The PennZone

IOWA PARK, Texas - PennZone -- Raconteur Press is pleased to announce that A Kiss for Damocles, the debut novel from J. Kenton Pierce, has been named a finalist for the Prometheus Award. Presented annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society, the award honors outstanding works of science fiction and fantasy that explore themes of individual liberty.

First presented in 1979, the Prometheus Award is one of the longest-running genre awards in science fiction, with a history that includes winners such as Neal Stephenson, Poul Anderson, Vernor Vinge, Terry Pratchett, and Cory Doctorow. Finalists are selected by the membership of the Libertarian Futurist Society from novels published in the prior year.

A Kiss for Damocles follows Shaifennen Roehe, a young homesteader on Hesperides Colony who becomes an unlikely catalyst for colony world's political and civilizational restoration. Shai isn't the "chosen one" — just someone in the right place, with the right instincts, at the right moment. Competing factions of politicians and merchant princes move to take control as Shai upends their plans, while sinister forces operating in the shadows bring a centuries-old conflict to a head. The novel is the first entry in Pierce's Hesperides universe, which also includes The Warlord of Greenline Town and the upcoming novel Stormjammers.

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"A Prometheus nomination for a debut novel is a meaningful signal. We're proud of him, and we're not surprised." said Ian McMurtrie, founder of Raconteur Press. "Pierce built a universe that feels genuinely inhabited. It's not just a backdrop for ideas; it's a world where people are living hard lives and making real choices."

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.

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

About Raconteur Press Raconteur Press is a Texas-based independent publisher founded in 2022. The Press publishes adult genre fiction anthologies, novels, and a Boys' Adventure line — all books designed to entertain, without apology. Raconteur operates on a philosophy of radical transparency, publishing its author contracts publicly and sharing its operational playbook openly with the indie publishing community. More at raconteurpress.com.

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About the Libertarian Futurist Society The Libertarian Futurist Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring science fiction and fantasy that celebrates freedom. The Prometheus Award has been presented annually since 1982. More at lfs.org.