The shortlist for the 2020 Prix Actusf de l’Uchronie was revealed on October 13.

It is a juried award for work in a specialized segment of sff field, described in the Wikipedia:

Uchronia refers to a hypothetical or fictional time-period of our world, in contrast to altogether fictional lands or worlds. A concept similar to alternate history but different in the manner that uchronic times are not easily defined.

Middle-Earth and the Hyborean Age are examples of uchronic settings.

French publisher ActuSF gives the award in three categories:

• The Literary Prize, rewarding essays and novels.
• The Prix Graphisme, rewarding comics, covers and other pictorial initiatives.
• The Special Prize, rewarding an original uchronic work, be it a game, an exhibition, etc.

Eligible works were those published or released in French between September 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020.

The winners will be announced in November. The ceremony would have been at the Rencontres de l’Imaginaire de Sèvres, which has been canceled due to the pandemic — how the award ceremony will be handled is still under consideration.

Here is the list of nominees for the 2020 Prix ActuSF de l’Uchronie:

PRIX LITTÉRAIRE

• Les Miracles du bazar Namiya by Keigo Higashino (translated by Sophie Refle), éditions Actes Sud collection Exofictions
• Te souviendras-tu de demain? by Zygmunt Mi?oszewski (translated by Kamil Barbarski), éditions Fleuve
• Une machine comme moi by Ian McEwan (translated by France Camus-Pichon), éditions Gallimard
• The Twisted Tales Disney series by Liz Braswell, Elizabeth Lim and Jen Calonita (translated by Laurent Laget), éditions Hachette Heroes, for the following volumes: Profondeurs de l’océan – Et si Ariel n’avait jamais vaincu Ursula? [Ocean depths – What if Ariel had never defeated Ursula?]; Renouveau – Et si Anna et Elsa ne s’étaient jamais rencontrées? [Renewal – What if Anna and Elsa had never met?]; and Il était un rêve – Et si la Belle aux bois dormant ne s’était jamais réveillée? [It was a dream – What if Sleeping Beauty had never woken up?]
• The Les Chroniques de St Mary series by Jodi Taylor (translated by Cindy Colin Kapen), éditions Hervé Chopin, for T4 Une Trace dans le temps et T5 Hier ou jamais

PRIX GRAPHIQUE

The COVID-19 did not allow the jury to rule in this category.

The jury would however like to point out volume 2 of the series The Last Atlas by Fabien Vehlmann, Gwen De Bonneval, Hervé Tanquerelle and Fred Blanchard (published by Dupuis editions). Volume 1 received the ActuSF award for uchronie 2019. Volume 2 confirms the quality of the series.

PRIX SPÉCIAL

• Mnémos et Timothée Rey for the complete La Guerre uchronique by Fritz Leiber
• Science & Vie Hors-série septembre 2019 : Et si …
• The Watchmen series
• The For All Mankind series
• The site Un monde meilleur? [A Better World?] Simulation d’Uchronies

The 2020 award jury members are: Étienne Barillier, Bertrand Campeis, Karine Gobled, Hermine Hémon, Jean Rebillat and Jean-Luc Rivera.