The finalists for this year’s Aurealis Awards make for a star-studded reading list. Congratulations to all. The awards ceremony will be held in Brisbane on January 23.

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’, Abyss & Apex Magazine May 2009
Peter M. Ball, ‘To Dream of Stars: An Astronomer’s Lament’, Abyss & 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, Andromeda Spaceways Publishing Co-operative Ltd
Tansy Rayner Roberts, ‘Siren Beat’, Roadkill/Siren Beat, Twelfth Planet Press
Angela Slatter, ‘Words’ The Lifted Brow #5
Lucy Sussex, ‘Something Better than Death’, Aurealis #42, Chimaera Publications

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, Andromeda Spaceways Publishing Co-operative Ltd
Christopher Green, ‘Having Faith’, Nossa Morte, February 2009
Paul Haines, ‘Wives’, X6, Coeur de Lion Publishing
Paul Haines, ‘Slice of Life – A Spot of Liver’, Slice of Life, The Mayne Press
Andrew J. McKiernan, ‘The Message’, Midnight Echoes, Australian Horror Writers Association

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 Eo

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 illustated 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,Andromeda Spaceways Publishing Co-operative Ltd
Sue Isle, ‘Paper Dragons’, Shiny #5, Twelfth Planet Press
Ian McHugh, ‘Once a Month, on a Sunday’, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #40, Andromeda Spaceways Publishing Co-operative Ltd
Tansy Rayner Roberts, ‘Like Us, Shiny #5, Twelfth Planet Press
Cat Sparks, ‘Seventeen’, Masques, CSFG

Best children’s novel
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 work/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

Tags: 2009, aurealis awards, finalists