The Libertarian Futurist Society (LFS) has announced the finalists for this year’s Prometheus Awards (for the best pro-freedom novel of 2011) 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:
The Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge (Tor): “A sequel to Vernor Vinge’s A Fire Upon the Deep and in the same universe as Prometheus-winning A Deepness in the Sky, this novel focuses on advanced humans, stranded and struggling to survive on a low-tech planet populated by Tines, dog-like creatures who are only intelligent when organized in packs. The most libertarian of the three human factions and their local allies must cope with the world’s authoritarian factions to advance peaceful trade over war and coercion.”
The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman (Small Beer Press): “Delia Sherman’s young-adult fantasy novel focuses on an adolescent girl of 1960 who is magically sent back in time to 1860 when her family owned slaves on a Louisiana plantation. With her summer tan, she’s mistaken for a slave herself, and she learns the hard way what life was like. In the process, she comes to appreciate the values of honor, respect, courage, and personal responsibility.”
In the Shadow of Ares by Thomas L. James and Carl C. Carlsson (Amazon Kindle edition): “This young-adult first novel by Thomas L. James and Carl C. Carlsson focuses on a Mars-born female teenager in a near-future, small civilization on Mars, where hardworking citizens are constantly and unjustly constrained by a growing, centralized authority whose excessive power has led to corruption and conflict.”
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Random House): “Ernest Cline’s genre-busting blend of science fiction, romance, suspense, and adventure describes a virtual world that has managed to evolve an order without a state and where entrepreneurial gamers must solve virtual puzzles and battle real-life enemies to save their virtual world from domination and corruption. The novel also stresses the importance of allowing open access to the Internet for everyone.”
The Restoration Game by Ken MacLeod (Pyr Books): “Set in a world whose true nature is a deeper mystery, this philosophical and political thriller by Ken MacLeod (winner of Prometheus awards for Learning the World, The Star Fraction, and The Stone Canal) explores the dark legacy of communism and the primacy of information in shaping what is ‘reality’ amid Eastern European intrigue, online gaming, romance and mystery.”
Snuff by Terry Pratchett (Harper Collins): “A Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett (winner of a Prometheus Award for Night Watch, also set in Discworld), Snuff blends comedy, drama, satire, suspense and mystery as a police chief investigates the murder of a goblin and finds himself battling discrimination. The mystery broadens into a powerful drama to extend the world’s recognition of rights to include these long-oppressed and disdained people with a sophisticated culture of their own.”
Additionally, Hibbert offers the list of almosts, noting “Thirteen novels were nominated this past year and read and voted on by 10 judges, selected from LFS members. The other nominees: Cowboy Angels by Paul McAuley (Pyr); The Hot Gate: Troy Rising III by John Ringo (Baen); REAMDE by Neal Stephenson (William Morrow); Revolution World by Katy Stauber (Night Shade); Sweeter Than Wine by L. Neil Smith (Arc Manor/Phoenix Pick); Temporary Duty by Ric Locke (Amazon; Kindle edition, Ric’s Rulez blog); and The Unincorporated Woman by Dani and Eytan Kollin (Tor).”

This year’s four finalists for the 2012 Hall of Fame Award were chosen from 21 nominated narrative and dramatic works. The nominees are
Falling Free, a novel by Lois McMaster Bujold, first published in 1988. An exploration of the legal and ethical implications of human genetic engineering.
“‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” by Harlan Ellison, first published in 1965. A satirical dystopia set in an authoritarian society dedicated to punctuality, where a lone absurdist rebel attempts to disrupt everyone else’s schedules.
The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster, first published in 1909. Described by the author as a reaction to H.G. Wells’s fiction, it portrays a decaying future of human beings incapable of independent existence or first-hand contact.
“As Easy as A.B.C.,” a short story by Rudyard Kipling, first published in 1912. An ambiguously utopian future that has reacted against the mass society that was beginning to emerge when it was written, in favor of privacy and freedom of movement.
All four were nominees last year as well (along with eventual winner, Animal Farm). The winner will be chosen by ranked choices voting by the members of the Libertarian Futurist Society.
Eleven other works were nominated: Sam Hall by Poul Anderson; The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov; Courtship Rite by Donald M. Kingsbury; That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis; A Mirror for Observers by Edgar Pangborn; 2112 by Rush; A Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg; Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson; A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain; Emphyrio by Jack Vance; and The Book of Merlyn by T.H. White.
First awarded in 1983 to Robert Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, the Hall of Fame Award honors classic works of science fiction and fantasy that celebrate freedom, show paths to its enhancement, or warn against abuses of political power. Since 2000, it has been open to short stories, films, television episodes or series, graphic novels, musical works, and other narrative and dramatic forms.
William H. Stoddard chairs the Hall of Fame Committee. All members of the Libertarian Futurist Society are eligible to serve on it and to nominate classic works for its consideration.