The Libertarian Futurist Society (LFS) has announced the finalists for this year’s Prometheus Awards (for the best pro-freedom novel of 2009) and the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award, which “honors novels, novellas, stories, graphic novels, anthologies, films, TV shows/series, plays, poems, music recordings and other works of fiction first published or broadcast more than five years ago.”
The Prometheus Award finalists (along with brief descriptions by LFS Board President Chris Hibbert) are:
Hidden Empire by Orson Scott Card (published by Tor): “The sequel to Card’s Empire (also a Prometheus finalist) covers the emergence of an imperial president and the role of voluntary action in saving human lives. Card has had three previous novels nominated for the Prometheus.”
Makers by Cory Doctorow (Tor): “An inspiring story of entrepreneurial competition in the near future. The story makes Schumpeter’s creative destruction visible, and shows how even the poorest can be helped by competition and invention. Doctorow’s Little Brother won last year’s Prometheus award.”
The Unincorporated Man by Dani and Eytan Kollin (Tor): “This novel explores the idea that education and personal development could be funded by allowing investors to take a share of one’s future income. The story takes a strong position that liberty is important and worth fighting for, and the characters spend their time pushing for different conceptions of what freedom is. This is the first nomination for the Kollin brothers.”
Liberating Atlantis by Harry Turtledove (Roc): “The third book in Turtledove’s Atlantis trilogy illustrates why people of all colors should be treated equally, and shows slaves in an alternate history demonstrating their humanity by fighting for their rights. Turtledove’s The Gladiator was a Prometheus co-winner in 2008. The first book in the trilogy was a finalist in 2009, and he had one other novel nominated for the award in 1999.”
The United States of Atlantis by Harry Turtledove (Roc): “The second book in Turtledove’s Atlantis trilogy covers his alternate colonies’ revolution to free themselves from the British crown. This is the first time an author has had two books as Prometheus finalists in a single year.”
This year’s four finalists for the Hall of Fame are:
“As Easy as A.B.C.”, a story by Rudyard Kipling (1912)
Cryptonomicon, a novel by Neal Stephenson (1999)
“No Truce with Kings”, a story by Poul Anderson (1964)
“‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman”, a story by Harlan Ellison (1965)
All members of the Libertarian Futurist Society are eligible to vote, in June and early July. The winners will be announced after the counting of the votes, and the award will be presented at Aussiecon 4, this year’s World Science Fiction Convention, in September in Australia.
The Prometheus awards for Best Novel, Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) and (occasionally) Special awards honor outstanding science fiction/fantasy that explores the possibilities of a free future, champions human rights (including personal and economic liberty), dramatizes the perennial conflict between individuals and coercive governments, or critiques the tragic consequences of abuse of power—especially by the State.