Awards: A Short History

In 1979, science fiction writer L. Neil Smith created the Prometheus Awards, to honor libertarian 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.

Prometheus Best Novel Award Winners

• 2010 -- Dani and Eytan Kollin, The Unincorporated Man
• 2009 -- Cory Doctorow, Little Brother
• 2008 -- 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

Past Prometheus Best Novel Nominees

Prometheus Hall of Fame Award Winners

• 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
• 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 aka 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 -- Yevnegi Zamiatin, We
• 1993 -- Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed
• 1992 -- Ira Levin, This Perfect Day
• 1991 -- F. Paul Wilson, An Enemy of the State
• 1990 -- F. Paul Wilson, The 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 -- George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four; Ray Bradbury Farenheit 451
• 1983 -- Robert Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress;Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Past Prometheus Hall of Fame Nominees

Special Award Winners

• 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)