2009 Aurealis Awards Finalists

The 2009 Aurealis Awards finalists have recently been announced. Established in 1995 by Chimaera Publications, the publishers of Aurealis magazine, to recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror writers. The awards complement the Annual Australian National Science Fiction Convention’s Ditmar Awards and the Australian Children’s Book Council Awards. There is also the Peter McNamara Convenors’ Award for Excellence, which is awarded at the discretion of the convenors for a particular achievement in speculative fiction or related areas in that year. The winners will be announced at the Aurealis Awards ceremony at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Brisbane on Saturday 23 January 2010.

The finalists are:

Best science fiction novel:

* Andrew McGahan - "Wonders of a Godless World" (Allen & Unwin)
* Sean Williams - "The Grand Conjunction, Astropolis Book Three" (Orbit)

Best science fiction short story:

* Peter M. Ball - "Clockwork, Patchwork and Ravens" (Apex Magazine May 2009)
* Peter M. Ball - "To Dream of Stars: An Astronomer's Lament" (Apex Magazine October 2009)
* Christopher Green - "A Hundredth Name" (Abyss & Apex Magazine #31)
* Greg Mellor - "Defence of the Realm" (Cosmos #25)
* Mike Resnick & Lezli Robyn - "Soulmates" (Asimov's September 2009)

Best fantasy novel:

* Peter M. Ball - "Horn" (Twelfth Planet Press)
* Trudi Canavan - "Magician's Apprentice" (Orbit)
* Glenda Larke - "The Last Stormlord" (HarperVoyager)

* K.E. Mills - "Witches Incorporated" (HarperVoyager)
* K.J. Taylor - "The Dark Griffin" (HarperVoyager)

Best fantasy short story:

* Christopher Green - "Father’s Kill" (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #24)
* Ian McHugh - "Once a Month, On a Sunday" (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #40)
* Tansy Rayner Roberts - "Siren Beat" (Roadkill/Siren Beat)
* Angela Slatter - "Words" (The Lifted Brow #5)
* Lucy Sussex - "Something Better than Death" (Aurealis #42)

Best horror novel:

* Peter M. Ball - "Horn" (Twelfth Planet Press)
* Honey Brown - "Red Queen" (Penguin Australia)
* Stephen M. Irwin - "The Dead Path" (Hachette Australia)
* Tracey O’Hara - "Night's Cold Kiss" (HarperCollins Publishers Australia)
* Kaaron Warren - "Slights" (Angry Robot Books)

Best horror short story:

* Felicity Dowker - "Jesse's Gift" (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #40)
* Christopher Green - "Having Faith" (Nossa Morte, February 2009)
* Paul Haines - "Wives" (X6)
* Paul Haines - "Slice of Life - A Spot of Liver" (Slice of Life)
* Andrew J. McKiernan - "The Message" (Midnight Echoes)

Best anthology:

* Alisa Krasnostein (editor) - "New Ceres Nights" (Twelfth Planet Press)
* Keith Stevenson (editor) - "X6" (Coeur de Lion Publishing)
* Jonathan Strahan (editor) - "Eclipse 2" (Night Shade Books)
* Jonathan Strahan (editor) - "Eclipse 3" (Night Shade Books)
* Jonathan Strahan (editor) - "The New Space Opera 2" (Harper Eos)

Best collection:

* Deborah Biancotti & Alisa Krasnostein (editors) - "A Book of Endings" (Twelfth Planet Press)
* Greg Egan - "Oceanic" (Gollancz)
* Paul Haines & Geoff Maloney (editors) - "Slice of Life" (The Mayne Press)
* Robbie Matthews & Donna Hanson (editors) - "Johnny Phillips Werewolf Detective" (Australian Speculative Fiction)

Best illustrated book/graphic novel:

* Nathan Jurevicius - "Scarygirl" (Allen & Unwin)
* Bruce Mutard - "The Silence" (Allen & Unwin)
* Emily Rodda & Marc McBride - "Secrets of Deltora" (Scholastic Australia)
* Madeleine Rosca - "Hollow Fields" (Seven Seas Entertainment)

Best young adult novel:

* Kate Forsyth - "The Puzzle Ring" (Pan Macmillan)
* Cassandra Golds - "The Museum of Mary Child" (Puffin Books)
* Glenda Millard - "A Small Free Kiss in the Dark" (Allen & Unwin)
* Scott Westerfeld - "Leviathan Trilogy: Book One" (Penguin)
* Sean Williams - "Scarecrow" (HarperCollins Publishers Australia)

Best young adult short story:

* Joanne Anderton - "Dragon Bones" (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #39)
* Sue Isle - "Paper Dragons" (Shiny #5)
* Ian McHugh - "Once a Month, on a Sunday" (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #40)
* Tansy Rayner Roberts - "Like Us" (Shiny #5)
* Cat Sparks - "Seventeen" (Masques)

Best children's book:

* Deborah Abela - "The Remarkable Secret of Aurelie Bonhoffen" (Random House Australia)
* Kate Constable - "Cicada Summer" (Allen & Unwin)
* Jen Storer - "Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children" (Penguin/Viking)
* Gabrielle Wang - "A Ghost in My Suitcase" (Puffin Books)

Best children's illustrated book/picture book:

* Graeme Base - "Enigma" (Penguin/Viking)
* Anna Fienberg (author), Kim Gamble (illustrator) - "Tashi and the Golem" (Allen & Unwin)
* Pamela Freeman (author), Kim Gamble (illustrator) - "Victor's Challenge" (Walker Books Australia)
* Dan McGuiness - "Pilot and Huxley" (Omnibus Books)
* Gregory Rogers - "The Hero of Little Street" (Allen & Unwin)

Good luck to all finalists!