Hardcover first edition, first printing. Very fine (unread) copy in very fine jacket. Signed by Fowler on the title page. Not a book club, remainder nor ex-library copy. A straight, square copy and bright, intact dust jacket. An excellent copy. "[B]rilliantly conceived, beautifully written book." Anatomy 4, *4-173. "[M]ay be the finest First Contact novel yet written." Clute & Nicholls, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, pg. 443. Award History: 1992 Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novel (lost to Doomsday Book by Willis); 1991 Notable Book, NY Times Book Review, 1 Dec. 1991; 1991 James Tiptree, Jr. Award Nominee for Gender-bending SF (lost to co-winners A Woman of the Iron People by Arnason and White Queen by Gwyneth Jones); 1993 Arthur C. Clarke Honorable Mention.