Science Fiction, Libertarian Fiction—The Best and the Brightest

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It is instructive, and even comforting sometimes, to find out what people, some possibly of other persuasions, think of the books we have chosen as Libertarian classics. In the August 1987 issue of Locus, a reader’s poll voted on the best all-time science fiction novels. Interestingly, four of the 45 books listed are also in LFS’s Hall of Fame—Fahrenheit 451, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, and 1984. Many other novels on the Locus list have been nominated for our Hall of Fame. If you are considering Michael Grossberg’s proposal to change the rules for the Hall of Fame, it is also interesting to note that only two of the 45 were published after 1976, and they are at the bottom of the list.

In the July issue of Liberty, arguably the best libertarian magazine around, D. T. Blackmon, a LFS member, interviews L. Neil Smith about science fiction and science fiction writers, and it’s a great interview even if Smith does castigate “self-styled critics who don’t— or can’t—read”.

Smith also volunteers an excellent list of classic libertarian SF for all of you who would like some help finding new Hall of Fame nominees. He classifies his choices under three headings—“Proto”, “Early”, and “Modern”, and indicates whether or not they have already won any Prometheus awards. There are a couple of authors and several books that I’ve not read, and the list is useful as a hand out to new SF readers.

Back issues of Liberty can be obtained for $4 each from: Liberty, P.O. Box 1167, Port Townsend, WA 98368.

Confirmed or potential Heinlein fans should check out J. Neil Schulman’s article, The Libertarian Manuals: A Tribute to Robert A. Heinlein, in the July 1988 Laissez Faire Books catalog. Schulman makes a good case for the use of Heinlein’s fiction as survival manuals, and also presents us with a good review of Heinlein’s work.