Is “insulting religion” an objective standard, or simply a way for some people to crack down with the weight of government and the courts on something certain people find offensive? Here’s another test case from Turkey.
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The Libertarian Futurist Society has announced the finalists for the 2013 Prometheus Award, first awarded in 1979 and annually since 1982.
The finalists in the Best Novel category of this year’s Prometheus Award, for the best pro-freedom novel of 2013 are (in alphabetical order by author):
- Arctic Rising, by Tobias Buckell (TOR Books)
- The Unincorporated Future, by Dani and Eytan Kollin (TOR Books)
- Pirate Cinema, by Cory Doctorow (TOR Books)
- Darkship Renegades, by Sarah Hoyt (Baen Books)
- Kill Decision, by Daniel Suarez (Dutton – Penguin)
The finalists for the Prometheus Hall of Fame award for Best Classic Fiction are:
- “Sam Hall”, by Poul Anderson (a short story, published 1953 in Astounding)
- Falling Free, by Lois McMaster Bujold (a novel, published 1988)
- “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman”, by Harlan Ellison (a short story, published 1965 in Galaxy)
- Courtship Rite, by Donald M. Kingsbury (a novel, published 1982)
- “As Easy as A.B.C.”, by Rudyard Kipling (a short story, published in London Magazine in 1912)
- Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson (a novel, published 1999)
Watch The National perform some songs from their forthcoming album.
[Update 4/8/2013] And now a quality recording of a song from the new album, Demons.
Fascinating story about the potential real gold ring source for J.R.R. Tolkien’s one ring from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Sounds almost too good to be true, but what’s a neat story if true. Shows how something simple and physical can inspire a tale of fantasy. A cursed ring, indeed.
Over at NPR the economics debate between libertarian John Papola and Keynesian James Livingston continues, with a rebuttal from Papola. For a recap, watch the classic rap video econ-off between Hayek and Keynes that Papola created a few years ago, “Fear the Boom and Bust.”
Book news round-up from NPR, including mention of a publishing company planning to bring back forgotten young adult novels from the 1930s onward.
Positive run-down on the Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist, which seems fairly well-represented by dystopian fiction this year. Glad to see Ken MacLeod’s Intrusion among the books, even a front-runner, possibly.
From reason.tv, a video interview with Peter Bagge about his new graphic novel, Reset.
This morning I read on Ken MacLeod’s Twitter that writer Iain Banks has terminal cancer and may only have a few months left to live. Unlike early Banks fans, I stumbled upon his books after first reading MacLeod’s fiction, not the other way around. In the late 1990s I picked up Feersum Endjinn and was simply blown away. His style is impeccable, his imagination visionary. Look to Windward, The Use of Weapons, Matter, Inversions, many more brilliant books. I’ve read only one of his non-sf books under Iain Banks, as they are next to impossible to find in the US. I expected he would continue to write for years to come, and the news he may be working on his last novel is distressing and depressing. Once again there is no fairness in the world.
A recent essay that Ilya Somin wrote for Prometheus about libertarianism and science fiction has been translated into French.
