# Is "Bannerless" by Carrie Vaughn a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn (John Joseph Adams Books / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017) is identified by: John Joseph Adams Books (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) trade paperback original, published July 2017; first volume of the Bannerless Saga and the first original novel acquired for the John Joseph Adams Books imprint. The US John Joseph Adams Books / HMH 2017 trade paperback original is the true first edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- John Joseph Adams Books (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) trade paperback original, published July 2017; first volume of the Bannerless Saga and the first original novel acquired for the John Joseph Adams Books imprint
- Issued only as an illustrated trade paperback with a cover by Mark Robinson; the printed cover price should be present on the back cover of a true first
- The novel grew out of Vaughn's earlier short story 'Bannerless' in the anthology The End Has Come
- No hardcover edition was issued
- Publisher imprint reads John Joseph Adams Books / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Carrie Vaughn |
| Publisher | John Joseph Adams Books / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |
| Year | 2017 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | John Joseph Adams Books (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) trade paperback original, published July 2017; first volume of the Bannerless Saga and… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
John Joseph Adams Books (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) trade paperback original, published July 2017; first volume of the Bannerless Saga and the first original novel acquired for the John Joseph Adams Books imprint. Issued only as an illustrated trade paperback with a cover by Mark Robinson; the printed cover price should be present on the back cover of a true first. The novel grew out of Vaughn's earlier short story 'Bannerless' in the anthology The End Has Come (2015). No hardcover edition was issued.

## Is this the true first?
The US John Joseph Adams Books / HMH 2017 trade paperback original is the true first edition. The Philip K. Dick Award is specifically for an original science fiction paperback, and this title was issued as a paperback original with no preceding hardcover; it won the award announced in 2018. A first printing shows the imprint's 2017 copyright statement with no later-printing notice.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings and the subsequent mass-market reissue are reprints, not the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Bannerless* by Carrie Vaughn a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/bannerless
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.