2015 Aurealis Awards Finalists

The 2015 Aurealis Awards finalists, recognizing the best in Australian speculative fiction, have been announced.

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

• Crossed, Evelyn Blackwell (self-published)
• Clade, James Bradley (Penguin)
• Illuminae, Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (Allen & Unwin)
• Their Fractured Light, Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner (Allen & Unwin)
• Renegade, Joel Shepherd (self-published)
• Twinmaker: Fall, Sean Williams (Allen & Unwin)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA

• Blood and Ink, Jack Bridges (Prizm)
• “The Molenstraat Music Festival”, Sean Monaghan (Asimov’s 9/15)
• “By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers”, Garth Nix (Old Venus)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY

• “2B”, Joanne Anderton (Insert Title Here)
• “The Marriage of the Corn King”, Claire McKenna (Cosmos 1/12/15)
• “Alchemy and Ice”, Charlotte Nash (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #61)
• “Witnessing”, Kaaron Warren (The Canary Press #6)
• “All the Wrong Places”, Sean Williams (Meeting Infinity)

BEST FANTASY NOVEL

• In the Skin of a Monster, Kathryn Barker (Allen & Unwin)
• Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club, Alison Goodman (HarperCollins)
• Day Boy,Trent Jamieson (Text)
• The Dagger’s Path, Glenda Larke (Hachette Australia)
• Tower of Thorns, Juliet Marillier (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• Skin, Ilka Tampke (Text)

BEST FANTASY NOVELLA

• “Lodloc and The Bear”, Steve Cameron (Dimension6 #6)
• “Defy the Grey Kings”, Jason Fischer (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 8/20/15)
• “Broken Glass”, Stephanie Gunn (Hear Me Roar)
• “The Flowers that Bloom Where Blood Touches the Earth”, Stephanie Gunn (Bloodlines)
• “Haunting Matilda”, Dmetri Kakmi (Cthulhu: Deep Down Under)
• Of Sorrow and Such, Angela Slatter (Tor.com)

BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY

• “The Giant’s Lady”, Rowena Cory Daniells (Legends 2)
• “The Jellyfish Collector”, Michelle Goldsmith (Review of Australian Fiction Vol. 13 Issue 6)
• “A Shot of Salt Water”, Lisa L. Hannett (The Dark 5/15)
• “Almost Days”, DK Mok (Insert Title Here, FableCroft)
• “Blueblood”, Faith Mudge (Hear Me Roar, Ticonderoga)
• “Husk and Sheaf”, Suzanne Willis (SQ Mag 9/15)

BEST HORROR NOVELLA

• “Night Shift”, Dirk Flinthart (Striking Fire)
• “The Cherry Crow Children of Haverny Wood”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children)
• “The Miseducation of Mara Lys”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children)
• “Wages of Honey”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children)
• “Sleepless”, Jay Kristoff (Slasher Girls and Monster Boys)
• “Ripper”, Angela Slatter (Horrorology)

BEST HORROR SHORT STORY

• “Bullets”, Joanne Anderton (In Sunshine Bright and Darkness Deep)
• “Consorting with Filth”, Lisa L. Hannett (Blurring the Line)
• “Heirloom Pieces”, Lisa L. Hannett (Apex 2/15)
• “The Briskwater Mare”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children)
• “Breaking Windows”, Tracie McBride (Aurealis #84)
• “Self, Contained”, Kirstyn McDermott (The Dark 2/15)

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

• In The Skin of a Monster, Kathryn Barker (Allen & Unwin)
• Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club, Alison Goodman (HarperCollins)
• The Fire Sermon, Francesca Haig (HarperVoyager)
• Day Boy,Trent Jamieson (Text)
• Illuminae, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Allen & Unwin)
• The Hush, Skye Melki-Wagner (Penguin Random House Australia)

BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY

• “In Sheep’s Clothing”, Kimberly Gaal (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #61)
• “The Nexus Tree”, Kimberly Gaal (The Never Never Land)
• “The Miseducation of Mara Lys”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children)
• “The Heart of the Labyrinth”, DK Mok (In Memory: A Tribute to Sir Terry Pratchett)
• “Blueblood”, Faith Mudge (Hear Me Roar)
• Welcome to Orphancorp, Marlee Jane Ward (Seizure)

BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION

• A Week Without Tuesday, Angelica Banks (Allen & Unwin)
• The Cut-Out, Jack Heath (Allen & Unwin)
• A Single Stone, Meg McKinlay (Walker Books Australia)
• Bella and the Wandering House, Meg McKinlay (Fremantle)
• The Mapmaker Chronicles: Prisoner of the Black Hawk, A.L. Tait (Hachette Australia)

BEST COLLECTION

• The Abandonment of Grace and Everything After, Shane Jiraiya Cummings (Brimstone)
• Striking Fire, Dirk Flinthart (FableCroft)
• Cherry Crow Children, Deborah Kalin (Twelfth Planet)
• To Hold the Bridge, Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin)
• The Fading, Carole Nomarhas (self-published)
• The Finest Ass in the Universe, Anna Tambour (Ticonderoga)

BEST ANTHOLOGY

• Hear Me Roar, Liz Grzyb, ed. (Ticonderoga)
• The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2014, Liz Grzyb & Talie Helene, eds. (Ticonderoga)
• Bloodlines, Amanda Pillar, ed. (Ticonderoga)
• Meeting Infinity, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris)
• The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 9, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris)
• Focus 2014: highlights of Australian short fiction, Tehani Wessely, ed. (FableCroft)

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL/ILLUSTRATED WORK

• The Undertaker Morton Stone Vol.1, Gary Chaloner, Ben Templesmith, & Ashley Wood (Gestalt)
• The Diemenois, Jamie Clennett (Hunter)
• Unmasked Vol.1: Going Straight is No Way to Die, Christian Read (Gestalt)
• The Singing Bones, Shaun Tan (Allen & Unwin)
• Fly the Colour Fantastica, Anonymous, ed. (Veriko Operative)

SARA DOUGLASS BOOK SERIES AWARD

• The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin: The King’s Bastard (2010), The Uncrowned King (2010), The Usurper (2010), The King’s Man (2012), King Breaker (2013), Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris)
• The Watergivers: The Last Stormlord (2009), Stormlord Rising (2010), Stormlord’s Exile (2011), Glenda Larke (HarperVoyager)
• The Lumatere Chronicles: Finnikin of the Rock (2008), Froi of the Exiles (2011), Quintana of Charyn (2012), Melina Marchetta (Penguin Random House)
• Sevenwaters: Daughter of the Forest (2000), Son of the Shadows (2001), Child of the Prophecy (2002), Heir to Sevenwaters (2009), Seer of Sevenwaters (2011), Flame of Sevenwaters (2013), Juliet Marillier (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• The Laws of Magic: Blaze of Glory (2007), Heart of Gold (2007), Word of Honour (2008),  Time of Trial (2009), Moment of Truth (2010), Hour of Need (2011), Michael Pryor (Random House Australia)
• Creature Court: Power and Majesty (2010), Shattered City (2011), Reign of Beasts (2012), Tansy Rayner Roberts (HarperVoyager)

No shortlist was released in the Best Horror Novel category.

Winners will be announced in an awards ceremony during Natcon on March 25, 2016 at Hotel Jen in Brisbane, Australia.  For more, see the official website.