# Is "Ship of Fools" by Richard Paul Russo a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Ship of Fools by Richard Paul Russo (Ace Books, 2001) is identified by: US Ace Books mass-market paperback original, January 2001 (ISBN 0441007988; 384 pp), a paperback original with no preceding US hardcover. The US Ace mass-market paperback original of January 2001 is the true first under this title.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- US Ace Books mass-market paperback original, January 2001 (ISBN 0441007988
- 384 pp), a paperback original with no preceding US hardcover
- The first printing is identified by the Ace number line descending to 1 on the copyright page; the printed cover price should be present
- The UK edition was retitled Unto Leviathan
- Publisher imprint reads Ace Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Richard Paul Russo |
| Publisher | Ace Books |
| Year | 2001 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | US Ace Books mass-market paperback original, January 2001 (ISBN 0441007988 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
US Ace Books mass-market paperback original, January 2001 (ISBN 0441007988; 384 pp), a paperback original with no preceding US hardcover. The first printing is identified by the Ace number line descending to 1 on the copyright page; the printed cover price should be present. The UK edition was retitled Unto Leviathan.

## Is this the true first?
The US Ace mass-market paperback original of January 2001 is the true first under this title. It won the Philip K. Dick Award, which is given to a distinguished science-fiction book issued first in the US as a paperback original, confirming the paperback-original status. The UK Orbit edition, published as Unto Leviathan (2003), is a separately titled later state.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The UK retitled Orbit edition of Unto Leviathan is a later variant, not the same first. Later Ace printings are shown by the lowest number in the line being higher than 1.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Ship of Fools* by Richard Paul Russo a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/ship-of-fools-richard-paul-r
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.