
One day the General will be victorious. Earth will be his! Humanity will be exterminated!
However, today is the General’s day off.
Mr. Villain’s Day Off, volume 1 by Yuu Morikawa
Which 2007 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Nova Swing by M. John Harrison
9 (64.3%)
End of the World Blues by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
3 (21.4%)
Gradisil by Adam Roberts
3 (21.4%)
Hav by Jan Morris
7 (50.0%)
Oh Pure and Radiant Heart by Lydia Millet
0 (0.0%)
Streaking by Brian Stableford
0 (0.0%)
I wrote in 2022 that the election system used by WSFS should be changed. At present, the rules for electing the Mark Protection Committee, the body charged with ensuring that the intellectual property of WSFS is protected, are set out in Standing Rule 6.2:
Voting shall be by written preferential ballot with write-in votes allowed. Votes for write-in candidates who do not submit written consent to nomination to the Presiding Officer before the close of balloting shall be ignored. The ballot shall list each nominee’s name. The first seat filled shall be by normal preferential ballot procedures as defined in Section 6.4 of the WSFS Constitution. There shall be no run-off candidate. After a seat is filled, votes for the elected member shall be eliminated before conducting the next ballot. This procedure shall continue until all seats are filled. In the event of a first-place tie for any seat, the tie shall be broken unless all tied candidates can be elected simultaneously. Should there be any partial-term vacancies on the committee, the partial-term seat(s) shall be filled after the full-term seats have been filled.
I warned that this carries the risk that a single faction with roughly half of the total votes could win every single seat and squeeze out other viewpoints.
My warning has come dramatically true.
Which of these look interesting?
Stone and Sky by Ben Aaronovitch (July 2025)
34 (59.6%)
The Adventure of the Demonic Ox by Lois McMaster Bujold (July 2025)
33 (57.9%)
They Call Her Regret by Channelle Desamours (February 2026)
4 (7.0%)
Sky on Fire by E. K. Johnston (July 2025)
15 (26.3%)
The Rainseekers by Matthew Kressel (February 2026)
10 (17.5%)
Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game, Gamemaster’s Guide by Dominic McDowall and Pádraig Murphy et al (Q1 2026)
4 (7.0%)
Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game, Player’s Guideby Dominic McDowall and Pádraig Murphy et al (Q1 2026)
4 (7.0%)
Starlost Unauthorized by D G Valdron (October 2024)
18 (31.6%)
Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)
Cats!
36 (63.2%)
Which 2006 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Air by Geoff Ryman
20 (37.0%)
Accelerando by Charles Stross
37 (68.5%)
Banner of Souls by Liz Williams
14 (25.9%)
Learning the World by Ken MacLeod
19 (35.2%)
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
10 (18.5%)
Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds
10 (18.5%)