# Is "Stories of Your Life and Others" by Ted Chiang a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (Tor Books, 2002) is identified by: First published in hardcover by Tor Books, New York, 5 July 2002 (ISBN 0-765-30418-6), the author's first book, collecting eight stories. The US Tor hardcover (2002) is the true first, confirming the census's publisher and year.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First published in hardcover by Tor Books, New York, 5 July 2002 (ISBN 0-765-30418-6), the author's first book, collecting eight stories
- The first printing carries the full number line descending to 1 on the copyright page; a line whose lowest digit is 2 or higher is a later printing
- Per Tor's documented house practice in this period, first printings also carry a "First Edition" statement with month and year alongside the number line — the exact statement wording on this title was not confirmed from a first-hand copy description, so the number line ending in 1 is the point to rely on
- First-issue jacket is priced at the flap
- Publisher imprint reads Tor Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ted Chiang |
| Publisher | Tor Books |
| Year | 2002 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First published in hardcover by Tor Books, New York, 5 July 2002 (ISBN 0-765-30418-6), the author's first book, collecting eight stories |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First published in hardcover by Tor Books, New York, 5 July 2002 (ISBN 0-765-30418-6), the author's first book, collecting eight stories. The first printing carries the full number line descending to 1 on the copyright page; a line whose lowest digit is 2 or higher is a later printing. Per Tor's documented house practice in this period, first printings also carry a "First Edition" statement with month and year alongside the number line — the exact statement wording on this title was not confirmed from a first-hand copy description, so the number line ending in 1 is the point to rely on. First-issue jacket is priced at the flap.

## Is this the true first?
The US Tor hardcover (2002) is the true first, confirming the census's publisher and year. The census's UK note is WRONG on two counts. First, the UK edition was not "much later": Tor (London / Pan Macmillan) published the first British edition in 2004, ISBN 1-405-04102-1. Second, the UK edition was not retitled Arrival — Arrival is a separate 2016 retitled reissue timed to the film adaptation of "Story of Your Life", and is a "first thus", not the first UK appearance. The Tor trade paperback (ISBN 0-765-30419-4) appeared in July 2003, roughly twelve months after the hardcover, so it is a subsequent issue and not a simultaneous first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is documented. The traps are reissues rather than club copies: the Small Beer Press trade paperback (2010), the 2016 Arrival retitle (Picador in the UK, Vintage in the US), and the Tor trade paperback of July 2003 — each a distinct later edition. Any copy titled Arrival is by definition not the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Stories of Your Life and Others* by Ted Chiang a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/stories-of-your-life-and-others
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.