It was serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1971 and published in book form that same year.

[1] The novel was serialized in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1971 and published in book form that same year.

A copy-editing error garbled a conversation between Jack and Morningstar in chapter 6; the correct version appeared in the original magazine appearance and has been reprinted on pages 511–512 of The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, Volume 3: This Mortal Mountain, NESFA Press, 2009.

[3] Lester del Rey received the novel unfavorably, noting that while the opening half was "minor Zelazny, quite enjoyable", the conclusion was "rather grim and ugly…[ultimately] dull".

Zelazny's collection The Last Defender of Camelot (1981, Underwood-Miller) reprints the tale "Shadowjack" but without the illustrations.

It also appears in Last Exit to Babylon: Volume 4: The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, NESFA Press, 2009.

[3] It takes place prior to events of the novel and the short story, and describes how the strange half magic/half science world of Jack of Shadows came into existence.

In Daniel Keys Moran’s novel The Long Run, the protagonist Trent Castanaveras is rescued from a low Lunar orbit by a stealth spacecraft from the Spacefarers Collective called Jack of Shadows.