Rare publisher's promotional First/Ace Collector's Edition #1 copy of The Uncanny X-Men writer Chris Claremont's 1987 first novel First Flight which introduced Lt. Nicole Shea . Published by Ace Books in 1987  and printed in the U.S.A. Paperback, 256 printed pages.

The book has the rare black angled First/Ace Collector's Edition #1 banner on the front cover's bottom left (see photos). The First/Ace edition was a promotional collaboration of Ace Books and First Comics targeted for promotion/marketing to comic book shop distribution networks and book conventions.

Condition: The book is in new in unread condition. It is still in the unopened taped shut plastic packaging it arrived in from the publisher (see photos).

Synopsis:  First Flight by Chris Claremont is a science-fiction adventure originally published by Ace Books in 1987 and is the first novel in the Nicole Shea series. Lt. Nicole Shea is a young U.S. Air Force pilot whose career takes a hit when she fails a simulation test. Given another chance, she is assigned to pilot the Wanderer, a seemingly routine scientific and supply mission deep into the asteroid belt. What begins as a relatively uneventful assignment quickly turns dangerous when the ship encounters trouble and is attacked by space pirates, leaving Shea and her crew stranded with little hope of rescue.

As they struggle to survive, the mission takes an extraordinary turn when Shea and her desperate crew encounter alien life—the first confirmed contact between humanity and an extraterrestrial civilization. The novel combines military-style space adventure, technical details of future spacecraft and space travel, interpersonal conflict, and the mystery surrounding the alien encounter. It was Claremont's first published novel after his celebrated work on Marvel's Uncanny X-Men, and contemporary reviews particularly noted its fast pace, action, characterization, and hard-science-fiction approach.