2020 Aurealis Awards Finalists

Best Science Fiction Novel

• Ghost Species, James Bradley (Penguin Random House)
• Aurora Burning, Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (Allen & Unwin)
• Fauna, Donna Mazza (Allen & Unwin)
• The Animals in That Country, Laura Jean McKay (Scribe)
• The Mother Fault, Kate Mildenhall (Simon & Schuster Australia)
• Repo Virtual, Corey J. White (Tordotcom)

Best Science Fiction Novella

• “Jigsaw Children”, Grace Chan (Clarkesworld 2/20)
• “Generation Gap”, Thoraiya Dyer (Clarkesworld 2/20)
• “Dingo & Sister”, Nikky Lee (Andromeda Spaceways Magazine 3/20)
• “The Weight of the Air, The Weight of the World”, T.R. Napper (Neon Leviathan)

Best Science Fiction Short Story

• “Mary, Mary”, Fiona Bell (Aurealis #135)
• “The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter”, Elaine Cuyegkeng (Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women)
• “Pork Belly”, Jack Heath (Aurealis #129)
• “Jack’s Fine Dining”, T.R. Napper (Neon Leviathan)
• “Andrei Tarkovsky”, Ben Peek (Dimension6 #20)
• “All the Stars in Her Eyes”, Deborah Sheldon (Andromeda Spaceways Magazine 9/20)

Best Fantasy Novel

• Hollow Empire, Sam Hawke (Transworld)
• Monstrous Heart, Claire McKenna (HarperCollins)
• The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin)
• The Vanishing Deep, Astrid Scholte (Allen & Unwin)
• Conquist, Dirk Strasser (Chimaera)
• The Ninth Sorceress, Bonnie Wynne (Talem)

Best Fantasy Novella

• “Generation Gap”, Thoraiya Dyer (Clarkesworld 2/20)
• “By Touch and By Glance”, Lisa L. Hannett (Songs for Dark Seasons)
• “Dingo & Sister”, Nikky Lee (Andromeda Spaceways Magazine 3/20)
• “Karkinos”, Nikky Lee (Cancer: Speculative Fiction Inspired by the Zodiac)
• The Frost Fair Affair, Tansy Rayner Roberts (self-published)

Best Fantasy Short Story

• “The Dead May Dance”, Nikky Lee (Midnight Echo #15)
• “Truth Be Told”, Louise Pieper (Unnatural Order)
• “The Case of the Somewhat Mythic Sword”, Garth Nix (Tor.com 1/29/20)
• “Terracotta Daughter”, J.Z. Ting (Coppice & Brake)
• “A Solace of Shadows”, Suzanne J. Willis (Three Crows Magazine 7/20)

Best Horror Novel

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

Best Horror Novella

• The Attic Tragedy, J. Ashley-Smith (Meerkat)
• The Cockroach King, Andrew Cull (Beneath Hell)
• “Foundations”, Michael Gardner (Writers of the Future, Volume 36)
• “Bad Weather”, Robert Hood (Outback Horrors Down Under)
• “The Saltbush Queen”, Chris Mason (Outback Horrors Down Under)

Best Horror Short Story

• “The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter”, Elaine Cuyegkeng (Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women)
• “The Bone Fairy”, Martin Livings (Midnight Echo #15)
• “Phoenix Pharmaceuticals”, Jessica Nelson-Tyers (Cancer: Speculative Fiction Inspired by the Zodiac)
• “Many Mouths to Make a Meal”, Garth Nix (Final Cuts)
• “How We Felt”, Helena O’Connor (Aurealis #136)

Best Young Adult Novel

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

Best Young Adult Short Story

• “Dingo & Sister”, Nikky Lee (Andromeda Spaceways Magazine 3/20)
• “Ram’s Revenge”, Nikky Lee (Aries: Speculative Fiction Inspired by the Zodiac)
• “Pea Soup”, Juliet Marillier (Mother Thorn and Other Tales of Courage and Kindness)
• “The Witching Well”, Juliet Marillier (Mother Thorn and Other Tales of Courage and Kindness)
• “Eat Prey, Love”, Freya Marske (Unnatural Order)
• “Kids These Days”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Rebuilding Tomorrow)

Best Children’s Fiction

• The Lost Soul Atlas, Zana Fraillon (Hachette Australia)
• Tricky Nick, Nicholas J. Johnson (Pan Australia)
• Across the Risen Sea, Bren MacDibble (Allen & Unwin)
• The Chicken’s Curse, Frances Watts (Allen & Unwin)
• Hodgepodge: How to Make a Pet Monster, Lili Wilkinson, illustrated by Dustin Spence (Allen & Unwin)
• Her Perilous Mansion, Sean Williams (Allen & Unwin)

Best Collection

• Songs for Dark Seasons, Lisa L. Hannett (Ticonderoga)
• Mother Thorn and Other Tales of Courage and Kindness, Juliet Marillier (Serenity)
• 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)
• Dark Harvest, Cat Sparks (NewCon)

Best Anthology

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

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)
• The Odds, Matt Stanton (ABC)

For more, see the official website.

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