Four Hundred Billion Stars

The US Del Rey paperback original was published April 12, 1988, ahead of the UK Victor Gollancz hardcover that appeared later the same year. Dealer cataloguing (L.W. Currey, John W. Knott) describes the Gollancz as the first British and first hardcover edition, which confirms the Del Rey paperback original holds precedence as the true first. It was a co-winner (a tie with Rudy Rucker's Wetware) of the 1989 Philip K. Dick Award for the best original science-fiction paperback of 1988.