J. Kenton Pierce Wins Prometheus Award for Best Novel
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WICHITA FALLS, Texas - illiNews -- Raconteur Press is proud to announce that A Kiss for Damocles, the debut novel from J. Kenton Pierce, has won the 2026 Prometheus Award for Best Novel. Pierce was named a finalist for the award by the Libertarian Futurist Society earlier this year, alongside four other novels.

The win marks the first Prometheus Award for Raconteur Press, a Texas-based independent publisher founded in 2022. A Kiss for Damocles launched Pierce's "Tales from the Long Night" universe and introduced readers to Shaifennen Roehe, a young homesteader on Hesperides Colony. Shai becomes an unlikely catalyst for her world's political and civilizational restoration: not the "chosen one," just someone in the right place, with the right instincts, at the right moment. The novel is the first entry in an expanding series that now includes The Warlord of Greenline Town and the newly released Stormjammer.

"I've lived a lot of places, but I've always come back to Southwestern PA," said Pierce. "This region settles into your bones, and bits come out in my stories sometimes. For me, old brick buildings and rust aren't the sign of dead or dying towns, they're history that helped build the foundations of Greenline Town and Twelvety Homestead."

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First presented in 1979 and awarded annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society since 1982, the Prometheus Award is one of the longest-running fan-based awards in science fiction. Past winners include Neal Stephenson, Poul Anderson, Vernor Vinge, Terry Pratchett, and Cory Doctorow. Finalists are selected by LFS members from novels published in the prior year. Typically, only around a dozen books are nominated.

"Rita and I were joyous at the news that not one, but two novels published by our little press were nominated for the Prometheus Award this year. Pierce's debut novel winning is thrilling, but not surprising. He has built a genuinely crunchy universe, with characters living hard lives and making hard choices. We are proud of him, and doubly proud that our press has achieved this honor in its second year of publishing novels," said Ian McMurtrie.

Pierce isn't the only Raconteur author to have found recognition from the Society. Previous Prometheus winner Dave Freer's boy's adventure book Storm-Dragon was a Prometheus finalist in the same award cycle that first put Pierce on the ballot. That makes two nominated authors from one small press within its first year of publishing novels and Boys' Adventure fiction.

Pierce, a Gulf War veteran and Pittsburgh native, drew on influences spanning H. Rider Haggard, Andre Norton, and Lois McMaster Bujold in constructing the Hesperides universe. He is available for interviews, podcasts, and media appearances.

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The Prometheus Awards will be presented at the Libertarian Futurist Society's annual online ceremony, open to the public, on Sunday afternoon Aug. 16, 2026.

A Kiss for Damocles is available in paperback and ebook at Amazon and in paperback at IngramSpark.

About Raconteur Press

Raconteur Press is a Texas-based independent publisher founded in 2022. The press publishes genre fiction anthologies, novels, and a Boys' Adventure line, with all books unapologetically designed to entertain. Raconteur operates on a philosophy of radical transparency, publishing sample contracts publicly and sharing its operational playbook openly with the indie publishing community. Learn more at raconteurpress.substack.com.

About the Libertarian Futurist Society

The Libertarian Futurist Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring science fiction and fantasy that explores themes of individual liberty. The Prometheus Award has been presented annually since 1982. Learn more at lfs.org.

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Available for Media: Pierce is available for interviews, podcasts, and media appearances. Review copy, press kit, author bio, cover image, award logo, and interview scheduling available on request.