Ring of Swords

Dust jacket has a closed cut on the front, and a vertical fold of the rear flap; has edge wear; now in new removable protective cover. Black boards with silver print on spine; dust jacket cut extends into front board. Pages are clean and unmarked, but have small brown spots on edges (foxing). Tor/Science Fiction Book Club hard cover with dust jacket, October 1993 edition, no stated printing. ISBN: 9780312855185, SFBC # 01751, 382 pages. Cover art by Roger Loveless. 8vo (8.5" x 5.75") Nominated for the 1993 James Tiptree, Jr. Award; placed 12th in 1994 Locus Poll for Best SF Novel of 1993. Brian Attebery, in an appreciation, says: Some SF books make a big splash and then disappear once we have absorbed their single message. Others - stories by Philip Dick and Cordwainer Smith, for instance - don't make as much impression at first but continue to gain influence and reputation. I would place Ring of Swords in the latter category for two reasons. One is that it is a remarkably well crafted novel, one that demands and rewards re-reading. The other reason is that the images, events, and characters gain resonance over time, as the world supplies more ironies and dilemmas for the story to interact with.