City of Truth traces to a short story, Veritas, that I wrote for George Zebrowski's anthology series, Synergy. In that particular yarn, I systematically delineated the concept of a truth-telling dystopia, but shortly after its publication I began to feel that the premise deserved something beyond the spy-thriller plot I'd erected. When my then-current British editor, Deborah Beale, invited me to contribute to her Legend Novellas series at Random Century, I began thinking more deeply about the conundrum of candor. "Honesty is a good thing," I told myself, "but what if my young son were dying? Wouldn't my first instinct be to spare him the truth?" And so I returned to Veritas, putting the main character through an ordeal far more intense than the one faced by his counterpart in the original story.While the first edition bears a January 1991 publication date (qualifying it for the 1992 Nebula ballot) it seems the book was available as early as November 1990 as Locus Magazine carried reviews in November 1990 (review by Faren Miller) and in December 1990 (review by Mark R. Kelly). The story has a 1990 copyright date which may explain why there are catalogue listings for this book for "1990."
In addition to its stand-alone volume, this title was published in the follow books. It can be rated independently of any volumes containing it.
