(urth) Free Live Free Two texts

[Austin Hackett]

Hi, new member here. I joined up to find out which version of *Free Live
Free* is preferable to read?

I haven't read *Free Live Free* but plan on doing so soon. It just so
happens I have both the 1984 Mark V. Ziesing small press edition and the
standard 1986 Tor mass market version on my shelf. Several places online
say the Tor is shorter by about 4000 words. I also notice that it contains
a chronology (which, it says, was requested by the publisher) and the title
of the first chapter is different. The order of some parts may also be
different between the two versions according to vague reports.

Does the Tor edition represent an editorially truncated text or the
author's final revisions? Some might think "longer = better" but I don't
want to assume anything. Maybe Wolfe shortened the book at the behest of
the publisher, but he may have just revised it for his own artistic
purposes. Even if the cuts were mandated, he may have taken the opportunity
to make different changes as well. And none of these factors actually
determine which version is *better*.

So has anyone read both, or at least knows a little about the backstory? I
can't find any info online.

Thanks!
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