Five classics compete for fiction's 2026 pro-freedom award
Blazing Reader,
The Libertarian Futurist Society (LFS) has announced five finalists for the 2026 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award for Best Classic Fiction (published over twenty years ago). This is different from the Best Novel of the previous year (for which my novel, All the Humans are Sleeping, has been nominated).
According to the LFS, both awards are for pro-freedom science-fiction and fantasy that...
"...dramatize the perennial conflict between Liberty and Power, favor voluntarism and cooperation in Society over the institutionalized coercion of the State, expose the abuses and excesses of coercive government, critique or satirize authoritarian systems, ideologies and assumptions, and/or champion individual rights and freedoms as the ethical and practical foundation for peace, prosperity, progress, justice, mutual respect, and civilization itself."
Quite the definition — especially the part about championing "individual rights and freedoms as the ethical and practical foundation for peace."
Here are the five finalists for the Best Classic Novel (with links to purchase):
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)
- That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis (1945)
- The Star Dwellers by James Blish (1961)
- Salt by Adam Roberts (2000)
- Singularity Sky by Charles Stross (2003)
It's a bit surprising to see that Brave New World has yet to win the Classic Novel award. After all, Brave New World and 1984 are the classics of pro-freedom speculative fiction. That said, I can't say I enjoyed the story all too much. So while its dystopian warnings are captivating, the plot itself didn't offer much hope.±
That Hideous Strength is a lesser-known C.S. Lewis classic that my good friend Paul Jackson has been telling me for years is a must-read. Maybe he'll become a member just so he can help vote it into the Prometheus Hall of Fame.
I'm not familiar with the other titles, but hope to read them before the voting begins in June. If you'd like to participate, and support pro-liberty fiction, then head over to the Libertarian Futurist Society and become a member (you can also purchase a membership as a wonderfully subversive Christmas gift).
John C.A. Manley
John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.
