# Is "Voice of the Fire" by Alan Moore a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Voice of the Fire by Alan Moore (Victor Gollancz, 1996) is identified by: Moore's first prose novel. The UK Gollancz 1996 paperback precedes the US Top Shelf edition, which appeared in 2004 (with a Neil Gaiman introduction and color plates by Jose Villarrubia), and the later Subterranean Press hardcover limited edition of 2015.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Moore's first prose novel
- True first is the UK Victor Gollancz 1996 edition, issued as a trade PAPERBACK original (printed wraps), not a hardcover, with cover art by Robert Mason and interior illustrations by Cliff Harper
- No simultaneous hardcover was published in 1996
- Correct publisher/imprint: Victor Gollancz

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Alan Moore |
| Publisher | Victor Gollancz |
| Year | 1996 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Comic / graphic novel |
| Key point | Moore's first prose novel |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Moore's first prose novel. True first is the UK Victor Gollancz 1996 edition, issued as a trade PAPERBACK original (printed wraps), not a hardcover, with cover art by Robert Mason and interior illustrations by Cliff Harper. No simultaneous hardcover was published in 1996.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Gollancz 1996 paperback precedes the US Top Shelf edition, which appeared in 2004 (with a Neil Gaiman introduction and color plates by Jose Villarrubia), and the later Subterranean Press hardcover limited edition of 2015. The UK Gollancz paperback is the true first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The 1996 text was reprinted in the UK by Indigo in 1997; the US Top Shelf (2004/2009) and Subterranean (2015) editions are first-thus for their respective formats, not the true first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Voice of the Fire* by Alan Moore a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/voice-of-the-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 2026-07-03.