Aurealis Awards 2020 finalists announced

The finalists for the 2020 Aurealis Awards, presented for science fiction, fantasy and horror writing in Australia, have been announced.

The finalists are:

Best horror novel

• Soul Survivor (Daniel de Lorne, Scarlo Media)
• An Enigma in Silver (Simon Haynes, Bowman Press)
• None Shall Sleep (Ellie Marney, A&U)
• Monstrous Heart (Claire McKenna, Harper Voyager)
• Gutterbreed (Marty Young, Eclectic Trio Press)

Best fantasy novel

• Hollow Empire (Sam Hawke, Bantam Press)
• Monstrous Heart (Claire McKenna, HarperVoyager)
• The Left-Handed Booksellers of London (Garth Nix, A&U)
• The Vanishing Deep (Astrid Scholte, A&U)
• Conquist (Dirk Strasser, Chimaera Publications)
• The Ninth Sorceress (Bonnie Wynne, Talem Press)

Best science fiction novel 

• Ghost Species (James Bradley, Hamish Hamilton)
• Aurora Burning (Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff, A&U)
• Fauna (Donna Mazza, A&U)
• The Animals in That Country (Laura Jean McKay, Scribe)
• The Mother Fault (Kate Mildenhall, S&S)
• Repo Virtual (Corey J White, Tor.com Publishing)

Best anthology

• After Australia (ed by Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Affirm Press)
• Rebuilding Tomorrow (ed by Tsana Dolichva, Twelfth Planet Press)
• The Zookeeper’s Tales of Interstellar Oddities (Aiki Flinthart & Pamela Jeffs, CAT Press)
• Unnatural Order (ed by Alis Franklin & Lyss Wickramasinghe, CSFG Publishing)
• Black Cranes: Tales of unquiet women (ed by Lee Murray & Geneve Flynn, Omnium Gatherum)
• Made to Order: Robots and revolution (ed by Jonathan Strahan, Solaris)

Best young adult novel

• Future Girl (Asphyxia, A&U)
• Aurora Burning (Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff, A&U)
• The Other Side of the Sky (Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner, A&U)
• Truel1f3 (Jay Kristoff, A&U)
• The Left-Handed Booksellers of London (Garth Nix, A&U)
• The Erasure Initiative (Lili Wilkinson, A&U)

Best children’s fiction

• The Lost Soul Atlas (Zana Fraillon, Lothian)
• Tricky Nick (Nicholas J Johnson, Pan)
• Across the Risen Sea (Bren MacDibble, A&U)
• The Chicken’s Curse (Frances Watts, A&U)
• Hodgepodge: How to make a pet monster (Lili Wilkinson, illus by Dustin Spence, A&U)
• Her Perilous Mansion (Sean Williams, A&U)

Best graphic novel/illustrated work 

• Action Tank: Book 2 (Mike Barry, Mike Barry Was Here)
• Under-Earth (Chris Gooch, Top Shelf)
• The Grot (Pat Grant, Top Shelf/IDW)
• The Odds (Matt Stanton, ABC Books)

Best collection

• Songs for Dark Seasons (Lisa L Hannett, Ticonderoga Publications)
• Mother Thorn and Other Tales of Courage and Kindness (Juliet Marillier, Serenity Press)
• Castle Charming (Tansy Rayner Roberts, self-published)
• Unreal Alchemy (Tansy Rayner Roberts, self-published)
• The Heart is a Mirror for Sinners and Other Stories (Angela Slatter, PS Publishing)
• Dark Harvest (Cat Sparks, NewCon Press)

Best young adult short story

• ‘Dingo & Sister’ (Nikky Lee, Andromeda Spaceways Magazine #78)
• ‘Ram’s Revenge’ (Nikky Lee, Aries, Deadset Press)
• ‘Pea Soup’ (Juliet Marillier, Mother Thorn and Other Tales of Courage and Kindness, Serenity Press)
• ‘The Witching Well’ (Juliet Marillier, Mother Thorn and Other Tales of Courage and Kindness, Serenity Press)
• ‘Eat Prey, Love’ (Freya Marske, Unnatural Order, CSFG)
• ‘Kids These Days’ (Tansy Rayner Roberts, Rebuilding Tomorrow, Twelfth Planet Press)

Best horror short story

• ‘The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter’ (Elaine Cuyegkeng, Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women, Omnium Gatherum)
• ‘The Bone Fairy’ (Martin Livings, Midnight Echo 15, Australasian Horror Writers Association)
• ‘Phoenix Pharmaceuticals’ (Jessica Nelson-Tyers, Cancer, The Zodiac Series, #7, Deadset Press) 
• ‘Many Mouths to Make a Meal’ (Garth Nix, Final Cuts, Blumhouse/Anchor)
• ‘How We Felt’ (Helena O’Connor, Aurealis #136)

Best horror novella

• The Attic Tragedy (J Ashley-Smith, Meerkat Press)
• The Cockroach King (Andrew Cull, Beneath Hell Publishing)
• ‘Foundations’ (Michael Gardner, Writers of the Future Volume 36, Galaxy Press)
• ‘Bad Weather’ (Robert Hood, Outback Horrors Down Under, Things in The Well)
• ‘The Saltbush Queen’ (Chris Mason Outback Horrors Down Under, Things in The Well) 

Best fantasy short story

• ‘The Dead May Dance’ (Nikky Lee, Midnight Echo 15, Australasian Horror Writers Association)
• ‘Truth Be Told’ (Louise Pieper, Unnatural Order, CSFG)
• ‘The Case of the Somewhat Mythic Sword’ (Garth Nix, Tor.com)
• ‘Terracotta Daughter’ (J Z Ting, Coppice & Brake, Crone Girls Press)
• ‘A Solace of Shadows’ (Suzanne J Willis, Three Crows Magazine #7)

Best fantasy novella 

• ‘Generation Gap’ (Thoraiya Dyer, Clarkesworld #161)
• ‘By Touch and By Glance’ (Lisa L Hannett, Songs for Dark Seasons, Ticonderoga Publications)
• ‘Dingo & Sister’ (Nikky Lee, Andromeda Spaceways Magazine #78)
• ‘Karkinos’ (Nikky Lee, Cancer, Deadset Press)
• The Frost Fair Affair (Tansy Rayner Roberts, self-published)

Best science fiction short story

• ‘Mary, Mary’ (Fiona Bell, Aurealis #135) 
• ‘The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter’ (Elaine Cuyegkeng, Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women, Omnium Gatherum)
• ‘Pork Belly’ (Jack Heath, Aurealis #129)
• ‘Jack’s Fine Dining’ (T R Napper, Neon Leviathan, Grimdark Magazine)
• ‘Andrei Tarkovsky’ (Ben Peek, Dimension6 #20)
• ‘All the Stars in Her Eyes’ (Deborah Sheldon, Andromeda Spaceways Magazine #80)

Best science fiction novella

• ‘Jigsaw Children’ (Grace Chan, Clarkesworld #161)
• ‘Generation Gap’ (Thoraiya Dyer, Clarkesworld #161)
• ‘Dingo & Sister’ (Nikky Lee, Andromeda Spaceways Magazine #78)
• ‘The Weight of the Air, The Weight of the World’ (T R Napper, Neon Leviathan, Grimdark Magazine).

The date of the winners announcement is yet to be confirmed.

Category: Awards Local news