Logistical Discworld Puzzle

Many of the British editions are available in Toronto. :slight_smile:

Pretty much the whole book series is all in one row at the World’s Biggest Bookstore (yes, that’s what it’s called) on Edward Street near the bus station. Things like Diggers are a little harder to get, though.

When I was in London, I saw Discworld non-book things that I hadn’t seen in Toronto: the maps, for instance.

Time to visit Bakka Books on Yonge Street again…

I just have the one inscribed book. I do, however, have a Discworld calendar for the year 2000, which I am NOT throwing away, as it has marvelous illustrations by Paul Kidby. The month of May, for instance, has a group picture of the Faculty of UU. It’s easy to tell who is who without captions. TubaDiva gave this to me at the 1999 Mod gathering. I also have Nanny Ogg’s Cookbook, again illustrated by Paul Kidby. C. K. Dexter Haven sent it to me when I was recovering from my hysterectomy, and I greatly appreciate it, even though Nanny’s editors made her leave out some of the more active ingredients in some of her recipes. It has, for instance, a recipe for dried frog pills* and Sticky Toffee Rat Onna Stick, which has the look but not the taste of the classic version. The book has notes on ettiquette, as well. I, personally, think that one of the more useful notations is “On no account take hold of a wizard’s staff unlees he asks you to; there are many bewildered amphibians and other crawlin’ things in the world today who could have benefited from this advice.”

I rarely go out of my house, let alone go to Cons of any sort. I mean, there’s a lot of PEOPLE there. What’s worse, most of these things are held when I am most likely to be asleep.

*I find that I get good results by just packaging green (margarita flavored) Jelly Bellies up in a special jar and LABELLING them Dried Frog Pills. It’s all headology, you know.

You can order any of them (in paperback) from any UK bookstore (or online site) – I use Blackwell’s myself, but there are plenty others.

You can also get them through the Science Fiction Book Club (www.sfbc.com).

The British versions are preferable. The American editions have screwed up a number of things:

  • In REAPER MAN (IIRC), there are two different plotlines, each one in a different font. It’s a nice touch, and the American edition uses the same font.

  • In FEET OF CLAY, the golems speak in a font that is English letters in a Hebraic-style. The American edition uses capital letters, and wrecks the joke.

Also, the British versions have the wonderful cover illustrations by Kirby, while the American covers are pretty boring.

Okay, okay, we have a new quest. Does anybody know the fans who had their pictures drawn by Kirby, and had their illustrations show up in the GURPS gamebook?

I have that calendar! Present from the kabbess Chrimbo 1999. No way I’m throwing it out either; it is, as you say, marvellous.

pan