# Is "Elysium Fire" by Alastair Reynolds a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Elysium Fire by Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz, 2018) is identified by: Gollancz (London) first hardcover, 25 January 2018, ISBN 978-0-575-09058-3, with the printer's key running 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 and the priced Gollancz jacket present on a first-state copy. Publication was nearly simultaneous: the Orbit US trade paperback appeared 23 January 2018, two days before the Gollancz UK hardcover (25 January 2018).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Gollancz (London) first hardcover, 25 January 2018, ISBN 978-0-575-09058-3, with the printer's key running 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 and the priced Gollancz jacket present on a first-state copy
- Second volume of the Prefect Dreyfus Emergency sequence
- A separately numbered/signed limited Gollancz issue also exists alongside the trade hardcover
- Publisher imprint reads Gollancz
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Alastair Reynolds |
| Publisher | Gollancz |
| Year | 2018 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Gollancz (London) first hardcover, 25 January 2018, ISBN 978-0-575-09058-3, with the printer's key running 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 and the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Gollancz (London) first hardcover, 25 January 2018, ISBN 978-0-575-09058-3, with the printer's key running 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 and the priced Gollancz jacket present on a first-state copy. Second volume of the Prefect Dreyfus Emergency sequence. A separately numbered/signed limited Gollancz issue also exists alongside the trade hardcover.

## Is this the true first?
Publication was nearly simultaneous: the Orbit US trade paperback appeared 23 January 2018, two days before the Gollancz UK hardcover (25 January 2018). The Gollancz hardcover is the first hardcover edition and the one collectors treat as primary, but it is not strictly the earliest printing.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
None notable; a signed/numbered limited Gollancz hardcover exists as a collectible variant of the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Elysium Fire* by Alastair Reynolds a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/elysium-fire
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.