The Aurealis Awards short list has been announced. There are some good names to be seen, some surprising names, and amongst them, me.
I find myself strangely unmoved, perhaps because I've read almost none of the other entries. I've no idea how to gauge myself against them, no impression of how well I'll do. And when you're nominated in categories with Sean Williams and Margo Lanagan, there's probably no real point in getting worked up about your chances.
Anyway, here's the full list (apart from the children's novels, which will be announced shortly.) Congratulations to all involved, and warmest pats on back and arms round shoulders for their nominations and Honourable Mentions to my good pals Adrian Bedford, Stephen Dedman, Sean Williams, Juliet Marillier, Anna Tambour, Martin Livings, Deb Biancotti, Simon Brown, Lily Chrywenstrom, Carol Ryles, Affi Miffaz, and Dirk Flinthart. May we all link arms and sing something horribly sentimental at the after party.
SFNovels
- Hydrogen Steel. K. A. Bedford (Edge)
- K-Machines. Damien Broderick (Avalon)
- Underground. Andrew McGahan (Allen & Unwin)
- Geodesica: Descent. Sean Williams with Shane Dix (Harper Collins)
- Dark Ages. Lee Battersby (Through Soft Air)
- Aftermath. David Conyers (Agog! Ripping Reads)
- Down to the Tethys Sea. Stephen Dedman (Science Fiction Chronicle #266)
- The Seventh Letter. Sean Williams (Bulletin Summer Reading Edition)
- The Silver Road. Grace Dugan (Penguin)
- Heart of the Mirage. Glenda Larke (Harper Collins)
- Wildwood Dancing. Juliet Marillier (Pan MacMillan)
- Voidfarer. Sean McMullen (Tor)
- Blaze of Glory. Michael Pryor (Random House)
Honourable Mentions: White Tiger. Kylie Chan (Harper Collins); Harsh Cry of the Heron. Lian Hearn (Hachette Livre)
Short Stories
- Dark Ages. Lee Battersby (Through Soft Air)
- Why the Balloon Man Floats Away. Stephanie Campisi (Fantasy Magazine #4)
- A Fine Magic. Margo Lanagan (Eidolon I)
- The Revenant. Lucy Sussex (Eidolon I)
- See Here, See There. Anna Tambour (Agog! Ripping Reads)
Honourable Mentions: Ghosts of 1930. Lily Chrywenstrom (Borderlands #6); The Bridal Bier. Carol Ryles (Eidolon I)
HorrorNovels
- The Pilo Family Circus. Will Elliott (ABC Books)
- Prismatic. Edwina Grey (Lothian)
- Carnies. Martin Livings (Lothian)
- The Mother. Brett McBean (Lothian)
- Dead of Winter. Stephen Dedman (Weird Tales #339)
- Winkie. Margo Lanagan (Red Spikes)
- Hieronymous Boche. Chris Lawson (Eidolon I)
- Dead Sea Fruit. Kaaron Warren (Fantasy Magazine #4)
- Woman Train. Kaaron Warren (The Outcast)
Honourable Mentions: Love Affair. Jacinta Butterworth (C0ck); One Night Stand. Dirk Flinthart (Agog! Ripping Reads); Under Hell, Over Heaven. Margo Lanagan (Red Spikes); Mosquito Story.A.M. Muffaz (Fantasy Magazine #4)
Young AdultNovel
- Monster Blood Tattoo: Book One. Foundling. D.M. Cornish (Omnibus)
- The King's Fool. Amanda Holohan (ABC Books)
- Magic Lessons. Justine Larbalestier (Penguin)
- Wildwood Dancing. Juliet Marillier (Pan Macmillan)
- The Last Days. Scott Westerfeld (Penguin)
- The Dying Light. Deborah Biancotti (Eidolon I)
- Leviathan. Simon Brown (Eidolon I)
- A Feather in the Breast of God. Margo Lanagan (Red Spikes)
- Baby Jane. Margo Lanagan (Red Spikes)
- Forever Upward. Margo Lanagan (Red Spikes)
- The Arrival. Shaun Tan (Lothian)
- The True Story of Mary Who Wanted to Stand on Her Head. Jane Godwin (Allen &Unwin)
- Woolvs in the Sitee. Margaret Wild, Anne Spudvilas (Penguin)
- The Magic Violin. Victor Kelleher, Stephen Michael King (Penguin)
Song of the Moment: Absolute Beginners David Bowie
Reading: line editing some short stories
6 comments:
Hi Lee,
I've read a few of the shortlisted stories. There were all deserving IMHO, including yours, Dark Ages. Congrats!!!!
Carol R
Hi Carol, and congratulations on your HM.
I've no doubt the nominees are deserving: I just have no compass to guide my own chances, and so remain slightly remoevd from it all. Personally, I'm more eager about seeing a couple of pals win who deserve a gong-- I've fingers crossed that Martin finally gets a gong this year.
It certainly seemed to me as if the competition was unusually high this year. We didn't perceive any quality drop in the stories the small press magazines published this year, but yet they were almost entirely locked out of the awards by extremely high quality anthologies - which is a wonderful sign of growing ability of the Aussie market to produce top quality work.
Yeah, it did seem like the majority of nominations came from a few markets: lots of Eidolon and Red Spikes noms, for example. Slightly frustrating for me, as I've read neither of those books so have no real idea of the relative quality of the stories. But that's my problem, of course. I could have bought the books....
Congrats, Lee. That was one of my faves from Through Soft Air.
Congrats to you too! (Both Fantasy and SF -- woot!) :)
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