Diskworld Books

[Linda H]

This may seem like an odd question, but I live in the US, and I am just wondering if the books that are available here, are the same as the ones in the UK?

I have looked online and noticed that the covers are different, so just wanted to be sure that is the only difference.

[chris.ph]

welcome to the site linda

as far as i know its just the covers that are different but there are much more learned people on here to answer this

[Quark]

I had a version of 'Men at Arms' out from the public library (the American one), but I'd asked for the Paul Kidby one out of the school library (which was out) before that. When it was made available, I had both of them, and they seemed almost exactly the same (apart from the covers).

[Dotsie]

I seem to remember a post on here from Tonyblack, who's married to an American, saying that one of the books was different, but only for a paragraph I think. I can't remember which one or why though!

[Jan Van Quirm]

I recall that too Dotsie

[Linda H]

Thank you for all the replies! I have a friend who lives in the UK, and is missing 2 of the books from their collection, so I was going to send them as a surprise. I would have tried to order them from someplace in the UK if they had been different, but that might have been a lot of hassle with the difference in currency.

I also like to know I am reading the books as the author intended them to be read, and not changed to be printed here in America. I am reading them in the order they were released and have just started on Sourcery. I look forward to reading the entire series.

Thank you all again for you help. It's greatly appreciated.

[Tonyblack]

Hi there Linda! Welcome to the site.

The differences between the US and UK books are generally very small. If I remember correctly, the example where the US version was quite a bit different was in an Advanced Reading Proof Copy that Sharlene got when she owned a book store. But generally the books are the same and I've even had to explain some of the very British jokes that are in the US copies.

[Who's Wee Dug]

Hi Linda, the artwork on the covers is always different and the odd word or three to make it easier if it's one you may not recognise.

[kakaze]

I think that, in the later books, they "Americanized" some of the units & measurements (i.e. miles instead of kilometers).

Although, I may be wrong here, because Ankh-Morpork always used "Dollars", right?

[Sjoerd3000]

Welcome to the forum Linda H

Yes AM always used Dollars

[Batty]

I think that, in the later books, they "Americanized" some of the units & measurements (i.e. miles instead of kilometers).

Although, I may be wrong here, because Ankh-Morpork always used "Dollars", right?

As far as I'm aware, 'miles' is still a British measurement ...

[Cheery]

Hello Linda!

I haven't found any story differences either. We've got Men At Arms as uk and american version and as far as I know it's only the cover. (luckily )

[Cheery]

I think that, in the later books, they "Americanized" some of the units & measurements (i.e. miles instead of kilometers).

Although, I may be wrong here, because Ankh-Morpork always used "Dollars", right?

As far as I'm aware, 'miles' is still a British measurement ...

You know, that always confuses me. I can't imagine how long a mile a foot or an inch is because we use kilometers, cm and mm here. (Is there something smaller than an inch?)
And it's the same with pounds... If I'm honest I sometimes still have trouble with grams and kilos

[Tonyblack]

I think that, in the later books, they "Americanized" some of the units & measurements (i.e. miles instead of kilometers).

Although, I may be wrong here, because Ankh-Morpork always used "Dollars", right?

As far as I'm aware, 'miles' is still a British measurement ...

They are in the US too - except for (and I have no idea why) a reasonably short section of Interstate 19 between Tucson and Nogales that has roadsigns in Kilometers. There are warning signs that the signs are going to be in KMs but no explanation why.

[poohcarrot]

If I remember correctly, the book Tony was talking about which had a different paragraph was Thud!