Comments: In 1999, once again, the sparseness of the field of libertarian science fiction seems to have once more been on display. There's nothing in particular wrong with John Varley's The Golden Globe, and a lot that is very right about it. But what is unclear is exactly how the story of an unemployed actor going on a tour of the solar system so he can return to the Earth's moon in order to clear himself of the charge that he murdered his own father reflects libertarian values. Sure, he hitches a ride in a cargo container, plays baseball with Amish farmers on the Moon, and tangles with the Charonese Mafia, but none of the story seems to really be much more than tangentially "libertarian" in nature. The implication is that the ranks of libertarian science fiction works are so thin that one can either recognize a weak book with strong libertarian themes, or a good book that only tangentially addresses the ideology, and that seems to be a problem for an award dedicated to honoring works of libertarian science fiction.
Best Novel
The Golden Globe by John Varley
Other Nominees:
Masque by F. Paul Wilson and Matthew Costello
Moonwar by Ben BovaRogue Star by Michael F. Flynn
Y2K: The Millennium Bug by Don L. Tiggre
Hall of Fame
A Planet for Texans (aka Lonestar Planet) by H. Beam Piper and John J. McGuire
Other Nominees:
Circus World by Barry B. Longyear
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen
Orion Shall Rise by Poul Anderson
Go to previous year's nominees: 1998
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2000
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