# Is "Red Mars" by Kim Stanley Robinson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (HarperCollins/Voyager, London, 1992) is identified by: The UK HarperCollins/Voyager hardcover (September 1992) is the true first: red cloth boards, priced jacket, no later-printing indicators. The UK HarperCollins/Voyager edition (1992) is the true first, preceding the US Bantam Spectra edition (1993) by roughly a year.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The UK HarperCollins/Voyager hardcover (September 1992) is the true first: red cloth boards, priced jacket, no later-printing indicators
- The first US edition is the Bantam Spectra hardcover
- , identified by the number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 — it is a hardcover, not a paperback original, and is a year later than the UK first
- Publisher imprint reads HarperCollins/Voyager, London
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Kim Stanley Robinson |
| Publisher | HarperCollins/Voyager, London |
| Year | 1992 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The UK HarperCollins/Voyager hardcover (September 1992) is the true first: red cloth boards, priced jacket, no later-printing indicators |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The UK HarperCollins/Voyager hardcover (September 1992) is the true first: red cloth boards, priced jacket, no later-printing indicators. The first US edition is the Bantam Spectra hardcover (1993), identified by the number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 — it is a hardcover, not a paperback original, and is a year later than the UK first.

## Is this the true first?
The UK HarperCollins/Voyager edition (1992) is the true first, preceding the US Bantam Spectra edition (1993) by roughly a year. The precedence is the key point; collectors seeking the true first must obtain the UK edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No prominent book club edition is the trap here. The real trap is national precedence: the UK 1992 hardcover precedes the US 1993 hardcover.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Red Mars* by Kim Stanley Robinson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/red-mars
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.