the scheduled release of the third book coincided with the english riots of 1985, and because of the strong anti-authoritarian theme, the publishers took the decision not to publish it. the books went out of print but have been republished as a single volume. in june 2002 the trilogy was printed in the uk by pan macmillan as a trade paperback with an introduction by china miéville; in april 2003, the uk branch of tor books reissued the trilogy in a smaller paperback volume. tor released the trilogy as three separate paperback volumes in the us in late 2005.