# Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel

The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers". To qualify, a work must have been first published by an Australian citizen or permanent resident between 1 January and 31 December of the corresponding year; the presentation ceremony is held the following year. It has grown from a small function of around 20 people to a two-day event attended by over 200 people.
Since their creation in 1995, awards have been given in various categories of speculative fiction. Categories currently include science fiction, fantasy, horror, speculative young adult fiction—with separate awards for novels and short fiction—collections, anthologies, illustrative works or graphic novels, children's books, and an award for excellence in speculative fiction. The awards have attracted the attention of publishers by setting down a benchmark in science fiction and fantasy. The continued sponsorship by publishers such as HarperCollins and Orbit has identified the award as an honour to be taken seriously.
The results are decided by a panel of judges from a list of submitted nominees; the long-list of nominees is reduced to a short-list of finalists. The judges are selected from a public application process by the Award's management team.
This article lists all the short-list nominees and winners in the best science fiction novel category, as well as novels that have received honourable mentions. Since 2003, honourable mentions have been awarded intermittently. Damien Broderick and Jay Kristoff have won the award three times, while five have won it twice – K. A. Bedford, Greg Egan, Amie Kaufman, Sean McMullen, and Sean Williams. Williams holds the record for most nominations with 14. Rory Barnes, James Bradley, Simon Brown, Sara Creasy, Nina D'Aleo, Joel Shepherd, Meagan Spooner, Graham Storrs, and Tess Williams share the record for most nominations without winning, each having been nominated twice.

## Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years correspond to the year of the book's eligibility; the ceremonies are always held the following year. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature" article. Entries with a blue background have won the award; those with a white background are the nominees on the short-list.
* Winners and joint winners  * Nominees on the shortlist
| Year | Author(s) | Novel | Publisher |
| 1995 | Greg Egan* | Distress | Millennium |
| 1995 | Sean McMullen | Mirrorsun Rising | Aphelion Publications |
| 1995 | Kate Orman | Set Piece | Virgin Books |
| 1995 | Sean Williams & Shane Dix | The Unknown Soldier | Aphelion Publications |
| 1996 | Sean Williams* | Metal Fatigue | HarperCollins |
| 1996 | Simon Brown | Privateer | HarperCollins |
| 1996 | Tess Williams | Map of Power | Arrow Books |
| 1997 | Damien Broderick* | The White Abacus | Avon Eos |
| 1997 | Damien Broderick & Rory Barnes | Zones | Moonstone |
| 1997 | Simon Brown | Winter | HarperCollins |
| 1997 | Greg Egan | Diaspora | Millennium |
| 1997 | Richard Harland | The Dark Edge | Pan Macmillan |
| 1998 | Sean McMullen* | The Centurion's Empire | Tor Books |
| 1998 | Alison Goodman | Singing the Dogstar Blues | HarperCollins |
| 1998 | John Marsden | The Night Is for Hunting | Pan Macmillan |
| 1998 | Kate Orman | The New Adventures: Walking to Babylon | Virgin Books |
| 1998 | Sean Williams | The Resurrected Man | Voyager Books |
| 1999 | Greg Egan* | Teranesia | Gollancz |
| 1999 | Jonathan Blum & Kate Orman | Doctor Who: Unnatural History | BBC Books |
| 1999 | Damien Broderick & Rory Barnes | The Book of Revelation | HarperCollins |
| 1999 | Andrew Masterson | The Letter Girl | Picador |
| 1999 | Sally Rogers-Davidson | Spare Parts | Penguin Books |
| 2000 | Sean McMullen* | The Miocene Arrow | Tor Books |
| 2000 | James Bradley | The Deep Field | Sceptre |
| 2000 | Sean Williams & Shane Dix | The Dying Light | Voyager Books |
| 2000 | Tess Williams | Sea as Mirror | Voyager Books |
| 2001 | Sean Williams & Shane Dix* | The Dark Imbalance | Voyager Books |
| 2001 | Peter McAllister | Cosmonaut | Penguin Books |
| 2001 | Sean McMullen | Eyes of the Calculor | Tor Books |
| 2001 | Joel Shepherd | Crossover | Voyager Books |
| 2002 | Damien Broderick* | Transcension | Tor Books |
| 2002 | Michelle Marquardt | Blue Silence | Bantam Books |
| 2002 | Sean Williams & Shane Dix | Echoes of Earth | Voyager Books |
| 2003 | Jonathan Blum & Kate Orman* | Fallen Gods | Telos Publishing |
| 2003 | Jay Caselberg | Wyrmhole | Roc Books |
| 2003 | Ian Irvine | Terminator Gene | Simon & Schuster |
| 2003 | Kate Orman | Blue Box | BBC Worldwide |
| 2003 | Sean Williams & Shane Dix | Orphans of Earth | Voyager Books |
| 2004 | Maxine McArthur* | Less Than Human | Warner Aspect |
| 2004 | K. A. Bedford | Orbital Burn | Edge Publishing |
| 2004 | Jack Dann | The Rebel | Flamingo |
| 2004 | Marianne de Pierres | Nylon Angel | Orbit Books |
| 2004 | Sean Williams & Shane Dix | Heirs of Earth | Voyager Books |
| 2005 | K. A. Bedford* | Eclipse | Edge Publishing |
| 2005 | John Birmingham | Designated Targets | Pan Macmillan |
| 2005 | Marianne de Pierres | Crash Deluxe | Orbit Books |
| 2005 | Sean Williams & Shane Dix | Ascent | Voyager Books |
| 2006 | Damien Broderick* | K-Machines | Avalon Publishing Group |
| 2006 | K. A. Bedford | Hydrogen Steel | Edge Publishing |
| 2006 | Andrew McGahan | Underground | Allen & Unwin |
| 2006 | Sean Williams & Shane Dix | Descent | Voyager Books |
| 2007 | David Kowalski* | The Company of the Dead | Pan Macmillan |
| 2007 | Marianne de Pierres | Dark Space | Orbit Books |
| 2007 | Jack Heath | Remote Control | Pan Macmillan |
| 2007 | Sean Williams | Saturn Returns | Orbit Books |
| 2008 | K. A. Bedford* | Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait | Edge Publishing |
| 2008 | Marianne de Pierres | Chaos Space | Orbit Books |
| 2008 | Simon Haynes | Hal Spacejock: No Free Lunch | Fremantle Press |
| 2008 | Kim Westwood | The Daughters of Moab | HarperVoyager |
| 2008 | Sean Williams | Earth Ascendant | Orbit Books |
| 2009 | Andrew McGahan* | Wonders of a Godless World | Allen & Unwin |
| 2009 | Sean Williams | The Grand Conjunction | Orbit Books |
| 2010 | Marianne de Pierres* | Transformation Space | Orbit Books |
| 2010 | Sara Creasy | Song of Scarabaeus | EOS Books |
| 2010 | Marianne de Pierres | Mirror Space | Orbit Books |
| 2011 | Kim Westwood* | The Courier's New Bicycle | HarperVoyager |
| 2011 | Max Barry | Machine Man | Scribe Publications |
| 2011 | Sara Creasy | Children of Scarabaeus | HarperVoyager |
| 2011 | Peter Docker | The Waterboys | Fremantle Press |
| 2011 | Meg Mundell | Black Glass | Scribe Publications |
| 2012 | Daniel O'Malley* | The Rook | HarperCollins |
| 2012 | Jo Anderton | Suited | Angry Robot Books |
| 2012 | Nina D'Aleo | The Last City | Momentum |
| 2012 | Andrea K. Höst | And All the Stars | Andrea K. Hosth |
| 2012 | Ambelin Kwaymullina | The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf | Walker Books |
| 2012 | Garth Nix | A Confusion of Princes | Allen & Unwin |
| 2013 | Max Barry* | Lexicon | Hachette |
| 2013 | Andrew Macrae | Trucksong | Twelfth Planet Press |
| 2013 | Jane Rawson | A Wrong Turn at the Office of Unmade Lists | Transit Lounge |
| 2013 | Graham Storrs | True Path | Momentum |
| 2013 | Nike Sulway | Rupetta | Tartarus Press |
| 2014 | Marianne de Pierres* | Peacemaker | Angry Robot |
| 2014 | Amanda Bridgeman | Aurora: Meridian | Momentum |
| 2014 | LynC | Nil By Mouth | Satalyte Publishing |
| 2014 | Nina D'Aleo | The White List | Momentum |
| 2014 | Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner | Their Shattered World | Allen & Unwin |
| 2014 | Graham Storrs | Foresight | Momentum |
| 2015 | Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff* | Illuminae | Allen & Unwin |
| 2015 | Evelyn Blackwell | Crossed | (self-published) |
| 2015 | James Bradley | Clade | Penguin |
| 2015 | Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner | Their Fractured Light | Allen & Unwin |
| 2015 | Joel Shepherd | Renegade | Kindle Direct |
| 2015 | Sean Williams | Twinmaker: Fall | Allen & Unwin |
| 2016 | Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff* | Gemima: The Illuminae Files 2 | Allen & Unwin |
| 2016 | Jane Abbott | Watershed | Penguin Random House |
| 2016 | S. K. Dunstall | Confluence | Ace Books |
| 2016 | D. K. Mok | Squid's Grief | (self-published) |
| 2016 | Daniel O'Malley | Stiletto | HarperCollins Publishers |
| 2016 | Rebekah Turner | Threader | Harlequin Australia |
| 2017 | Jane Rawson* | From the Wreck | Transit Lounge |
| 2017 | Sally Abbott | Closing Down | Hachette Australia |
| 2017 | Claire G. Coleman | Terra Nullius | Hachette Australia |
| 2017 | Daniel Findlay | Year of the Orphan | Penguin Random House Australia |
| 2017 | Krissy Kneen | An Uncertain Grace | Text Publishing |
| 2017 | Cat Sparks | Lotus Blue | Skyhorse |
| 2018 | Jay Kristoff* | Lifel1k3 | Allen & Unwin |
| 2018 | Kylie Chan | Scales of Empire | HarperCollins Publishers |
| 2018 | Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff | Obsidio | Allen & Unwin |
| 2018 | Angela Meyer | A Superior Spectre | Ventura Press |
| 2018 | Jennifer Mills | Dyschronia | Picador Australia |
| 2018 | Margaret Morgan | The Second Cure | Penguin Random House Australia |
| 2019 | Amie Kaufman* & Jay Kristoff* | Aurora Rising | Allen & Unwin |
| 2019 | Sarah Hopkins | The Subjects | Text Publishing |
| 2019 | Meg Mundell | The Trespassers | University of Queensland Press |
| 2019 | Gillian Polack | The Year of the Fruit Cake | IFWG |
| 2019 | Alice Robinson | The Glad Shout | Affirm |
| 2019 | Rohan Wilson | Daughter of Bad Times | Allen & Unwin |
| 2020 | Laura Jean McKay* | The Animals in That Country | Scribe |
| 2020 | Corey J. White* | Repo Virtual | Tor.com Publishing |
| 2020 | James Bradley | Ghost Species | Penguin/Hamish Hamilton |
| 2020 | Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff | Aurora Burning | Allen & Unwin |
| 2020 | Donna Mazza | Fauna | Allen & Unwin |
| 2020 | Kate Mildenhall | The Mother Fault | Simon & Schuster |
| 2021 | Kathryn Barker* | Waking Romeo | Allen & Unwin |
| 2021 | Max Barry | The 22 Murders of Madison May | Hachette Australia |
| 2021 | Rebecca Bowyer | Stealing Time | Story Addict Publishing |
| 2021 | Jason Fischer | Papa Lucy & The Boneman | Outland Entertainment |
| 2021 | Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff | Aurora’s End | Allen & Unwin |
| 2021 | Claire McKenna | Deepwater King | HarperCollins Publishers |
| 2022 | T. R. Napper* | 36 Streets | Titan |
| 2022 | Rhett Davis | Hovering | Hachette |
| 2022 | Kathryn Hore | The Stranger | Allen & Unwin |
| 2022 | Steve Toltz | Here Goes Nothing | Hamish Hamilton |
| 2022 | Georgina Young | Bootstrap | Text |
| 2023 | Tansy Rayner Roberts* | Time of the Cat | Self-published |
| 2023 | Kylie Chan | Minds of Sand and Light | HarperCollins Publishers |
| 2023 | Roanna McClelland | The Comforting Weight of Water | Wakefield Press |
| 2023 | T. R. Napper | Aliens: Bishop | Titan |
| 2023 | Marko Newman | Dronikus | AndAlso Books |
| 2023 | Keith Stevenson | Traitor's Run | coeur de leon publishing |

## Honourable mentions

In the following table, the years correspond to the year of the book's eligibility; the ceremonies are always held the following year. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature" article.
| Year | Author | Novel | Publisher | Ref |
| 2003 | Paul Collins | The Earthborn | Tor Books | |
| 2007 | Rose Michael | The Asking Game | Transit Lounge | |