It’s going to be a long wait until May 2008, when Melinda Snodgrass’s new novel is published. This looks like a killer book. Bigger cover at Snodgrass’s web site.

While the winner of this year’s Prometheus Award is still touring Japan fresh from receiving his prize at the 2007 WorldCon, Pyr (an imprint of Prometheus Books – no connection) has posted a notice on their blog about the first public nominee of the 2008 Prometheus Award – Adam Roberts’ Gradisil.

Direct from Yokohama, Stross’s Glasshouse garners the 2007 Prometheus Award (a real gold coin). When I mulled over my vote a couple of months ago, this was the novel I placed first.

The Guardian (UK) posts a list of it’s top 10 dystopian novels. I have read eight of the ten, the only exceptions being the Meg Rosoff novel, of which I’ve never heard, and the James Clavell book. I’ve read several of his novels, but never heard of this story.

I wanted to link to the image from BBC to give proper credit, but couldn’t figure out how. Here’s comrade Hugo talking about changes to Venezuela’s constitution.

Over at Deep Genre, a long essay on libertarian sf by Lois Tilton. The essay is somewhat shallow, thinking that libertarian utopia can only be achieved by an army of Robinson Crusoes dropped on their own planets.

A single, naked libertarian dropped onto a virgin terrestrial planet with nothing more than a Swiss Army knife or stone hand axe would indeed enjoy the absolute liberty that he [it is usually he] can only dream of on today’s Earth. Happily unencumbered by bureaucrats or environmental regulations, he would be free to carve his way through forests, dig his way through mountains, plow his way across the plains, fish his way through the seas, and otherwise plunder his world to his heart’s content without let or hindrance.

Unfortunately, no works or authors are cited, so Tilton can make brazen statements without having to worry about any proof, or face any refutation. Consider her concept of freedom. Confusing it with the absence of cost, she can say something like this: “On the mythical frontier, everything is free, and here we can see the double meaning of the term. In this idealized setting, the air is free, and the water; meat is free for the hunting, wood is free for the hewing, minerals free for the mining.” I wonder if she has read Robert Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, or remembers Heinlein’s TANSTAAFL?

But the main thrust of the essay is that libertarian sf writers and fans believe they only can achieve freedom in space, that they have abandoned Earth to the collectivists. Bosh and piddle, I would say. Libertarians are as passionate about freedom right here, right now, as they are in space. But many libertarian sf fans and many writers firmly believe that humans should get into space to because we can’t put all our eggs in one fragile, blue basket.

I wish Tilton would provide us concrete examples to back up her thesis. Still, her essay has already generated some interesting comments.

I have not read the subject of this brief review, but the blog called The Stars my Destination speculates about the politics of Matthew Jarpe’s novel, Radio Freefall. The verdict of the reviewer is that’s somewhat libertarian, so it might be worth while for me to check out in the context of the Prometheus newsletter, as well the Prometheus Awards. Anyone who has read this rock ‘n roll inspired book is welcome to post comments in the affirmative or negative.

An all too brief overview of recent movies and books in the sf genre that contain elements of liberty. No mention of Babylon 5, however.

Randy Barnett’s recent Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal appears as a modern pro-war libertarian manifesto. Quite a few libertarian commentators have responded to the effect that a pro-war libertarian is a contradiction in terms. Barnett’s original thesis, that Ron Paul’s anti-war stance vis a vis Iraq is not the only view in the libertarian movement, is probably true. I certainly don’t agree with Barnett’s theories on libertraianism and war. Also, not every libertarian supports Paul, but that doesn’t meant they don’t agree with his views on the war. Ron Paul has some libertarian qualities, but quite a few other bizarre and statist views (immigration, for example). This doesn’t stop the minarchists from beating loudly on the Ron Paul drum. Lew Rockwell’s web site and blog usually contain several Paul stories a day. And while Justin Raimondo makes some good points in this essay, I strong disagree with his concluding words, that “Ron Paul is the authentic voice of the libertarian movement.” Paul, running as a Republican, is the authentic voice of the libertarian movement? Give me a break. Sure, Paul probably will be the last nail in the coffin of the Libertarian Party (a good thing, really), but by the end of 2007 he will be a non-candidate, and the libertarians hooked on politics will need to find a new fix.

Little posting of last due to work on the current issue, plus being knocked out of commission for over a week due to a bad cold. Right now I’m making final edits to a couple of stories. I’m starting to look ahead to the next issue, which is a temptation I need to resist until this one is in the mail.

I’ve stubbornly stuck to a 12-page format the past year, but find that I’m writing 60-80% of the more recent issues. So, after cutting the page count down from 16 to 12 for the same reason last year, I may now need to drop the issue down to 8 pages, until I can get more contributions. I might as well look into moving everything online otherwise. That’s where all the action is these days anyway, and people writing about liberty and science fiction can get their bylines out faster via the internet, along with the options of commentary, linking, and a massive audience. Why should an organization with the word “futurist” in its name stick to a print newsletter? Anyway, the current issue currently contains these items:

Matthew Gaylor, RIP
Book Reviews:
The Guardener’s Tale, by Bruce Boston
The Mount, by Carol Emshwiller
Giant Lizards from Another Star, by Ken MacLeod
Brasyl, by Ian McDonald,
Glorifying Terrorism, edited by Farah Mendelsohn
Mappa Mundi, by Justina Robson
Empire, by Orson Scott Card
The Jack Vance Treasury, by Jack Vance
Off Armageddon Reef, by David Weber
Movie Reviews:
Sophie Schöll: The Final Days
Army of Shadows
Letters, plus news of the LFS Community on Live Journal