George R.R. Martin First Editions

• A Song for Lya and Other Stories — 1976 · AvonMartin's first book; first story collection. US Avon paperback original (Avon 27581), 1976; copyright page of the first printing states First Avon Printing: February, 1976. Hugo-winning title novella. US Avon paperback original is the true first; no hardcover precedes it. Later Avon reprints change the printing statement on the copyright page.
• Dying of the Light — 1977 · Simon & SchusterMartin's first novel. US Simon & Schuster hardcover, 1977; brown cloth with gilt lettering. Trade first issue carries the publisher's printed price on the jacket flap; the common book-club edition is identified by a gutter code (for example I 20 on page 276) and an unpriced jacket. US Simon & Schuster true first book edition; an abridged version was serialized earlier in Analog as After the Festival (1977), and the UK edition followed. Book-club edition is frequent: gutter code in the text block and no printed price on the jacket; trade firsts have the priced, unclipped jacket.
• Songs of Stars and Shadows — 1977 · Pocket BooksStory collection of nine pieces; the author's second collection, issued as 'A Kangaroo Book' by Pocket Books. US Pocket Books mass-market paperback original (Pocket 81277), 1977, ISBN 0-671-81277-7, 240 pages, no dust jacket as issued. The first printing states 'POCKET BOOK edition published July, 1977' on the copyright page. US Pocket Books paperback original is the true first; there was no prior hardcover. Later reprints change the printing statement on the copyright page; the July 1977 Pocket statement identifies the first printing.
• Sandkings — 1981 · Timescape / Pocket BooksThe true first edition is the mass-market paperback original: A Timescape Book (Pocket Books), New York, 1981, identified by the complete number line '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1' on the copyright page. It collects seven stories, the title novelette having won the 1980 Hugo and Nebula Awards. A signed first is the paperback original inscribed or signed by Martin. The 1981 Timescape/Pocket Books mass-market paperback is the true first edition and first printing; no trade hardcover first was issued. The only hardcover of the title is the later Science Fiction Book Club edition. The sole hardcover is the Timescape/SFBC book-club edition, which followed the paperback (early 1982, printing code M02 on page 207 and a gutter code on the jacket) and, though bound in boards with a dust jacket, is a book-club issue rather than the first edition. Book-club and later printings reprint the text but are not the true first; the paperback original with the full '10... 1' number line is the first.
• Windhaven (with Lisa Tuttle) — 1981 · Timescape / Simon & SchusterFix-up novel assembling three linked novellas. US Timescape / Simon and Schuster hardcover, 1981, issued in octavo cloth-backed boards. The first printing shows a full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Dust-jacket cover art by Vincent Di Fate; the first-state jacket should retain the printed price on the front flap. US Timescape / Simon & Schuster (New York), 1981, is the true first edition; L.W. Currey and other specialist dealers catalogue this printing as the first, in cloth-backed boards with the Di Fate jacket. A book-club edition exists and differs from the trade first; the trade first is distinguished by the complete number line ending in 1 and the priced Di Fate jacket, whereas the club issue is typically unpriced with the number line absent.
• Fevre Dream — 1982 · Poseidon PressThe true first edition of Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin is the US Poseidon Press hardcover of 1982. The first printing states "First Edition" on the copyright page with a complete number line descending to 1. The binding is red cloth over black paper-covered boards, with the spine titles stamped in bright silver; the Simon & Schuster sower device is stamped on the bottom page edges. The first-issue dust…. US Poseidon Press true first; the UK Gollancz edition follows. A sought-after Martin standalone. Book-club editions reprint the text but lack the stated "First Edition" and full number line, are typically bound in different cloth without the silver spine stamping and sower page-edge device, and carry an unpriced jacket. Use the points above to be certain — see book-club edition vs. first edition.
• The Armageddon Rag — 1983 · Poseidon PressUS Poseidon Press hardcover, 1983; the first trade printing has a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. The full title reads 'The Armageddon Rag: A Stereophonic Long-Playing Novel.' First-issue dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap. The Poseidon Press trade hardcover (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) and a Nemo Press signed, numbered, slipcased limited edition of 500 copies with art by Victor Moscoso appeared essentially simultaneously in 1983; the Poseidon issue is the trade first. The UK edition follows. The novel's commercial failure pushed Martin toward television work. Book-club edition differs: it is typically smaller and lighter, lacks the complete number line, and carries a blind-stamped code on the rear board instead of a jacket price.
• Nightflyers — 1985 · Bluejay BooksCollection of six stories. The first edition is the US Bluejay Books trade paperback, December 1985, first printing stated; issued in pictorial wrappers with cover art by James Warhola. The title novella later became the basis of a film and television series. US Bluejay trade paperback is the true first of the expanded six-story collection. The title novella appeared earlier in shorter form, including an expanded novella version in Dell's 1981 Binary Star No. 5 double volume paired with Vernor Vinge's True Names; later Tor and other reprints of the collection differ.
• Nightflyers signed/numbered limited — 1985 · Bluejay BooksThe true first edition of Nightflyers signed/numbered limited by George R.R. Martin is identified by: Bluejay 1985, ~250 copies. Book-club editions and later printings reprint the text but are not the first edition and are far less collectible. Use the points above to be certain — see book-club edition vs. first edition.
• Tuf Voyaging — 1986 · Baen BooksFix-up of the Haviland Tuf stories. The first edition is the US Baen hardcover, February 1986, in dust jacket, with first edition/first printing stated; it was not a paperback original. Baen paperback printings followed. US Baen hardcover true first; the later Baen mass-market paperback and the book-club hardcover are not firsts. The SFBC hardcover is a club edition, not the trade first; club copies lack the trade jacket price and printing line.
• Portraits of His Children — 1987 · Dark HarvestStory collection. Dark Harvest (Arlington Heights, Illinois) 1987, with first edition so stated on the copyright page. Issued in a trade hardcover and a slipcased limited state of 450 numbered copies signed by Martin and artists Val and Ron Lindahn (Roger Zelazny's signature, as introducer, called for as well). US Dark Harvest 1987 is the true first; the signed and numbered slipcased limited is the premium issue. Trade versus numbered limited distinction matters; later reprints and unnumbered copies differ from the limited state.
• A Game of Thrones — 1996 · Bantam SpectraUS Bantam Spectra hardcover, August 1996. First printing has the full number line '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1' on the copyright page. Dust jacket art by Tom Hallman (NOT Stephen Youll, who did later Bantam paperback covers); the jacket carries the printed price at the flap and a Robert Jordan blurb. The first-issue jacket lacks the later-printing blurbs and award notices. Precedence between the US Bantam Spectra and the UK HarperCollins Voyager editions (both August 1996) is genuinely disputed. US advance/proof copies circulated at the June 1996 ABA convention, and George R.R. Martin himself regards the Bantam edition as the true first; most collectors treat the US Bantam trade hardcover -- with a far smaller first printing than later volumes in the series -- as the key…. The Science Fiction Book Club edition is the common look-alike: smaller trim/boards, a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board, a gutter code, no printed jacket price (a code appears instead of a price), and NO '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1' trade number line. A full number line ending in 1 together with a printed jacket price = trade first.
• A Game of Thrones signed first — 1996 · Bantam SpectraThe true first edition of A Game of Thrones is the US Bantam Spectra hardcover of 1996 (ISBN 0-553-10354-7), with the complete descending number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page; presence of the '1' confirms the first printing. The volume is bound in cream/off-white boards with red lettering on the spine and carries cartographic (map) endpapers, with book design by James Sinclair and jacket…. US Bantam Spectra hardcover (1996) is the true first edition. The Bantam Doubleday Dell book-club edition of 1996 reprints the same text but lacks the full number line and the printed jacket price, and is markedly smaller and lighter than the trade first; it is not the first edition.
• A Clash of Kings (ASOIAF 2) — 1998 · Voyager / HarperCollinsUK Voyager/HarperCollins hardcover, published 16 November 1998, precedes the US edition; first edition stated with number line ending in 1. US Bantam Spectra hardcover followed in early 1999 with stated first edition and full number line. UK Voyager is the true first: the November 1998 UK hardcover precedes the US Bantam edition of early 1999. BCA (book club) Voyager hardbacks exist and are not the first edition; SFBC copies and later printings also differ.
• A Storm of Swords (ASOIAF 3) — 2000 · Voyager / HarperCollinsUK Voyager/HarperCollins hardcover, published August 2000, precedes the US edition; the first impression carries the full publisher's number line reading down to 1 on the copyright page. Blue paper-covered boards with silver lettering to the spine; wrap-around dust-jacket art by Jim Burns, with the printed price present on the unclipped jacket. US Bantam Spectra hardcover followed in November 2000. UK Voyager is the true first, preceding the US Bantam edition by about three months. The UK text was later split into a two-volume paperback issue (Steel and Snow; Blood and Gold), which is not the first edition. SFBC copies and later printings differ; the later UK two-volume split is a reprint format.
• Dreamsongs (retrospective collection, 2 vols) — 2003 · Subterranean PressFirst published as GRRM: A RRetrospective, a single massive hardcover from Subterranean Press, 2003, debuting at Torcon 3. Issued in three states: a trade cloth hardcover, a 400-copy signed numbered limited in slipcase (accompanied by The Last Defender of Camelot chapbook), and a 52-copy signed lettered state in traycase with extra original art. Retitled Dreamsongs: A RRetrospective for the Gollancz UK one-volume…. The Subterranean Press GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003) is the true first edition in all three states. The Gollancz one-volume edition (2006) is the first UK trade; the Bantam two-volume set (2007) is the first US trade under the Dreamsongs title. All Dreamsongs-titled trade editions (Gollancz 2006, Bantam 2007, and later paperbacks) postdate the 2003 Subterranean issues.
• A Feast for Crows (ASOIAF 4) — 2005 · Voyager / HarperCollinsUK Voyager/HarperCollins hardcover, published 17 October 2005, precedes the US Bantam edition of 8 November 2005; first edition stated with number line ending in 1. Voyager also issued a signed limited edition of 1000 numbered slipcased copies (burgundy boards, gilt lettering, no jacket as issued, signed by Martin on the limitation page), sold through Amazon UK. UK Voyager is the true first, preceding the US Bantam edition by about three weeks. The signed UK slipcased limited of 1000 copies is the premium issue. SFBC copies and later printings differ; the slipcased limited was issued without a dust jacket, so a jacketless limited copy is correct as issued.
• A Dance with Dragons (ASOIAF 5) — 2011 · Bantam / VoyagerUS Bantam and UK Voyager/HarperCollins hardcovers released simultaneously on 12 July 2011. US copy: stated first edition with full number line ending in 1; UK copy: number line ending in 1. Harper Voyager also issued a slipcased deluxe edition in a much smaller run, and signed slipcased copies exist. US and UK are simultaneous co-firsts of 12 July 2011; either is acceptable as a first, and the co-publication should be noted. SFBC copies and later printings differ; the Voyager slipcased deluxe is a distinct collectible state.
• The World of Ice & Fire (with García & Antonsson) — 2014 · Bantam / HarperVoyagerLarge-format illustrated worldbook written with Elio M. García Jr. and Linda Antonsson. US Bantam hardcover published 28 October 2014; UK Harper Voyager October 2014; first edition stated with number line ending in 1. US Bantam and UK Harper Voyager 2014 editions are effectively simultaneous co-firsts. Later printings alter the number line.
• A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (Dunk & Egg collection) — 2015 · Bantam / HarperVoyagerCollects the three Dunk and Egg novellas, illustrated by Gary Gianni, with over 160 illustrations. US Bantam hardcover published 6 October 2015 with first edition stated and a number line ending in 1; UK Harper Voyager published October 2015. A Subterranean Press signed limited followed in 2016: 750 numbered slipcased copies and 52 lettered copies in traycase, each with an original Gianni remarque. The 2015 Bantam and Harper Voyager trade hardcovers are the first editions of the collection; the Subterranean signed limited postdates them (2016). The constituent novellas first appeared in anthologies (The Hedge Knight in Legends, 1998, and later volumes), so those anthologies hold the true firsts of the individual stories. Later printings alter the number line. The 2016 Subterranean signed limited and lettered issues are the premium collectible states but are not the first edition of the collection.
• Fire & Blood (Targaryen history, vol. 1) — 2018 · Bantam / HarperVoyagerIllustrated with more than 75 black-and-white portraits and scenes by Doug Wheatley. US Bantam and UK Harper Voyager both published 20 November 2018; first edition stated with number line ending in 1. Signed and limited issues exist and postdate or accompany the trade first. US Bantam and UK Harper Voyager are simultaneous 2018 co-firsts. Later printings alter the number line; signed limited issues are the premium states.

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