writers of America, inspired three sci-fi horror films (including The Thing) about a dangerous alien discovered near the North Pole.

But Rand's Anthem may have a good chance to win—especially if more of her fans find out about the retro Hugos and decide to join the Worldcon as at least voting members in the Hugos and retro Hugos.

The 2014 Hugo Awards—and the 1939 retro Hugos were be announced Aug. 14 in London at Loscon 3, the World Science Fiction Convention. The Sword in the Stone won for best novel, while "Who Goes There?” won the best novella. Another former Prometheus-winner, Ray Bradbury, won for best fan writer.