 |
Prometheus Award
In 1979, science fiction writer L. Neil Smith created the Prometheus Awards, to honor libertarian science fiction. A panel selected F. Paul Wilson’s Wheels Within Wheels as the best novel, and a gold coin then worth $2,500 was presented to Wilson. Due to the cost of the award, and lack of a formal organization, the Prometheus Awards fell into limbo the following year.
Founded in 1982 to provide encouragement to science fiction writers whose books examine the meaning of freedom, the Libertarian Futurist Society revived the Prometheus Award for best libertarian novel of the year. LFS began in 1982 sponsoring the annual Prometheus Award for Best Novel, and in 1983 a second annual award called the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award was added. The Prometheus Hall of Fame Award is designed to honor classic libertarian fiction.
The prize for both the Prometheus and the Hall of Fame awards is a gold coin, representing free trade and free minds, mounted on an engraved plaque. Originally, for the Prometheus Best Novel Award the coin was one-half ounce, for the Hall of Fame it was one-eighth ounce. Starting in 2001, the Prometheus Best Novel Award coin became one ounce.
The titles in this list are “hotlinked” to the library’s catalog, for all those titles currently owned by the Lincoln City Libraries. NOTE: Several of the Prometheus-winning novels are not in our collection. For these, we encourage you to order them through out InterLibrary Loan service.
Prometheus Best Novel Award Winners
2022
Wil McCarthy
Rich Man’s Sky
2021
Barry B. Longyear
The Hook
2020
C.J. Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher
Alliance Rising
2019
Travis Corcoran
Causes of Separation
2018
Travis Corcoran
The Powers of the Earth
2017
Johana Sinisalo
The Core of the Sun
2016
Neal Stephenson
Seveneves
2015
Daniel Suarez
Influx
2014 [tie]
Cory Doctorow
Homeland
Ramez Naam
Nexus
2013
Cory Doctorow
Pirate Cinema
2012 [tie]
Delia Sherman
The Freedom Maze
Ernest Cline
Ready Player One
2011
Sarah Hoyt
Darkship Thieves
2010
Dani and Eytan Kollin
The Unincorporated Man
2009
Cory Doctorow
Little Brother
2008 [tie]
Harry Turtledove
The Gladiator
Jo Walton
Ha’penny
2007
Charles Stross
Glasshouse
2006
Ken Macleod
Learning the World
2005
Neal Stephenson
The System of the World
2004
F. Paul Wilson
Sims
2003
Terry Pratchett
Night Watch
2002
Donald Kingsbury
Psychohistorical Crisis
2001
L. Neil Smith
The Forge of the Elders
2000
Vernor Vinge
A Deepness in the Sky
1999
John Varley
The Golden Globe
1998
Ken Macleod
The Stone Canal
1997
Victor Koman
Kings of the High Frontier
1996
Ken Macleod
The Star Fraction
1995
Poul Anderson
The Stars Are Also Fire
1994
L. Neil Smith
Pallas
1993
James P Hogan
The Multiplex Man
1992
Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Michael Flynn
Fallen Angels
1991
Michael Flynn
In the Country of the Blind
1990
Victor Koman
Solomon’s Knife
1989
Brad Linaweaver
Moon of Ice
1988
Victor Koman
The Jehovah Contract
1987
Vernor Vinge
Marooned in Realtime
1986
Victor Milan
Cybernetic Samurai
1985
“No Winner” (None of the Above)
1984
J. Neil Schulman
The Rainbow Cadenza
1983
James P. Hogan
Voyage From Yesteryear
1982
L. Neil Smith
The Probability Broach
1979
F. Paul Wilson
Wheels Within Wheels
Prometheus Hall of Fame Award Winners
2022
Robert A. Heinlein
Citizen of the Galaxy
2021
F. Paul Wilson
“Lipidleggin'” (in collection Soft & Others)
2020
Poul Anderson
“Sam Hall” (in collection Going For Infinity: A Literary Journey)
2019
Kurt Vonnegut
“Harrison Bergeron” (in collection Welcome to the Monkey House)
2018
Jack Williamson
“With Folded Hands …”
2017
Robert Heinlein
“Coventry”
2016
Donald M. Kingsbury
Courtship Rite
2015
Harlan Ellison
‘Repent Harlequin!’, Said the Ticktockman
2014
Lois McMaster Bujold
Falling Free
2013
Neal Stephenson
Cryptonomicon
2012
E. M. Forster
The Machine Stops
2011
George Orwell
Animal Farm
2010
Poul Anderson
No Truce with Kings
2009
J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings
2008
Anthony Burgess
A Clockwork Orange
2007
Sinclair Lewis
It Can’t Happen Here
Vernor Vinge
True Names
2006
Alan Moore (writing) and David Lloyd (art)
V for Vendetta
2005
A. E. van Vogt
The Weapon Shops of Isher
2004
Vernor Vinge
The Ungoverned
2003
Robert Heinlein,
Requiem
2002
Patrick McGoohan
The Prisoner [limited-run TV series]
2001
Jerry Pournelle and John F. Carr editors
The Survival of Freedom
2000
Hans Christian Anderson
The Emperor’s New Clothes
1999
H. Beam Piper and John McGuire
A Planet for Texans (a.k.a. Lone Star Planet)
1998
Robert Heinlein
Time Enough for Love
1997
Robert Heinlein
Methuselah’s Children
1996
Robert Heinlein
Red Planet
1995
Poul Anderson
The Star Fox
1994
Yevgeny Zamyatin
We
1993
Ursula K. LeGuin
The Dispossessed
1992
Ira Levin
This Perfect Day
1991
F. Paul Wilson
An Enemy of the State
1990
F. Paul Wilson
Healer
1989
J. Neil Schulman
Alongside Night
1988
Alfred Bester
The Stars my Destination
1987
Robert A. Heinlein
Stranger in a Strange Land
Ayn Rand
Anthem
1986
Cyril Kornbluth
The Syndic
Robert Anton Wilson/Robert Shea
Illuminatus!
1985
Poul Anderson
Trader to the Stars
Eric Frank Russell
The Great Explosion
1984
Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451
George Orwell
1984
1983
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Ayn Rand
Atlas Shrugged
Special Award Winners
2017
Mark Stanley
Special Award for Chapter 1 of Freefall, a webcomic
2016
Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn
Special Award for Alex + Ada, a graphic novel Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
2016
L. Neil Smith [no titles in libraries’ collection]
Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement
2015
F. Paul Wilson
Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement
2014
Leslie Fish
for a novella, Tower of Horses and filk song, The Horsetamer’s Daughter.
2014
Vernor Vinge
Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement
2007
James McTeigue (director) and The Wachowski Brothers (screenplay)
V For Vendetta (movie)
2006
Joss Whedon (writer/director)
Serenity (movie)
2005
L. Neil Smith (writer) and Scott Bieser (illustrator)
The Probability Broach: The Graphic Novel
2005
Editors Mark Tier and Martin H. Greenberg
Give Me Liberty and Visions of Liberty, anthologies for Baen Books
2001
Poul Anderson
Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement
1998
Editors Brad Linaweaver and Edward E Kramer
Free Space (Anthology)
First posted February 2019 | Last updated September 2022 sdc
