daw books mmpb undated third printing, q.v., 12/1981 according to ''future and fantastic worlds: a daw books retrospective'' sheldon jaffery (1987), bears new isbn 0-87997-682-9 and cat# UE1682, drops daw books collector no.
daw books mmpb undated fourth printing, q.v. (10/1985 taken from locus), bears new cover art by michael embden, new isbn 0-88677-088-2, cat# UE2088, resurrects daw books collector no. 396;
simultaneous undated near-identical fifth printing shares merkin-printed covers, but carcass is canadadian-printed, intended for distribution north of the parallel.
further daw books mmpb printings through the undated ninth (6/1997 locus) bear the michael embden cover art, same isbn & cat#, though cover typography is varied
''serpent's reach'' was then collected in the omnibus edition, ''the deep beyond'' (8/2005), q.v.
simultaneous daw books first edition printings sharing merkin-printed covers and hence cat#,
cover art by david mattingly (signed, also credited) (signature guillotined off some copies)
near-meaningless daw books collector no. 396
cover price $2.50 (canadadian-carcassed copies for distribution north of the parallel)
cover price $2.25 (wholly merkin-printed copies for general distribution)
288pp? (check!) including titles, indicia etc, end pp. advertising
refer to indicia publishing history to see if carcass of copy held was canadadian- or merkin- printed
no priority established no liable to be, both stating first printing, august, 1980
slightly preceded by the sub-licensed doubleday book club h/cvr edition, not published for general sale
david & charles / readers union science fiction book club edition, also cat#ed new series vol.3 #8
not for general sale; offered to the science fiction book club members, and then° to other david & charles / readers union book club members. ° - or possibly simultaneously
the numerical cat#s do not seem to've been borne by the books (!), and this may've been cat# 1197. and possibly also cat# 5197. the new series vol.-#nos. seem only to've appeared from vol.1 #11 or #12, but did at least actually appear on the david & charles / readers union sfbc's books' d-js.
cover (d-j) art
cover (d-j) price
336pp? including titles, indicia etc, end pp. perfectbound with endpapers between covered boards (this comment is from another edition of this book)
octopus publishing group mandarin imprint first printing, not first uk p/b edition (was orbit / futura)
cover art by john higgins (signed, uncredited)
cover price £3.50, $8.95 australia, $11.95 new zealand
288pp. including 4pp. titles, indicia etc, 3 end pp: rules for playing sej 2pp., 1 p. advertising (this comment is from another edition of this book)
macdonald / futura publications orbit series / sub-imprint first printing, first uk p/b edition
cover art by tim white (unsigned, uncredited; shared with/from macdonald h/cvr edition (1981))
cover price £2.25 (check for overseas territories prices)
336pp? including titles, indicia etc, end pp. advertising (this comment is from another edition of this book)
macdonald futura macdonald imprint first printing, first uk edition, first trade h/cvr edition
some fairly small number printed, primarily for sale to uk public libraries
cover (d-j) art by tim white
cover (d-j) price £6.50
336pp? including titles, indicia etc., end pp. bound with endpapers between covered boards (this comment is from another edition of this book)
doubleday science fiction book club spring 1980 selection; not for general sale; available only to sfbc members, in the usa and canada; then to members of other doubleday book clubs likewise
cover (d-j) art by ken barr (credited on back flap)
no cover price (not for public sale)
320pp. including 6pp. titles, indicia etc, 7 end pp. including rules for sej, 4 blank pp. bound with end-papers between dark blue-coloured covered boards, title, author's surname, nelson doubleday in light blue on spine
K17 in gutter on p.311 on level with bottom line of text indicates first book club printing (this comment is from another edition of this book)