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Asimov's Readers' Award Finalists

We are very excited to bring you most of the works that finished in the top slots in each category of the 35th Annual Readers’ Award Poll. Although we won’t be announcing the winners until a later date, we’re listing all the finalists in alphabetical order by story title. We’ve uploaded these files, so check out the links to these tales if you missed them when they were first published in Asimov’s! (If you see more than five stories in a category, this is due to a tie that expanded the finalist list.)

A big thanks goes to our readers for taking the time to vote and to our writers for allowing us to post their works. Enjoy these works and remember to check out the 2021 issues of Asimov’s. We want to know what your favorites are when we compile the 36th annual poll.

Congratulations to our 35^th Annual Readers' Award Finalists!

BEST NOVELLA

Maelstrom by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (September/October 2020)
Nic and Viv's Compulsory Courtship by Will McIntosh (July/August 2020)
Semper Augustus by Nancy Kress (March/April 2020)
Take a Look at the Five and Ten by Connie Willis (November/December 2020)
Tool Use by the Humans of Danzhai County by Derek Künsken (July/August 2020)

BEST NOVELETTES

Beyond the Tattered Veil of Stars by Mercurio D. Rivera (March/April 2020)
The Beast Adjoins by Ted Kosmatka (July/August 2020)
The Hind by Kevin J. Anderson & Rick Wilber (November/December 2020)
The Long Iapetan Night by Julie Novakova (November/December 2020)
Tunnels by Eleanor Arnason (May/June 2020)

BEST SHORT STORIES

Father by Ray Nayler (July/August 2020)
GO. NOW. FIX. by Timons Esaias (January/February 2020) click here for PODCAST
Rena in the Desert by Lia Swope Mitchell (March/April 2020)
Return to Glory by Jack McDevitt (November/December 2020)
Return to the Red Castle by Ray Nayler (March/April 2020)
The Conceptual Shark by Rich Larson (September/October 2020)

BEST POEMS

After a Year of Solitude by Lora Gray (November/December 2020)
Incomplete Adaptation by Bruce Boston (September/October 2020)
Ode to Cassini by Jane Yolen (May/June 2020)
Relic by Jane Yolen (March/April 2020)
The Hot New Collectible by Suzanne Palmer (May/June 2020)
Unlooping by Marie Vibbert (January/February 2020)