# Is "Bone Silence" by Alastair Reynolds a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Bone Silence by Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz, 2020) is identified by: Gollancz (London) first edition hardcover in octavo boards, the copyright page reading 'First published in Great Britain in 2020 by Gollancz' with the number line descending to 1. The UK Gollancz hardcover, published 9 January 2020, is the true first edition and the first hardcover; the US Orbit trade paperback followed later in 2020, so there is no competing US hardcover first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Gollancz (London) first edition hardcover in octavo boards, the copyright page reading 'First published in Great Britain in 2020 by Gollancz' with the number line descending to 1
- Priced dust jacket present (the printed jacket price should be intact)
- Third and final book of the Revenger trilogy, following Revenger and Shadow Captain
- A signed-and-numbered issue exists, some copies additionally inscribed by Reynolds with the line 'It was about to get away' and dated early February 2020; the ordinary trade first is the unsigned priced-jacket copy
- Publisher imprint reads Gollancz
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Alastair Reynolds |
| Publisher | Gollancz |
| Year | 2020 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Gollancz (London) first edition hardcover in octavo boards, the copyright page reading 'First published in Great Britain in 2020 by… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Gollancz (London) first edition hardcover in octavo boards, the copyright page reading 'First published in Great Britain in 2020 by Gollancz' with the number line descending to 1. Priced dust jacket present (the printed jacket price should be intact). Third and final book of the Revenger trilogy, following Revenger and Shadow Captain. A signed-and-numbered issue exists, some copies additionally inscribed by Reynolds with the line 'It was about to get away' and dated early February 2020; the ordinary trade first is the unsigned priced-jacket copy.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Gollancz hardcover, published 9 January 2020, is the true first edition and the first hardcover; the US Orbit trade paperback followed later in 2020, so there is no competing US hardcover first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
None notable.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Bone Silence* by Alastair Reynolds a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/bone-silence
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.