Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 Oct 2026.
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Ace published the true first in New York as a hardback on 5 July 2005 (ISBN 0-441-01284-1). Orbit, then part of Time Warner Books UK, issued the first British edition as a hardback in August 2005, ISBN 1-84149-390-2 (978-1-84149-390-9), about 448 pages. Check for the Orbit imprint and that ISBN; copies with the Ace imprint and a 0441 ISBN are American. The first British paperback came from Orbit in June 2006 (ISBN 1-84149-389-9) and is not the first edition. The author also released the text as a free ebook under a Creative Commons licence. No issue points or print run have been published for the Orbit hardback.
We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.
Know the points? Tell us. We publish them, with credit, once a second source agrees.
Orbit, London, in 2005, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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