The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (Discworld)

I've been reading Pratchett for years and I still can't get enough. Since his death, I've been filling in my library's gaps with the few books of his that I had somehow missed. This story isn't great, but it is very good. I suppose you could call it a stand-alone story within the Discworld novels. There's the characteristic irreverence and humor, along with some adventure and misadventure, culminating in a satisfactory moral as everything ties up somewhat neatly in a bow. If you've never read a Pratchett book. This would be a good introduction. If you have, then it's a good read to add to your list.

Terry Pratchett remains one of my all time favorite authors, but I agree with Patrick Rothfuss that this is not one of his best books. It is indeed funny, scary, and well written, like all Pratchett books, but like most Pratchett books, it goes on a tad too long and could have used some editing. They also say it is his first Discworld book, but I'm not sure why--unless they're saying it for marketing reasons--for it is unlike the other books in that series. All this aside, I would highly recommend it.

I discovered Pratchett when I was in high school in the 1980s and have been a Pratchett evangelist ever since. I now have my kids hooked on Pratchett and have read every Practhett novel at least 3 times. "The Amazing Maurice" is one of my perennial favourites. Think Pied Piper on steroids and you have the faintest gleamings of 'The Amazing Maurice'. Pratchett is the master satirist. He uses the story to deliver a message, and even some history. The rats history closely parallels human history; and the problems they face are the same as what we face. Pratchett is brilliant - I honestly don't think there is a living writer who can touch him. In the midst of humour he throws in deep philosophical arguments and statements. Here is one of my favourite lines from this novel: 'If you don't turn your life into a story, you just become a part of someone else's story.' 'And what if your story doesn't work?' 'You keep changing it until you find one that does.' The cherry on the top for me is the name of the rats- Additives, Big Savings, Sardines, and Hamnpork, all taken from the items around them when they learnt to read! Pick this book up, claim it is for the kids, but keep it for yourself.

Terry Prachett, I heart you and your takes on famous tales. This one in the Discworld series is a real stand-aloner. Prachett takes on the "Tale of the Pied Piper" with the aplomb you'd expect, but he tackles this with a grace I found surprisingly appetizing. You don't need to read a single other Discworld novel to enjoy this one, though it does appear to take place in the same mulit-verse as his other works. This is a very grown-up story, though it was awarded the Carnegie Award for Children's Literature in 2001. This award is a British medal not at all equivalent to our Caldecott; its other winners include Neil Gamon, so you know they love a ^$&@)-up story with gruesome grown-up bits to it. The Amazing Maurice....has just that: %$@&)-up bits that are VERY grown up. In this version of the famous tale, the rats have eaten from the Wizards' trash heap. Because they've ingested magical substances, they've become intelligent (a la Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM and Flowers for Algernon). And as they became intelligent on a trash heap, they learned to read there. So they took amusing names from food labels like "Hamnpork" and "Peaches" and "Dangerous Beans". Then enters the Maurice of the title, a common stupid alley cat who eats one of the rats (BEFORE the cat became intelligent), thereby ingesting the magical substances second hand and then becoming enchanted, too. (He always asks his food if it can talk before he eats it thereafter). What results is an amalgam of Puss In Boots and other tales, but only as Prachett could imagine them. Maurice is still very much a cat, so he's cruel and shiftless and selfish by nature. The rats are developing a sense of morality he doesn't seem capable of grasping. And the most cruel of all creatures, man, is revealed to be the least intelligent of all. This just makes me love Prachett even more, if that's possible.

This book is set in Discworld, but the only major Discworld characters who make an appearance are Death and the Death of Rats. So, if someone has not read any of the Discworld series, they could still enjoy this book immensely. It's a fantasy about some rats and a cat who become intelligent enough to talk following consuming some garbage from Unseen University. They travel around with a boy who plays a pipe, bringing a "plague of rats" from town to town, then getting rid of said plague for a low, low price. The rats become uneasy about the fraudulent nature of their business, and the cat (who acts as manager) promises that the next town will be the last. What they find in the next town is different from anything in their experience, and requires all their intelligence to survive. This would be a good read for anyone 10 and up. Perhaps a really savvy 8-year-old could deal with it if he/she has an intelligent cat to explain the difficult bits.

I don't remember not giving one of the Discworld series books less than five stars. It's just such a wonderful world. But while it's clear that this book is part of that world, I found myself often disconnected from it. I didn't really feel like I was on the Discworld. I thought that maybe the writing style was different because of U.S. copy editors. The afterward, though, explained that this was Pratchett's first "children's book." Okay. Maybe that explains the different style. Overall, it was a very good story. There was just something deeply different about it that was nagging at my subconscious the whole time I was reading, though.

Terry Pratchett is a great author to introduce to thoughtful young people. There was a lame factor "pied piper" concept to get over. The book very quickly gets philosophically deep as it explores morality and death, leadership and bravery and what it means to be clever. The author is one of those people who is human in a good way. The story vibes with my own morals and values making the process of sharing them with my son entertaining and meaningful. The characters are amazing.

Once upon a time there were rats who ate a little too much from rubbish heap behind the Wizards' university. They were Changed, and learned to think, to talk and, later on, to develop a conscience. They named themselves after things they saw in the rubbish, perhaps a little before they knew what the words meant. Pratchett is a good enough writer that rats like Dangerous Beans, Peaches, Darktan, Hamnpork and Donut Enter are a lot more vivid and believable than 9/10ths of what passes for literature today. Maurice is a cat, and he is also Changed, although he really doesn't like to talk about how it happened. But he's always careful now to ask his food if it can talk before her eats it. He's the brains behind the scam. Together with the stupid-looking kid who plays the flute - his name is really Keith - the rats and Maurice work the pied piper scam. For a modest fee, Keith can get rid of the sudden plague of rats that afflicts a town. And what with rats widdling in the flour and tap-dancing on the kitchen counter - there's always someone who wants to be in theater - the town is always grateful when Keith successfully pipes the rats away. Until they arrive at the town of Bad Blintz. The traps are worse, the poisons more lethal and the rat catchers more ingenious than anywhere else. And there is something really evil living lower down, under the rat tunnels. Something that hates. Something that takes you over. Pratchett has called this a children's book, but it would be more accurate to say it was based on a children's book. It's really about myths and the role of myths, and what it means to be "human." As just one example, the rats drag along with them a collection of children's fairy tales, remarkably like Peter Rabbit, and think it's a reference book for humans. The Pied Piper of Hamlin, of course, is itself a fairy tale. With (or perhaps despite) the "help" of Malicia, the Mayor's daughter and the granddaughter and grand niece of the Sisters Grim, the rats, Maurice and the stupid-looking kid must learn the hard way that if you aren't making up your own story, then you're just a character in someone else's. Fun and thought-provoking, if somewhat different than the usual Pratchett novel. Recommended.

I've reviewed a few of Sir Terry's novels, all highly favorably so with the single exception of "Snuff," which I gave three stars. They've entertained, produced laughter ranging from snickering to LMAO belly laughs to giggles and they've even made me think and see some things in a new light. This is the first Discworld novel that I love in an emotional sense. It produced a genuine feeling of empathy in me. For rats, even. Pratchett really has fun with talking animals. Gaspode the dog was hilarious and Maurice the cat is quite the character. "The stupid looking kid" thing was funny too. Pratchett is brilliant at writing for that age group but there's no reason adults can't be equally entertained by these. For instance, I thought "A Hat Full of Sky" was an absolutely wonderful tale. Please, please, Sir Terry, could you give us more of Gaspode and Maurice?

Brilliant diskworld based lore, but totally separate as befits it's rat based characters and story (even the death of rats only gets a sort of cameo mention). Have to say it might give some younger kids nightmares, but those kids are often tougher than parents realize; and would enjoy this book. Parents should read their kids books first anyway imho. Enjoy!

I've been reading Pratchett for years and I still can't get enough. Since his death, I've been filling in my library's gaps with the few books of his that I had somehow missed. This story isn't great, but it is very good. I suppose you could call it a stand-alone story within the Discworld novels. There's the characteristic irreverence and humor, along with some adventure and misadventure, culminating in a satisfactory moral as everything ties up somewhat neatly in a bow. If you've never read a Pratchett book. This would be a good introduction. If you have, then it's a good read to add to your list.

Terry Pratchett remains one of my all time favorite authors, but I agree with Patrick Rothfuss that this is not one of his best books. It is indeed funny, scary, and well written, like all Pratchett books, but like most Pratchett books, it goes on a tad too long and could have used some editing. They also say it is his first Discworld book, but I'm not sure why--unless they're saying it for marketing reasons--for it is unlike the other books in that series. All this aside, I would highly recommend it.

I discovered Pratchett when I was in high school in the 1980s and have been a Pratchett evangelist ever since. I now have my kids hooked on Pratchett and have read every Practhett novel at least 3 times. "The Amazing Maurice" is one of my perennial favourites. Think Pied Piper on steroids and you have the faintest gleamings of 'The Amazing Maurice'. Pratchett is the master satirist. He uses the story to deliver a message, and even some history. The rats history closely parallels human history; and the problems they face are the same as what we face. Pratchett is brilliant - I honestly don't think there is a living writer who can touch him. In the midst of humour he throws in deep philosophical arguments and statements. Here is one of my favourite lines from this novel: 'If you don't turn your life into a story, you just become a part of someone else's story.' 'And what if your story doesn't work?' 'You keep changing it until you find one that does.' The cherry on the top for me is the name of the rats- Additives, Big Savings, Sardines, and Hamnpork, all taken from the items around them when they learnt to read! Pick this book up, claim it is for the kids, but keep it for yourself.

Terry Prachett, I heart you and your takes on famous tales. This one in the Discworld series is a real stand-aloner. Prachett takes on the "Tale of the Pied Piper" with the aplomb you'd expect, but he tackles this with a grace I found surprisingly appetizing. You don't need to read a single other Discworld novel to enjoy this one, though it does appear to take place in the same mulit-verse as his other works. This is a very grown-up story, though it was awarded the Carnegie Award for Children's Literature in 2001. This award is a British medal not at all equivalent to our Caldecott; its other winners include Neil Gamon, so you know they love a ^$&@)-up story with gruesome grown-up bits to it. The Amazing Maurice....has just that: %$@&)-up bits that are VERY grown up. In this version of the famous tale, the rats have eaten from the Wizards' trash heap. Because they've ingested magical substances, they've become intelligent (a la Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM and Flowers for Algernon). And as they became intelligent on a trash heap, they learned to read there. So they took amusing names from food labels like "Hamnpork" and "Peaches" and "Dangerous Beans". Then enters the Maurice of the title, a common stupid alley cat who eats one of the rats (BEFORE the cat became intelligent), thereby ingesting the magical substances second hand and then becoming enchanted, too. (He always asks his food if it can talk before he eats it thereafter). What results is an amalgam of Puss In Boots and other tales, but only as Prachett could imagine them. Maurice is still very much a cat, so he's cruel and shiftless and selfish by nature. The rats are developing a sense of morality he doesn't seem capable of grasping. And the most cruel of all creatures, man, is revealed to be the least intelligent of all. This just makes me love Prachett even more, if that's possible.

This book is set in Discworld, but the only major Discworld characters who make an appearance are Death and the Death of Rats. So, if someone has not read any of the Discworld series, they could still enjoy this book immensely. It's a fantasy about some rats and a cat who become intelligent enough to talk following consuming some garbage from Unseen University. They travel around with a boy who plays a pipe, bringing a "plague of rats" from town to town, then getting rid of said plague for a low, low price. The rats become uneasy about the fraudulent nature of their business, and the cat (who acts as manager) promises that the next town will be the last. What they find in the next town is different from anything in their experience, and requires all their intelligence to survive. This would be a good read for anyone 10 and up. Perhaps a really savvy 8-year-old could deal with it if he/she has an intelligent cat to explain the difficult bits.

I don't remember not giving one of the Discworld series books less than five stars. It's just such a wonderful world. But while it's clear that this book is part of that world, I found myself often disconnected from it. I didn't really feel like I was on the Discworld. I thought that maybe the writing style was different because of U.S. copy editors. The afterward, though, explained that this was Pratchett's first "children's book." Okay. Maybe that explains the different style. Overall, it was a very good story. There was just something deeply different about it that was nagging at my subconscious the whole time I was reading, though.

Terry Pratchett is a great author to introduce to thoughtful young people. There was a lame factor "pied piper" concept to get over. The book very quickly gets philosophically deep as it explores morality and death, leadership and bravery and what it means to be clever. The author is one of those people who is human in a good way. The story vibes with my own morals and values making the process of sharing them with my son entertaining and meaningful. The characters are amazing.

Once upon a time there were rats who ate a little too much from rubbish heap behind the Wizards' university. They were Changed, and learned to think, to talk and, later on, to develop a conscience. They named themselves after things they saw in the rubbish, perhaps a little before they knew what the words meant. Pratchett is a good enough writer that rats like Dangerous Beans, Peaches, Darktan, Hamnpork and Donut Enter are a lot more vivid and believable than 9/10ths of what passes for literature today. Maurice is a cat, and he is also Changed, although he really doesn't like to talk about how it happened. But he's always careful now to ask his food if it can talk before her eats it. He's the brains behind the scam. Together with the stupid-looking kid who plays the flute - his name is really Keith - the rats and Maurice work the pied piper scam. For a modest fee, Keith can get rid of the sudden plague of rats that afflicts a town. And what with rats widdling in the flour and tap-dancing on the kitchen counter - there's always someone who wants to be in theater - the town is always grateful when Keith successfully pipes the rats away. Until they arrive at the town of Bad Blintz. The traps are worse, the poisons more lethal and the rat catchers more ingenious than anywhere else. And there is something really evil living lower down, under the rat tunnels. Something that hates. Something that takes you over. Pratchett has called this a children's book, but it would be more accurate to say it was based on a children's book. It's really about myths and the role of myths, and what it means to be "human." As just one example, the rats drag along with them a collection of children's fairy tales, remarkably like Peter Rabbit, and think it's a reference book for humans. The Pied Piper of Hamlin, of course, is itself a fairy tale. With (or perhaps despite) the "help" of Malicia, the Mayor's daughter and the granddaughter and grand niece of the Sisters Grim, the rats, Maurice and the stupid-looking kid must learn the hard way that if you aren't making up your own story, then you're just a character in someone else's. Fun and thought-provoking, if somewhat different than the usual Pratchett novel. Recommended.

I've reviewed a few of Sir Terry's novels, all highly favorably so with the single exception of "Snuff," which I gave three stars. They've entertained, produced laughter ranging from snickering to LMAO belly laughs to giggles and they've even made me think and see some things in a new light. This is the first Discworld novel that I love in an emotional sense. It produced a genuine feeling of empathy in me. For rats, even. Pratchett really has fun with talking animals. Gaspode the dog was hilarious and Maurice the cat is quite the character. "The stupid looking kid" thing was funny too. Pratchett is brilliant at writing for that age group but there's no reason adults can't be equally entertained by these. For instance, I thought "A Hat Full of Sky" was an absolutely wonderful tale. Please, please, Sir Terry, could you give us more of Gaspode and Maurice?

Brilliant diskworld based lore, but totally separate as befits it's rat based characters and story (even the death of rats only gets a sort of cameo mention). Have to say it might give some younger kids nightmares, but those kids are often tougher than parents realize; and would enjoy this book. Parents should read their kids books first anyway imho. Enjoy!

I have no idea why this is labeled as a children's book. This is a fantastic story and can be incredibly dark. I want to make all the people I know read it, but this story makes a fantastic point. Most of them won't read it because the main characters are animals and that is seen as being too childish despite the content. After reading this I'm seeing the truth of that in a whole new light. We can claim that we love animals and truly love our pets, but we can't even take a book with one of our pets as a main character who actually talks to humans seriously. Incredible. I don't think I'll be able to look at a rat the same way again.

Got this for my 9 year old granddaughter who loves cats and magic. She also has a wicked sense of humor. She devoured it. I'm going to get her more Pratchett.

Fruit of the kaleidoscopically creative mind of Pratchett! From that mind comes yet another adventure - indeed, another WORLD - this one at times a bit boldly violent, as children's stories go (Do rats really eat the carcasses of their dead?). The Pratchett virtuosity is there, though, and as always, it brings the reader's mind to new and vastly different places wher it otherwise would likely never dare to go.

Love the imagination of Pratchet Books! This book was assigned in a SENIOR LEVEL COLLEGE class at Illinois State University on storytelling and the importance of such to learn and grow.

Has always Terry Pratchett had a marvelous wry sense of humor and his stories were always extremely funny. I have read everything he has written and his books are worth reading again over and over.

As far as the content goes, it is a fantastic book. Probably one of my favorite Pratchett books. Buy it. BUT, pay attention to what version you are getting. I like to get hardcover versions of books. I ordered the 2003 version. It was my fault I missed that it was a 6x4 inch, tiny hardcover. What I got however, was a 2008 mass market paperback on dark-grey newsprint, glued into (what is probably a reproduction of) a 2003 hardcover (It really is printed off-center like in the picture, but dark and fuzzy like a bad scan). Quite disappointed in the quality. Buy the full-sized hardcover or pick up the paperback for cheap. Don't buy the paperback glued into a knock-off hardcover binding.

This author just keeps the stories coming. This novel, on its own, is a fun read as the author does a fine job of introducing the world in his books and offering explanations of the reasons behind the "happenings" in the story. As an American reader, some of the British humor is probably lost on me, but what I do decipher, I enjoy!

I don't agree with the Reading Level assigned to this book (ages 9-12). Sure, 9-12 year olds could read it without problem. But, it's not a really a kid's book. It's just a very, very good book that's fun and light to read. It's also almost entirely independent of any need for prior knowledge of the Discworld. At a guess, I'd assign it a place just after "Moving Pictures" (purely based on the "Gaspode-the-Wonder-Dog" affect plus the fact that Maurice is mentioned twice in "Reaper Man" (which comes just after "Moving Pictures")). It's definitely a book to read. Anyone CAN read it and everyone SHOULD read it.

I don't agree with the Reading Level assigned to this book (ages 9-12). Sure, 9-12 year olds could read it without problem. But, it's not a really a kid's book. It's just a very, very good book that's fun and light to read. It's also almost entirely independent of any need for prior knowledge of the Discworld. At a guess, I'd assign it a place just after "Moving Pictures" (purely based on the "Gaspode-the-Wonder-Dog" affect plus the fact that Maurice is mentioned twice in "Reaper Man" (which comes just after "Moving Pictures")). It's definitely a book to read. Anyone CAN read it and everyone SHOULD read it.

This was a fun read. It is short--under 300 pages--so it goes by quickly. The story is set in the Discworld universe, though it is not officially one of the Discworld novels. The story hinges around a boy, a talking cat, a "clan" of rats who are also able to talk--the result of eating magic-contaminated trash. They run a scam, moving from town to town faking "rat plagues" and then doing the pied piper thing (the boy plays a pipe) and getting rid of the rats--for a fee. Then they get to a different sort of town, and the adventure begins. Good fun, cute characters, engaging plot... go read it.

Just as wonderful as the rest of his work, even if it was written for children :).

This is a darker book than some of the author's books, and it is not my cup of tea. Purely a personal opinion - you ,may love it.

An excellent book and a great read!!!!!!

good story - hey tastes are subjective so make your own mind up

What a fabulous story. I loved every squeaky page. I loved Maurice and Dangerous Beans, and even Malicia grew on me after enough time. Sardines explaining the Rules of Leadership to Darktan. The Rat King was actually kinda scary, and, being a fan of Pratchett's Death, I was so glad he put in an appearance, along with his associate.

Given as gift

Another great read from Terry Pratchett. Although this book is apparently intended for younger readers, I found the story to be quite complex and satisfying. In Pratchett's hands, a number of fairy tale tropes are suitably skewered during the course of the tale.

Mr. Pratchett never fails to intrigue/engross/delight me: I have become a Pratchett chain reader. I read to loose myself and what better place than The DiscWorld.

Nice tale. Good to see some new characters.

This is actually written as "young adult fiction'--but it is a fun read for "less young" adults, as well. A re-imagining of the Pied Piper story, it is charming, delightful and wise (three adjectives I can't seem to stop associating with Terry Pratchett's work).

The piped piper comes to a town in Uberwald, but finds that he’s late to the show that features cats, rats, and stupid-looking kids talking to one another. The twenty-eighth and first young adult entry of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents finds the residents—new and old, human and nonhuman—town of Bad Blintz figuring out the fine line between real life and a story. The aim to bring the same Pratchett humor that adults love to a younger audience is on target. A mixed troupe of “rat piper” con-artists arrive just outside the town of Bad Blintz lead by a streetwise tomcat, who a clan of talking rats and a stupid-looking kid named Keith on the streets of Ankh-Morpork. But everyone is getting fed up with just going around and doing the same old thing, the rats want to find a home to build their society and the kid would like to play more music. Maurice is just interest in money and hiding the guilty for how he gained the ability to speak, but he found more than he’s bargaining for in Bad Blintz because something weird is going on even his talkative rat associate find disturbing. Soon the troupe find out that they have stumbled into a long running conspiratorial plan hatched from a surprising source. As always, Pratchett connects his humor around a well-known fairy tale or story then completely turns it on its head when the same circumstances happen on Discworld even as the characters fight their own preconceptions when comparing “stories” to “real life”. The fact that he ably brought his unique style to a young adult market without losing any of the punch from the jokes makes this a very good book. Although some of the sections of the book were somewhat familiar to a long-time Pratchett reader does take a little away from the book, it doesn’t necessarily ruin the book for first time readers. Terry Pratchett’s first Discworld foray into the young adult genre is classic Pratchett through targeted at a younger audience. I found it as funny as the rest of his series, but some of the plot points were simpler than his usual work for obvious reasons. However this minor fact doesn’t ruin a very good book.

Maurice is a great character, exactly what a talking cat would be like. The story is an interesting spin on the story of the piper who plays the rats out of town that is set in Discworld. The story has the wit and humor that all of Terry Pratchett's books have. A really enjoyable read for kid and adult fans of Terry Pratchett. It also has a good moral about working together to solve problems, but really you could ignore that if you wanted . . .

This is one of my favorite Pratchett books. It is not part of the bigger series, more of a stand alone book, but the story is all Pratchett. Who else could write social commentary seen through the eyes of a cat and educated rodents? Kids will enjoy this book, but adults will enjoy it more. Most cleverly and entertainingly written, it leaves you wanting more. You will laugh, be provoked and of course be left wanting more. Highly recommended for all.

Beautiful I love used books.

In this little gem Terry Pratchett has combined everything good about the best of beloved (by children) children's literature with very grown up ideals. Whether you read this for your adult-self to complete the Discworld series, or to/with your progeny it will leave you just a tad better for the effort.

Although this book is billed as a "children's book," in reality it is as good as any of Terry's "adult" fantasy stories. If you're a Prachett fan, then by all means read this book.

I had a high expectation for this book as i do of all Terry Pratchett's and i was not disappointed. I love it when he introduces us to new Discworld characters. Pratchett's imagination is quite bizarre and consistently funny and entertaining - lots of action and events that can only happen in a fantasy world, but almost believable at the same time. Even the little * comments are hysterical. I was sorry to see it end.

This is a brilliant book and vaulted to my all-time top 10 list (which includes the likes of Catch-22, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series, Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small series, Lord of the Rings, 100 Days of Solitude, early Barbara Kingsolver, ...). It is not only hysterical, but a brilliant essay on the human condition and relationship between citizens and government. It would be excellent material for a high school or college government class. Pratchett has the knack of spinning a very readable yarn while also getting into some very deep philosophy. It's a book I very much look forward to re-reading.

This is truly a masterpiece. Pure Pratchett. Short, funny, insightful, and packed with witty social commentary and satire. Maurice and his rodents are some of his best characters.

i really enjoyed this book. i read often and i am so happy when i find a book, or if I am really lucky a writer with many books, who writes a creative, interesting, enjoyable, innovative read. that is why finding terry pratchett has made me so happy. he is a fantastic writer. i would recommend this book to any of my friends. it is funny and creative. it is a very enjoyable read. i would recommend any book by terry pratchett

Although my favorite of his young adult books is still The Wee Free Men. Pratchett has a way of pointing out our oh-so-human foibles, not to mention our equally human cruelties, in a way that is both kind and inspiring. He also exalts the power of imagination without being in the least pedantic. And he's damned funny.

Young readers book, but really enjoyed it! Clever, well written, creative. Full of imagination.

Not my favorite Terry Pratchett, but I am glad I ordered it

Pratchett has succeeded in writing a children's book for adults "with subtext and social context". A fast, fun and optimistic story about dealing with reality.

I really like all of Terry Pratchett's Discworld (fantasy) books, including this one. You will best enjoy reading them in the order published, but they're good on their own. They have a unique, fey humor: I expect you will like all or none, so if they're new to you, get just one to begin with.

I enjoyed this book. I am an adult, but found this fun to read even though it seems to be a book for teens. The only thing I had trouble with is the dwelling on bad smells that Terry Pratchett seems to have as a theme in his books. His stories are so good that it is possible to ignore this and I am sure that young people would not find this a problem.

Lots of in-your-face humor of the kind that delights the middle grade set in this send-up of the old pied piper story. Should appeal to both boys and girls. The characters all have very human foibles and flaws, but the author helps us take a generous view of their failings.

Loved it! I love the rat language! Keekees! omg! So funny! I'm not sure about this being a kids book though. Some pretty disturbing things going on with the rats.

This is a re-telling of a well-loved fable, and people of all ages will love the DiscWorld spin on this classic story!

No problems, good experience.

Terry Pratchett has fun with this one. Unseen University's magic has created thinking and speaking cats and rats. They link up with a young student in the musician's guild who plays a pipe and things pick up from there. It's a very entertaining read.

This reads like a Terry Pratchett novel with fewer side plots and less complication. In other words, a great read for adults and a book that younger readers can understand and keep straight. It has been read and re-read by every member of my family and, ten years later, retains a cherished place on our bookshelf.

Amazing, funny, fun, insightful -- all the things I quickly have found make a Terry Pratchett book. I still have yet to read any of his books aimed at adults, but feel instinctively that nothing's missing here! In fact, I still have yet to read this book, as while looking at it here on Amazon, I clicked the sample "Listen" tab on the audio CD and was and am hooked. Cheers for Stephen Briggs' one-man ensemble cast! When I do read this book, which I can't wait to do, it will be his voices I hear in my head for each and every distinct character. This is my first ever audio CD purchase, but I certainly chose well, and am looking forward to sharing with my cousin on a visit this fall. We grew up on "The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show", with "Fractured Fairy Tales", which this reminds me of, with of course a mix of Monty Python thrown in for good measure!

The pied piper was never so funny. This happy story must be a take off of the potential of three mile island or Chernoble. Talking animals (OK the dog was ok, but Cats and Rats? YES!!!!!!!!!!! And their out look on live is well done yet again. Somehow I think Terry could also be a philosopher or maybe he is.

I love Terry Pratchett, but this is my favorite of all his books. Appropriate for all ages, I had to buy this new one for my granddaughter, who's eight.

I am have been a Terry Pratchett fan since I was in the 5th grade. This book is for "young adults" but I still love it. Very Pratchett-esque.

I just ought this for my daughter. I read it when I was younger, and I love all of Terry Pratchett's writings. This is a good introduction book to Disc World!!

Ive read all the disc world books. This one is sort of in. A separate field of endeavor. True it was written a fair long time ago. I took quite a while for me to want to keep reading it. Then it got better. Some of the ideas put forth about how we as humans relate with the animals around us comes through nicely

classic terry p

Despite the 9-12 suggested reading age that Amazon lists, this book is a lot more adult than I expected. I figured that the story would be dumbed down for the children, but I bought it anyway because I'm a Pratchett fanboi. Well, I was wrong. The story is easily on par with Pratchett's other Discworld novels, and doesn't appear to be dumbed down in the least. I didn't laugh as much reading this novel as I have when reading some of his previous works, but that's probably because this story is just a tad darker than some of the other Discworld novels. Still, it was a very enjoyable read, and I highly recommend it.

Perfectly silly book by a genius author! Classic Pratchett all the way.

Pratchett keeps his keen edge when writing for a young audience. In this book he's created characters who are relatively complex people trying to shape a society and find meaning in their lives, and oh yeah, they happen to be a colony of rats, led by an alley cat with con-man tendencies. The book is imaginative and engaging, with an adventurous and sometimes creepy story line. Great stuff.

Terry Pratchett has done it again! I am so glad to have this book as part of my collection. Well done!

Excellent novel with a good plot and great Pratchett characters. It is targeted at younger readers but this middle aged man really enjoyed reading it.

stories like this is another wonderful fairly tale.

Laughed so hard I had to periodically stop reading to avoid injury. It may be aimed at children, if so I must be young at heart.

I love Pratchett's books. Seriously, everything of his that I've read, I've loved. The dry humor and witty puns, the vibrant characters...just everything. I'm working on collecting every book of his.

Not the best Pratchett book, and a bit to complex for young readers, but it's entertaining and a clever story.

Cute and clever. It was a slow start and probably a poor introduction to Pratchett, but the quirky characters, and exciting plot turns kept me going, and the ending was so meaningful and apt!

It's Pratchett! What's not to like? The under current of a morality play is there as is the case with so many of his books but it's not intrusive. It's just good fun. Add to that the voices offered up by Stephen Briggs and it's magic.

This is set in Discworld, but the tone and satire of the other Discworld novels is missing. The book appears to be written for an 8th grade reader, (high Harry Potter to low George Orwell). The story was a little more serious than The Rats of NIMH, but an easier read than Tailchaser's Song. I don't recommend it to adults, nor is it a "junior" introduction to Discworld for the junior high reader. It is a quiet, solid, story. If you are looking for the humor of Discworld, you'll be disappointed

As an avid Discworld fan, I didn't know what to expect from the first entry written for young adult readers. This book almost flew under my radar. But after having found out about it (thank you Wikipedia), I read it and all doubt went away - This is, in every sense, a true Discworld work. Every bit as good as any other entry in the series. Despite being written for young adults, this award winning novel is not watered down at all. Pratchett continues to amaze.

Great deal!

As expected

i love terry pratchett and the whole family loves this book. its funny, filled with excitement and suitable for readers of all ages to enjoy. it is AMAZING!

Fantastic Pulp Sci Fi! I own the entire series. Humor, Magic, and Intelligence in one package.

If you think you don't like rats, this is a book that will make you reconsider. It is charming and exciting, but also quite hard going in sections, so it is not one of my favourites.

if you are a Terry Pratcheet fan, which I am, you can't help but love any book about Diskworld. This one of my wife's favorites

Terry Pratchett at his best. This is a fantastic story about society, morals, struggles, and talking rats. No prior storylines or knowledge about the discworld is needed. Only Pratchett could successfully give a clan of rodents and thier amazing cat such detailed and unique personalities. This is great to read to your kid, this is great to read for yourself.

Fantastical classical smart witty existential terry prachett quintessentially delivers a piece from a master. Clever, fun, adventurous, depth, wonderful joy to read

Another great classic remade by Terry Pratchett. This book is a good read for adults, even if it is written for young adults, and I can't wait to have my son read it.

Donation. It was hard to find books that I thought would be appropriate and this was one of few for boys.

Terry is amazing. In this book, Maurice and the Educated Rodents can talk to humans and they band together to rid the town of rats. Clever. Maurice eats only one mouse but he didn't know it could talk so now he asks mice if they can talk and if they can't, fair game. It's not too long of a book and you laugh through the entire book

I've been trying to distill my reviews to seventeen syllables. Here's an attempt. Here's a cat who can get the rodents to do his bidding; they all win.

Excellent gateway Pratchett for children. I loved it even as an adult. As always, a well-thought out story, sprinkled with awful good puns, and a bit of social education.

This was hilarious! Well-written, good plot twists, and funny. A true Pratchett. I really enjoyed reading it and so did my family.

Another great Terry Pratchett story, targeted to the younger reader, but definitely also much enjoyable by us older folks. I have come to think of it actually as a good starting point to explore the Pratchett universe. Recommended.

Terry Pratchett is the most amazing writer. His insight into what we really are is always eye opening. I would read anything he wrote

Bought this book hoping to convert my nephew to Sir Terry Pratchett writings. Mission complete!

Excellent book even for adults.

THIS BOOK AS ON MY SONS SUMMER READING LIST AND WAS SOLD OUT EVERYWHERE BUT HERE. PURCHASSED BOOK AND BOOK ARRIVED IN TIME FOR MY SON TO COMPLETE SUMMER PROJECT FOR SCHOOL.

well written, as all Pratchett's books are. Not a barn burner but well worth the time to read it. recommended

awesome, so enjoyed this story, I want to share it with others

Very entertaining as expected.

Great book for reading aloud to your kids at night!

Terry Pratchett's young adult books are a fun read for adults as well.

Although "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents" is listed as 'Young Adult', there is no reason why anyone who loves the Discworld series shouldn't enjoy this book, just as there would be no reason for an adult not to read the "Wee Free Men" series. There are references to literature, politics, human nature, that a young adult would have to be extremely well read to understand, (I'm not sure I understood all of them) and these, like all of Sir Terry's books, combine with his perfectly easily readable style, to make "The Amazing Maurice" simply a treat to read. For American readers, 'Maurice' reads like 'Morris'. As always, the book is a morality tale (tail!), perhaps less disguised than usual for a Pratchett novel; ah! is this where the 'young adult' classification has it's roots? But the morality is not what you think, it never is with Sir Terry. I came to this book late in life as a Pratchett reader, having read nearly everything he had written (2012). I was not disappointed, rather, I was happy to be reminded how wonderful Terry Pratchett's earlier works were.

what you would expect from terry pratchett a good read and entertaining can't think of anything else to say la la

This is highly entertaining. It has an interesting plot and point of view, and sympathetic rats.

Very entertaining! If you have ever cheered for the little guy, you will enjoy this book. Typical Pratchett humor at its best.

Just love Terry Pratchett's books, always fun to read

Loved it!

I purchased this as a gift for my daughter. It was exactly what she wanted. The book arrived promptly and in perfect condition.

good stuff, fast shipping

It's a clashing of good and evil in the guise of human nature. It describes acts of extreme bravery and acts of greed. The problems in one group of beings at war with another group of beings are shown from a different angle. It's an easy read with a bit of tension in it.

I found this one a bit tedious and predictable. The cat was really unlikable in the beginning, and the boy is boring and two-dimensional, which made it hard to get into the book. It doesn't involve any of the Discworld characters from any of the other books. The rat characters are well-developed, and I liked them. But I'm reading my way through the Discworld series, so I slogged through this one. The ending was pretty good, but not up to Pratchett's usual intense climax and the sort of epilogue that follows and ties up all the loose ends.

A young adult book an adult can enjoy because of Pratchett was one fine writer who could make characters kids can understand and adults can enjoy.

This is one of Sir PTerry's earlier books, suitable for both younger readers and older ones. Older readers will get more of the sly humor and references.

What can I say, it is Terry Pratchett. As with all things written or produced by this strange man: It is outstanding.

This is a delightful fantasy.

I'm in the process of reading through all of TP's books in published order. This one is another quick read with the usual characteristic humour, a bit of suspense and a wee bit of magic. Thoroughly enjoyable. -1 star as it's not set in Ankh Morpork. Or Lancre.

"Because, you see, you just think for many rats, but you don't think OF them." For this sentence alone, this book should be required reading for every idiot liberal arts student in the entire world. It's SO obvious, unless you're an Occupisher. When they come for YOUR neighbor, will YOU say anything? Tolkien is the only other comparable writer to Pratchett's books, but Pratchett does it better; it's more real, more human. We should mourn the fact that journalists like Pratchett are ...well, so few and far between. God bless you, Terry. May we find a cure.

Fun

liked it

Pratchett's books are never offensive and always entertaining, even when intended for kids. Why do I have to write 7more words?

I love this book!

lots of fun to read--looks like a childrens book but actually very smart--these are spare words for the review now

This book is a jem. One of my favorites out of the Discword series .

This is one of my favorite books. It is a children's book, but funny and interesting. Maurice is clever and funny. Well worth reading.

Pratchett, can't go wrong.

As I have not yet read this particular book I am faithfully giving it 5 stars. The entire series of adventures are so entertaining that I recommend any one to read this book. You would also enjoy "A Hatfull of Sky"

bless terry pratchett...this is one of his best!

Another classic

Great for kids

Quite an intense story, which 'fades' out too much at the end. Great language as usual with Pratchett, and plenty of words to look up in the dictionary.

A lesson for our time with some of my favorite Discworld characters.

One of the best reads of Terry Pratchett. Although a little dark - perhaps not something for young teens to read. Enjoyed it immensly as it was a bit of a different take on the Discworld.

Maybe I'm getting TP jaded, but his earlier works are funnier. This was very good, but pretty much to the point. Need to keep that blend of humor and drama.

Even though it takes place in the Discworld, it's not part of the series. It's written at about the 6th grade level, with none of the sarcasm or wit of the Disc books. I'd recommend it as a good book for that age level, even as a light introduction to the Discworld, but it's just a good kid's book.

I hadn't read this one before, I really enjoyed this take on the traditional 'talking cat' fairy tale. Well written and fun.

good but a bit involved

Sir Terry Pratchett deconstructing & reconstructing the Pied Piper as only he could. This is more of a young adult novel than an adult novel, but it is certainly well worth the time to sit down and consume it. You don't just read Prachett, you consume it.

Amazing story. One of his greatest

Good Pratchett, fun read!

Funny series.

Wonderful

nice read.

I doo not know what happened but I was reading two versions of the same story by page two it was obvious that somehow both pages were repeating and it was just horrible. Never before has a kindle download messed up.

Great Story!

An introduction to the wasteland of the UU magical garbage pile!

He can do no wrong

Xxxx Hate this rating thing that forces me to do this!!! Nine more words now and and and and and

Comments ONLY pertain to School-Library Binding- An insulting and wretched edition of a splendid book. For one thing, the cover art is different than that shown. This wouldn't be so bad unless, like me, you're trying to match cover styles for a gift- you see the cover, read 'library binding', and recall what the book at the library looks and feels like, not to mention its physical size. Yep, just what you wanted. Then this this fragrant little turd shows up. Turns out 'School-Library Binding' doesn't mean a durable, well-made book printed on nice stock and a pleasure to hold and read. It really means, 'cheap nasty mass market paperback with flimsy, glossy hard covers slapped on and no dust jacket'. Who knew? It's even the same size as a mass market paperback, but the hard cover destroys a paperback's ability to fairly easily tuck into a pocket. Perhaps I should have read the description a bit more carefully, but I had seen and purchased the version pictured before, so it just never occurred to me. Also, I have yet to see something this awful on a library shelf that doesn't have a paper cover instead of the chintzy cardboard. If you 'look inside!', you do get a warning that this is a different edition. But no visual reference as to what it truly looks like. I had no need look inside, since I knew the book already. Had I any idea that travesties like this existed, you can bet that I'd have never ordered. This isn't a book-it's a cruel hoax. Mr. Pratchett's incandescent words deserve better. I ordered this embarrassment for a friend's birthday. She also deserves better. That said, it's a helluva tale. Being Pratchett, though, that's pretty much a given. Zero stars for the edition, ten for the writing. Speaking of fragrant, it smells bad, too-like bargain basement newsprint. Epic fail as a physical book. It's already packed up for return.

While this is a great work of literature, the "hardback" edition I purchased was the crappy paperback edition with some hard cardboard covers slapped on. Labeling this edition "hardback" is an act of fraud. Whoever allowed this to happen should be deeply ashamed and drummed out of the publishing business. I ended up returning this and going to Alibris to buy a true hardback edition from a charity that supports local libraries.

This book won Britain's most prestigious award for children's literature. It's a twist on the Pied Piper, featuring anthropomorphic, sentient, talking animals: Maurice, a cat, and a bunch of rats with funny names. They travel from town to town with a boy, scamming people into paying for the services of a pied piper to rid the town of a sudden rat infestation. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy the story. In a good fantasy story, I feel immersed in the fantasy world. I never felt engaged with this world. I enjoy animal stories. I would give five stars to books such as Animal Farm, Charlotte's Web, Watership Down, Plague Dogs, Call of the Wild, White Fang, Aesop's Fables, and even David Sedaris's strange and disturbing Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk. However, this one fell flat for me. Much praise has been heaped on this book. It's "a brilliant twist on the tale of the Pied Piper." Well, yes, it's an alternate version, but is it "brilliant" to make it a scam? It's "dark and subversive." Yes, but even animated Disney movies feature dark and evil characters. There's nothing new about dark themes and characters in children's stories. It's "funny and irreverent." Yes, but in a dry British way. Some parts didn't make sense. For example, the cat, Maurice, couldn't fathom how to open doors with handles. But Maurice is as smart as a human; after all, he can create and execute a plan to scam humans. Even ordinary cats can learn how to open doors, flush toilets, and play piano. If you don't believe me, check it out on YouTube. :-) This is my first Terry Pratchett book. I'm going to try one of Pratchett's adult novels.

For many years, I have heard of Terry Pratchett, but have never read any of his work. This came to light in 2015, when Pratchett died, and many fans of his work came forward to express their condolences. At that point, I hadn’t considered reading any of his work, but the outpouring of love for the recently deceased author made me reconsider. Consequently, I added some Pratchett books to my “to read” list and eventually chose The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents for my first foray into the written world of Terry Pratchett. I certainly picked well, as it won the Carnegie Medal in the year it was written. I was a little worried that I would be lost coming into the Discworld series at anywhere other than the beginning, but since this book was written for children, it made it simple to ease into the universe Pratchett created. What I found most amusing about The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents was how self-aware and tongue-in-cheek it was. Talking animals are by no means a new concept in children’s literature, but Pratchett managed to show how ridiculous this idea was in the real world while also providing a somewhat solid explanation for how it happened. The one aspect of this book that stood out the most was how British its humor was. I almost felt like I was listening to a Monty Python skit or an Aardman Animation movie as I worked my way through this audiobook. For those who appreciate British humor (or, I guess humour, as they spell it over there), I would highly recommend this book, as it’s certainly witty and made me chuckle on quite a few occasions. This humor overcomes the fact that the plot is a little confusing to follow in places as it jumps between different characters, but overall it’s a solid story. An instant children’s classic with loads of British humour, I give The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents 4.0 stars out of 5.

Terry Pratchett gives us a rat's-eye view of the Discworld - or at least its cellars - in The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. Billed as a riff on the Pied Piper story, it's actually much more than a fractured fairy tale - laugh-out-loud funny, philosophical and dark by turns. What might happen to a group of rats that gain intelligence and self-awareness from eating magical garbage? Perhaps they'd explore the same questions as our human ancestors thousands of years ago. This clan of Discworld rats develops a conscience, a sense of good and evil and notions of an afterlife. Most important of all, they learn to work together - with help from Maurice, a fast-talking cat, and two children: Malicia - obsessed with stories, and Keith - a stupid-looking kid who's more than he seems. Pratchett managed to explore heavy themes such as the meaning and purpose of existence, the fear of death and how to tell right from wrong without ever sacrificing the excitement or humor of the story. I was enthralled throughout, in no small part to Stephen Briggs' wonderful narration. He brought an extra dimension to Pratchett's already rich characterizations, and his two-bit gangster voice for Maurice was to die for. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but Maurice may have replaced Greebo in my affections as the most amazing cat in all of Discworld.

The Amazing Maurice is one of the very few Discworld books I hadn't read before the death of Terry Pratchett, and for some reason I thought it was a relatively minor work. Maybe I was fooled by its labeling as a children's book, or maybe the title made me expect something cuter, or for even younger ages. But I should have known better; anyone who's read the Tiffany Aching books knows that Pratchett makes little distinction in subject material, writing, or theme between his "adult" and his "young adult" books, and The Amazing Maurice is no exception. In theory, The Amazing Maurice is Pratchett's take on the story of the Pied Piper, only with the cat and mice being intelligent, the piper being mostly a front, and the whole operation being a scam. But when the crew decides to pull one last job before getting away and end up in a town where something darker is lurking, everything goes haywire. As you'd expect from Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice is pretty frequently hilarious, playing with the expectations we have about stories, having a gleeful blast with its intelligent creatures, and just generally subverting expectations every chance it gets. But also as you'd expect from Pratchett, it's thematically rich, dealing with the ramifications of bettering yourself, fighting with your own nature, the risks of believing stories and fables, and so much more. And then, when you least expect it, it gets dark, with the creatures dealing with a very different evil than you might expect, and one that explores the book's themes in a rich new direction. In short, it's Pratchett doing what he always does, and taking a theoretically simple story and making it funnier, more complicated, and just plain richer than it has any right being. And while it's not a top-tier Discworld book, it's still a really good one - and it's worth remembering that even a mediocre Discworld book (of which there are maybe 1 or 2, tops) is better than almost anything else you'll read. It may not be Mort or Thief of Time, but it's funny, engaging, thoughtful, charming, hilarious, exciting, thrilling, and just typically great.

I'm about to finish reading this book the second time, this time out loud to my sons. And wow, is it hard to get through some of the last scenes without dissolving into tears. Don't let the fact that this is considered a children's or YA book fool you into thinking it's dumbed down. The only real differences between this book and the Tiffany Aching books relative to other Discworld books are that they have chapters and younger leading characters. Otherwise, the stories are just as profound and insightful. In fact, this is one of the darker entries. It was actually a little too intense for one of my sons. It occupies a space between The Rats of Nimh and Watership Down in terms of rodent on rodent (and occasionally cat on rodent) violence. The book is fun for kids but more mature readers will enjoy the exploration of morality and theology. And if a certain scene featuring a cameo by a couple of beloved Discworld characters doesn't reduce you to tears, I don't know what to say. Without giving too much away, people who complain of a certain character's likability at first fail to realize the importance of character growth, and it is that character growth from beginning to end that drives the emotional impact of this scene home. I was crying when I read it aloud, and I'm tearing up now just thinking about it.

Of all the reviews I have on amazon and on Goodreads, the one I get the most comments on is my review of Warriors #: Into the Wild by Erin Hunter. All of those comments are negative. What I said in my review is that the cats in the book are not cats. They don't think like cats, they don't act like cats, they do things that cats cannot possibly do. The comments that I get are all variations of "It's fiction, dummy," or something more strongly worded. This book, Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, has a talking cat in it. This cat is still a cat. The talking rats are still rats. They think like rats and they act like rats. Each of the animals struggles with becoming something more than what its species has been, or what they as individuals were, before the Change. They are engaging, funny, and insightful as they struggle with the new concepts of morality and mortatlity. Is it right to eat a dead friend? They've always done it in the past. What has changed? Can they trust the cat, Maurice, to be anything but a cat, even though he always asks his food if it can talk before consuming it? While you might think a book about talking animals is for children, I don't think that is true. A child might enjoy this book but he/she will not appreciate it to its fullest. If you want to read something that is light and funny yet deep and satisfying, you can't do better than this.

At first glance Maurice is nothing more than a simple stray cat. But behind that shabby black fur lies a mastermind that knows no equals. Sadly enough living in a cat’s body is not exactly the best starting point for concocting evil plans. Luckily Maurice is able talk, as a side effect of something magical that went horribly wrong. This way is able to educate his own Pied Piper. Now, all he needs is an army of trained rodents. Refreshing is maybe that best adjective to characterize this Discworld episode aimed at younger readers. Whereas Pratchett’s usual style is already playful and silly, he clearly was not feeling limited while addressing that specific demographic. With no holds barred on the area of the fantastic, he weaves a story that captures your deepest childlike imagination, something we can never get too much of, I believe. No, it certainly is not the best plot the author ever designed, but it certainly delivers in keeping the pace of the story alive. Even more than in his other novels he manages to characterize the players in a just a brilliant lines of text, such that it becomes very hard to suppress a snicker while reading. Certainly when Maurice needs to play his best cards not to get discovered by the humans it gives birth to some scenes that might be competing with the best Pratchett has written. So If you’re feeling playful and are in for a quick read, remember The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents and you will not be disappointed.

A talking cat, a musical kid and a band of educated rats roll into a town where something is very wrong in Terry Pratchett's hilarious fantasy set in his Discworld universe. This fractured fairy tale is slyly funny without the overdose of whimsy that Pratchett indulges in with most of the Discworld novels. The rats and Maurice the cat have genuine character arcs, and the brave death of the alpha rat genuinely moves us. There's real heart here and something that both kids and their parents can enjoy. Once upon a time, there was a group of rats who lived in a garbage pile outside a school for wizards on Discworld. They ate the nubbins of candlesticks and the leftover dregs of green glop that the magicians boiled up and as a result, they suddenly acquired the ability to speak. So did Maurice, a cat, who befriended the rats and made it a point never to eat one that could talk. (He acquired his power of speech from eating one of the "changelings" but that was before he knew better.) Maurice has come up with a way for him, the rats and the kid they've adopted (a young musician named Keith) to make money. The rats aren't entirely clear on why they need to make money, but Maurice is persuasive. It takes a bit for us to settle into the construct that Pratchett has created, but before long, we've fallen right into a world where cats and rats can talk after ingesting magical garbage. (Maurice didn't eat garbage directly--he has a rule about eating anything that glows--but he did munch on one of the changeling rats and so changed himself by proxy.) The animals are a little wary of their new status (they are especially freaked out by dreams) and they're still trying to figure out how to negotiate the world as a clan rather than as individual rats. (When the rats get a whiff of the Rat King and revert to their old ways in panic, it several of the more thoughtful rats. The subtle shifting of power between the rats contending for power is handled with as much shading as any political maneuvering in the real world of men. The scene where Maurice sacrifices one of his lives so that a little rat can live is genuinely moving. (It's also funny because it features Death and a small, rat-sized GRIM SQUEAKER as well.) It's helpful, but not essential, for people to know the original Pied Piper story, a dark-tinged tale that really shows the Brothers Grim at their grimmest. (In keeping with the skewed nature of Discworld, which is much like our own world, only more magical, the main fairy tale spinners in the realm are women.) The Rat King and his manipulation of other animals is genuinely scary (and according to the author, such things genuinely exist). The scenes where the rats confront the Rat King and his evil make an excellent finale to a story that then moves off in a different direction to cap off a multi-leveled con job. (Maurice, who engineered the "pied piper con", decides he really doesn't want to settle down to a soft life of cream and naps and follows a young man on a new adventure.) There's a lot here, from a tale of grand adventure to examples of courage. (You're never too small to be brave. You can accomplish a lot with your friends.) Pratchett has some gentle lessons to impart but he never rams them down our throats.

A band of travellers from Ankh-Morpork have arrived in the town of Bad Blintz. The band consists of a boy with a flute named Keith, a tomcat called Maurice and a lot of rats. A lot of very smart rats. However, as the town suffers from a curiously well-timed rat infestation and Keith and Maurice prepare to enact 'the scam', it becomes clear that something else is at work in the sewers and tunnels under the town. Something that takes an interest in the curiously smart rodents... The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents was Terry Pratchett's first Discworld novel aimed at younger readers, released in 2001. It was, arguably, the novel that finally broke Pratchett in the USA, where it won the Carnegie Medal and won more notice than his previous books (which had been a cult success at best). Subsequent Discworld books began to hit the New York Times bestseller lists, finally giving Pratchett some Stateside success after almost two decades as Britain's biggest-selling author (well, until the arrival of a certain J.K. Rowling). It's an interesting novel, most notably because Pratchett makes exactly zero concessions to his apparently intended audience. The novel is written in the same manner as his adult books and in fact is actually among the most disturbing Discworld novels, with the revelation of the antagonist in the book being one of Pratchett's more revolting moments. It may have talking rats in it, but the tone is closer to Watership Down (complete with some pretty savage fights and deaths) than to Beatrix Potter. Pratchett seems to do this deliberately, with the rats' belief in a utopian future of animal cooperation stemming from reading a children's book called Mr. Bunnsy Has An Adventure, which becomes a totem of their tribe. Pratchett paints the internal divisions of the rat gang and each character in some detail, with his traditional economic-but-effective storytelling. The book has a darker tone than most of his novels, and whilst there are still a few laughs here, it's a more intense book than many of the Discworld series. It's also quite snappy, coming in at a breezy 270 pages, avoiding the bloat some of the more recent Discworld books have suffered from. Pratchett sets up his plot and characters, tell his story with impressive depth and characterisation and gets out all in the time that some more traditional fantasy authors are still using to clear their throats. The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (****) is Pratchett at his more impressive, telling a darker story than normal but with his trademark wit and skills at character-building. It's also a complete stand-alone, with no connections at all to the rest of the Discworld series and can be read completely independently. It is available now in the UK and USA.

This discworld book is funny and engaging and an excellent read. The plot is simple: some rats and a cat have gotten into a wizards' dump and became intelligent, and now they travel from town to town doing a pied piper routine. That is, the intelligent rats go into people's houses and freak them out, and then a boy working with them comes along and plays a pipe and draws them all away, for money. But now the rats are developing a conscience, and they don't want to rip people off anymore. So they all agree to take one more town to the cleaners and then call it quits. But Bad Blintz isn't like other towns. Something strange is going on there, and it will take all the intelligence of the rats, the cat and the boy to figure out what it is and deal with it. They find an ally in the mayor's daughter, Malicia, and must take on several dangerous enemies, and along the way they deal with issues of leadership, religion, faith in each other and faith in the stories they've created for themselves to live by. This book is intended for younger readers, but I'm a 48 year old man and enjoyed this book just fine. It's written at a high level and will be challenging for younger readers as well as fun for adults. The book is set in Terry Pratchett's discworld, but you don't need to know a thing about the discworld to enjoy the book. Everything you need is explained in the book itself, you don't need to have read a single other discworld book. Settle in, snuggle up and enjoy!

I'd love to live in a world where cats and rats talked, although around here they'd probably only say things like, "Not dry food again," or "Don't touch that piece of cheese." However, in the middle school book by Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, a cat and a group of rats can not only talk, but they plot, scheme, and foil evildoers. Pratchett, the author of this children's story (that adults will love too), tells a lively, humorous tale starring Maurice, a scruffy con artist of a cat; Dangerous Beans, a thoughtful albino rat who ponders the meaning of their newfound intelligence; Darktan, a streetwise rat bristling with derring-do; and Peaches, a female rat who is the conscience of the group. Many other rats have walk-on parts. Two humans appear in supporting roles: Keith, a quiet boy who plays musical instruments, and Malicia, the Mayor's daughter, who tries to make everything that happens turn out like a story in a book. As the story opens, Maurice and the rats arrive at a new town and the cat convinces the rats to pull the same trick they've used in other towns: the rats will invade all the homes and swim in the cream, widdle on the muffins, and generally make nuisances of themselves. Then Maurice will negotiate a fee with the town Mayor for removing the rats. When the fee has been paid, Keith will play a flute and "lure" the rats out of town. But the scheme goes wrong when the Maurice and the others discover that the local rat catchers are up to no good and that deep beneath the town lives a mysterious something that has the power to control minds. This book for middle school readers has as many twists and turns as the dark, creepy tunnels beneath the town where it is set. The dialogue is witty and I laughed out loud many times. I found some scenes touching as well--who knew I would care what happens to rats? The plot is like a good soup--it keeps thickening; new threats keep popping up to make things worse. Danger and death lurk around every corner and even wily, selfish Maurice the cat rises to heroism.

I have always been told that, as a fan of fantasy and humor, I needed to read Terry Pratchett. And after reading THE AMAZING MAURICE AND HIS EDUCATED RODENTS, I now understand what everyone was talking about. Pratchett's style is simultaneously witty, entertaining, and incisive; he succeeds in this children's book in saying more about society than most adult books ever manage, and he does so while making you laugh out loud. Set in an obscure corner of Discworld, the fantasy world in which Pratchett has written numerous other books for adults, a cat named Maurice discovers suddenly the ability to talk--and not just to talk, but to think and to reason. Maurice believes himself to be the only animal afflicted with this talent, until he discovers a group of rats living in the city dump who have also miraculously achieved the ability of speech and thought. As Maurice is emphatic about his promise to never eat anything that can talk, he and the talking rats get along rather well. Soon, along with the help of an orphan boy named Keith who was raised by a musician's guild, Maurice sets upon a scheme to make some easy money, and the rats go along in their belief that they may someday find a place where they will be free to live as talking rats without the fear of being hunted by humans. Maurice's plan is simple. If the rats will go and infest a town, wreaking havoc for the space of a few days, the town leaders will be sure to call a rat piper to remove the rats from the town. Then it's Keith's job to show up, pipe the rats away, and receive a generous fee for his troubles, one that the rats and Maurice will share. Keith, Maurice, and the rats go like this from town to town...until they reach the town of Bad Blintz, and everything stops working as planned. The story is populated by humorous characters that you can't help but take seriously. Maurice's sly cunning is undermined by the fact that he meticulously questions any rat he comes across before eating it, in order to keep up his first promise to the talking rats. The rats themselves are amusing individuals, self-named after the first things they could read in that city dump where they originated, so that the story is populated by creatures who go by Hamnpork, Darktan, Sardines, and Dangerous Beans. But under these hilarious names, they are at heart a people trying to figure out their own origins and explain the things they don't yet understand about their sudden ability to speak, and what that means for their future. I would recommend this book to anyone who's not afraid to laugh, and anyone who's not afraid to think hard about the ramifications of being a person--or rat, or cat--capable of speech, thought, and reason. Reviewed by: Candace Cunard

This "children's book" is classic Terry Pratchett!! It's part of the wonderful Discworld series that has an enormous following! I don't know how Pratchett was able to make so many people of different ages and backgrounds fall in love with the characters in his books, but he makes this magic real. He can somehow find humanity in the most desperate of times. The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents is a timeless classic that even people who've never read a Discworld book would appreciate. I, myself, have gifted this book to friends with and without children. It certainly didn't read like a typical children's book. You just get so caught up in the story. One way this book differs from other Discworld books, is that I didn't have to google the definition of unfamiliar words!

What would happen if a cat and some rats all CHANGED such that they could talk to one another, and think, and plan adventures of questionable legality? What would happen if Terry Pratchett used this premise as a story? The answer to these questions is "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents," which is witty, hilarious, and thoughtful all at the same time. The story takes us into the thoughts of Maurice the cat, and the rats he hangs with. Unlike many other stories from the point-of-view of the animals, Pratchett takes the premise itself as an issue for the characters themselves. They all - Maurice and the rats - remember life before the Change, and deal with the effects after it. "Maurice wasn't like other cats anymore. Other cats were, suddenly, stupid. Maurice started to hang around with the rats instead. They were someone to talk to." Maurice's approach is very pragmatic. The rats, on the other hand, "spent a lot of time worrying about why they were suddenly so clever." The rat Dangerous Beans is the one most preoccupied with that mystery. He is an albino runt with very poor eyesight. And a restless, changed mind. To propel this unlikely, but fascinating, premise, Pratchett employs the Pied Piper plot. More correctly, Maurice employs that plot, for financial gain. Finding a "stupid kid" with a pennywhistle, Maurice hatches a plan to pay for this odd troupe's way in the world. It's a variant of the protection racket: they'll find a little town with no major rat problem, infest it with their own clever rodents, terrorize the inhabitants, and then bring in the kid with the pipe to save the day. For a handsome fee. The book begins with the troupe spying out their newest target. We see how they work together to dupe the local bourgeoisie out of some money and power, and get a taste of the thinking of cats and rats as Pratchett imagines it. Then the story takes us to a town with a mystery: no rats at all. Soon our heroes are themselves in danger, and theirs isn't the only scheme going down. Amidst trying to solve this mystery, and keep themselves alive, they all ask some very hard questions - about the nature of their `cleverness,' the future of their cooperative relationship, and the burdens and responsibilities of conscious thought. I applaud Pratchett for his skill in telling an enjoyable story with characters worth rooting for, and wrestling with questions and issues worth tackling.

While this is technically a Discworld novel (even Death makes a cameo appearance), it's really an independent story intended for young adult readers. However, Pratchett (like Heinlein) writes books for younger readers that actually appeal to all readers. The thing is, the wizards of Unseen University have a toxic spell-dump behind their institution that often has unpredictable effects on living (and previously nonliving) things. In this case, the rats that live and take their meals there find themselves with suddenly advanced intelligence. They learn to think, to act in concert, to read, to wear selected clothing and use weapons, and to dream of a utopian future. However, Maurice, who has also become intelligent, is a cat with imagination and the soul of a con man, and he organizes a Pied Piper scam with the aid of the rats and a stupid-looking young musician named Keith. And they're making good money, until they choose as their next target the town of Bad Blintz, where a mysterious and very dangerous force is at work among the rats and rat-catchers. As his fans know, Pratchett understands the feline psychology, and Maurice is a hoot: "Cats are good at steering people. A miaow here, a purr there, a little gentle pressure with a claw . . . and Maurice had never had to think about it before. Cats didn't have to think. They just had to know what they wanted. Humans had to do the thinking. That's what they were for." But it turns out he also knows a lot about the social life of rats. (He read "more about rats than is good for me," he says in the Afterword.) Among the rats, there's the practical engineer with a military bent, the old-fashioned boss who distrusts change, the nearly blind intellectual mystic, the politically astute lieutenant (and tap dancer), the loyal young female -- all the characters you would expect in an epic. The dialogue is believable (and not nearly as off the wall as in the "mainstream" Discworld novels), the characterization is spot on (especially Malicia, the mayor's daughter, who considers life just one long fairy tale and packs accordingly), and Pratchett never hesitates to bring in a bit of shocking truth. An excellent book.

Although it doesn't involve any of the recurring characters (except of course, Death) this book takes place on the Discworld. If you're not familiar with Terry Pratchett's writing, the Discworld is a British humor parody of the fantasy genre as a whole . . . well, it started out just as that; I don't think that summary does it justice any longer . . . anywho. This is the story of a cat and a group of rats who through a magical accident became intelligent. Along with the help of a young boy who likes to play music, they work together to run a "rat piper" scam in various towns they travel through. At least, that's how things stand until they reach Bad Blintz. Here they find something truly terrible that transforms all of them. (They also meet a girl named Malicia Grim, a grand-daughter of the Grim sisters, writers of some disturbingly gory fairy tales (much like most fairy tales were before Disney got ahold of them) but I don't know if I want to describe characters in depth right now.)) If read attentively, this is a surprisingly deep book. It's an adventure story with talking animals, yes; but it's also a story about how community and morality are formed, what it means to be a leader, and why widdling on someone's grave isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's a book about the power of stories, the ones we tell ourselves about ourselves and the ones we tell each other about how the world works. Don't get me wrong, the story never gets bogged down in abstract speculation or bland moralizing. Instead it's like a Sunday school teacher in a dunking booth, educational and yet hilarious at the same time. While I certainly think this book is worthy of awards, I'm amazed that it got a Carnegie Medal for children's books. Pratchett is almost always funny, but this is also a dark and occasionally disturbing book. . . . All that to say, highly recommended.

This ... this is a bit of a go at the Pied Piper story. With a touch of Puss in Boots. And practically every fluffy bunny story every written. Mostly told by Maurice and an assemblage of Changed, and quite educated, rats. The story is starts off simple. Talking cat, smart rats, stupid-looking kid with whistle. Go into town, plague of rats, pay stupid-looking kid money to drive rats out. Move on to next town. Easy money. That is, until they get to Bad Blintz, an apparently ratless town that doesn't seem to know they're ratless. Then things get a little ... interesting. There's a definite vein of silliness lurking in the background, even with all the seriousness of killing and talks of death going on. I do love the rat names: Dangerous Beans, Nourishing, Hamnpork, Peaches, Sardines (in fact, I love everything about Sardines) and Darktan. I love how the rats are still rats and not all 'Mr. Bunnsy'. A little reminiscent of the Mrs Frisby and the Rats of N.I.M.H. or Watership Down there (and, the occasional time, The Tale of Desperaux). Only with a nicer ending. And the ending ... classic Pratchett twist there.

Its a Discworld tale aimed at younger readers (ages 9-12) but I dont care. Its a DISCWORLD novel, people! Besides, if kids can enjoy the "regular" Discworld books, why cant an adult enjoy this one? Terry Pratchett (TP) does not patronise his target audience in this novel. The storyline tackles heavy issues but done in such a way that it wont turn off the younger mindset. Such is TP's creativity that he's able to tell a tale for his younger fans without appearing to be a doddering old man preaching to the kiddies. In fact, his fans of all ages will laugh themselves silly at the ever present humour, though the young 'uns will enjoy it more as the references are more recognisable to them. The regular Discworld characters do not make an appearance (Death has a cameo, though) but again that does not affect the story for veteran Disc fans...although events that happened in other Disc books are hinted at, which is nice. Besides, this is an "Amazing Maurice" novel, so let the cat and his rats shine. TP has parodied Shakespeare's plays, Hollywood, politics, murder mysteries and err...Australia in his previous works and this time its the turn of the Brothers Grimm 'Pied Piper' fairy tale. Maurice the cat runs a very profitable scam involving the rodents and a naive kid who can play a pipe but this being a Discworld book, things soon go pear-shaped real quick. There is evil about and it does not like cats. All in all, TP has once again created lovable characters to populate the Discworld and join the ranks of fan favourites like DEATH, the Patrician, Granny Weatherwax, Commander Vimes and the Librarian (oook!). I hope there will be other books featuring Maurice and/or the rats in either the regular Discworld books or this "Young Readers" set. My only criticism is the cover. Why oh why do the Discworld novels published in the US cant have great cover art like its UK counterpart??? This novel suffers the same fate as the regular Disc novels published in the US -- boring covers. Go to amazon.co.uk to see what I mean.

Let me give you an example of how seriously this author can mess with your mind: I was watching a CNN news clip concerning a New York City Taco Bell restaurant that was infested with rats, and I actually leaned forward to see if I could spot the tap-dancing rat (his name is Sardines). Pratchett rules! "The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents" is about a leader (Hamnpork, not to be mistaken for Moses) who dies before he enters the Promised Land (an island without humans). The holy book of his people ("Mr. Bunnsy Has an Adventure") is torn apart and thrown into a sewer. His followers are in disarray. Who can a rat turn to for help? Well, there's Darktan (picture John Wayne playing a tough-but-tender-hearted-rat-sergeant), who treats his recruits in the trap-disabling squad with a sort of gruff-tough love. There's also Maurice, the shifty, jiving cat who could be played by Will Smith (with the addition of two chewed-up ears and a case of the mange). Maurice used to hang around the dump behind the Unseen University, where the wizards discarded their trash. He was just a regular alley cat until he ate a rat that had been nibbling candle-ends in the wizard's dump. Now he and the rats can talk and think. Whereas the rats used to eat books, now they read them. Maurice acquires a stupid-looking street musician and together with the rats, they roam from village to village on Discworld, pulling the old Pied Piper scam. The rats invade the targeted village, widdling in the flour, gnawing on the sausages, and (yes) tap-dancing across kitchen floors with a straw hat and cane. The kid with the flute shows up, pipes the rats out of town, and is given a bag of money by the grateful villagers. Unfortunately for Maurice, his educated rats are acquiring ethics along with intelligence. They decide to hit one more village before retiring to the Promised Island---the village of Bad Blintz in the mountains of Uberwald. And as all serious Discworld fans know, there are stranger creatures in Uberwald than tap-dancing rats. I see that this book has been turned into a play, and other subterfuges for educating children, but it's still pretty good Pratchett although a bit preachier than usual. The characters are as weird and wonderful as anything on Discworld and you DON'T want to miss the scene where the stupid-looking kid and his tale-spinning friend confront the real rat catchers. What a perfect revenge!

Terry Pratchett's Discworld series has topped British bestseller lists for years and has a sizable fanbase in the United States as well. Now, with rodent adventure "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents," Pratchett expands Discworld from adult fantasy to young adult fantasy as well. A boy, a cat, and a troupe of rats arrive at the town of Bad Blintz. But while Keith is normal, feline Maurice and his "educated rodents" are not -- they speak, think, and are self-aware (they ate wizards' garbage). And they have a nice racket going, where the rats pretend to infest a town (they gnaw things and "widdle" on the flour), and Keith poses as a piper to lead them away. But something is wrong with Bad Blintz -- there are no native rats, yet the rat-catchers claim that there's an outright plague of them, and are producing rat-tails to prove it. (They bear a remarkable resemblance to shoelaces) With the help of a too-imaginative-for-her-own good girl named Malicia, Keith and Maurice begin to investigate why all the rats are gone, and what the rat-catchers are up to. But when they discover the conspiracy, Maurice starts hearing the voice of something down in the sewers -- something evil, something powerful, something that can command hundreds of rats... Pratchett is reknowned for his new spins on old material. Much as he gave a new spin to MacBeth in "Wyrd Sisters," here he gives a new spin to the "Pied Piper" legend, with some interesting philosophy and his trademarked humor as well. Does the idea of talking animals and preteens make you cringe? Don't -- Pratchett handles it with rare style. There's plenty of humor in this book, from the names of the rats (Dangerous Beans, Additives, Big Savings, Toxie) to Sardines, the tap-dancing rat with a hat to the incident with the laxatives. His dialogue is still brilliant, especially when he deflates tense scenes ("Think of my dear wife and my four lovely children who'll be without their daddy!" "You're not married. You don't have any children!" "I might want some day!"). But Pratchett doesn't forget the deeper currents either -- the sense of evil he builds up is very genuine, and Spider is one of the most unique fantasy villains he's created. Also good is the attitude of the Changed rats: they cherish their greater intelligence, fear their instincts, and gradually we see them overcome some of those ratty instincts. Rather than eating one of their dead, they bury him like humans do. Keith is a nice character, seeming dim but surprisingly intelligent. Maurice is the character that Pratchett does best -- he seems, initially, to have no good characteristis, but he's a good person underneath. (With a dirty little secret involving one of the rats) The Educated Rodents are all given individual personalities that Pratchett juggles very well. And Dangerous Beans, a little blind rat, has one of the best scenes in which he confronts the mysterious Spider. "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents" isn't actually that different from Pratchett's adult fantasies, and older fans of that series will enjoy this one just as much as the kids. Witty, thought-provoking, entertaining.

On the Discworld, even wizards produce leftovers. Their discarded garbage, however, is laced with traces of magic. Out on the tip, the rats forage in the scraps - apple cores, candle stubs [good carbohydrate source], dogends. Like any trace mineral, the magic builds up until the rats have changed, gaining new talents. Among those talents are speaking and reading. Speaking allows them to communicate better while the reading gives them words to use as names. They're an organized group now, and they have an ambition. They want to find a safe place for retirement. They have a mentor, Maurice, a cat who shares their talents, but has an extra one of his own - he's a con cat. And he has a story hidden away. A street smart feline, Maurice has learned the value of money. He knows how humans use it, and he wants the independence it offers. To gain it, he's organized the rats and adopted Keith, a rather simple human, into his group. Together, they work the towns to create a "plague of rats" then provide a piper, Keith, to lure them away - for cash. Despite disputes over percentages, the team has scored many successful ventures. But Keith, and the rats, are having misgivings over the ethics of the con. They want to quit, and Bad Blintz will be the last place they work the con. Every venture has its risks. Bad Blintz is clearly not a rich place. The villagers queue up for bread and sausages, which are in short supply. There are rat catchers who carry strings of tails, but the team can't find a live rat anywhere in the maze of cellars and tunnels beneath the town. In resolving this conundrum, team encounters a powerful new force - one that challenges all the skills given them by the wizards' residue magic. Their very survival rests on how they deal with the mystery. Its resolution is consummately Pratchett. Terry Pratchett's books increasingly delve into philosophical questions, even moral ones. It would be nice to know if he actually intended this book for "children." You'll note above that the publishers call for "Reader Level Ages 9 - 12," but the editorial reviews say "12 and up." The disparity is typical Pratchett. Why the lack of consensus? One guess is that Pratchett thinks the adult mind set is too rigid to discern the point he's making. This book isn't a fantasy about "talking animals," it's a spur to stimulate thinking about the relationship of humanity to the rest of the animal kingdom. We're part of that kingdom, but we deal with our relations in ignorance. Children, and a few adults, are best suited to begin revising that approach. With human society devastating the habitats of so many creatures, a new way of thinking about them is required. Pratchett's conclusion shows that the process won't be simple and we have to start thinking now about how to do it. Who better to start with than children? They still have the capacity to learn. It's almost superfluous to discuss Pratchett's writing. He's a master of language and a skilled manipulater of ideas. If you are new to his work, this is a fine place to start. If you're an established fan, there's nothing here to disappoint you. Add this book to your library and buy another for someone. Anyone. They'll surely be grateful.

A stupid looking young boy arrives in the town of Bad Blintz, along with a scruffy looking cat and a troop of rats. This is the Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents. No, Maurice isn't the boy. Maurice is the cat, who talks and is the brains of the operation. Maurice is, to put it bluntly, a con artist. The rodents also talk, courtesy of the garbage pile behind the wizard's university. They are intelligent and self aware, and in fact are evolving their own system of ethics and religion. They do this in between running scams on towns where the rats invade people's homes, eating their food, widdling in the cream, and then the boy pipes them out of town. Oh, by the way, this is a Discworld novel. Knowing that might make all this more understandable. In Bad Blintz, things don't go the usual way. They can find no regular rats, but food is disappearing at an incredible rate, and the two town rat catchers are coming up with a huge number of rat tails to show what they're catching. And a girl named Malicia Grim sees through the boy and Maurice right off the bat. Soon the merry band is embroiled in a life or death adventure. The story is adventure, comedy, mystery, a bit of horror and a commentary on society. The plot moves swiftly and I couldn't wait to see what happened next. But the best part was watching the rats (and Maurice) develop emotionally and philosophically. They aren't just animals who can speak about their instincts; they are now self aware and capable of thinking in the abstract. Great stuff!

Maurice (a talking cat), Keith the stupid-looking kid, and a clan of intelligent talking rats have a good thing going. Keith can play the penny-whistle and the rats can manage a rat infestation better than anyone. The Pied Piper had nothing on their scam. At least until the rats' increasing intelligence starts to come with the price of a conscience. They finally agree on one last job--but the existing rat catchers in Bad Blintz (author Terry Pratchett always picks good town names) have their own plots going and their schemes look like bad news for Maurice and the clan. Pratchett has created a tongue-in-cheek fairy tale set in his Discworld. The rats and Maurice struggle with the dawning of conscience--Maurice always gives his victims a chance to talk before he eats them, with their place in the world, and with the powerful rat-king who wants to use their power for war against the humans. Human characters, especially Keith and Malicia, play supporting roles but the real stars in this novel. Malicia's (often successful) attempts to create a story out of life frustrate Keith while providing worthwhile lessons (if you aren't making the story, you're a bit character in someone else's story) for both other characters and the readers. Overall, though, the rats--all given amusing names they selected from reading labels (Dangerous Beans is a favorite) are the most interesting characters and characters with the most compelling character arcs. I sat down to read THE AMAZING MAURICE AND HIS EDUCATED RODENTS, and didn't get up until I'd finished it--with a lot of laughs in the process. This novel probably won't change your life, but it just might.

This is my first Pratchett book, and I have come to the party late, but I don't understand the YA category of this story. Surely all of this wit, phiilosophy and optimism, never mind the laugh out loud absurdity, are wasted on anyone under 30? (I would say 50, but I'm old). These are characters that are so vivid and sharply drawn, I had an animated feature in my head the the whole time I was reading. How does a writer make me care so deeply about what happens to rats named after labels on discarded food cans? And I cared. More than I care about most characters in "grown-up" fiction. And, it's true, I will never look at rats the same again. Part of me almost wishes young people wouldn't read this story, with its cynicism about humans displayed so prominently. After all, we are just rats, I mean humans. Part of me is pleased Mr. Pratchett is so profilic, because there is a lot more to read. But part of me doubts any of those other books could meet the high standard established by this universal, heartfelt, and thoroughly satisfying tale.

This was a really cute story. Basically, a bunch of rats, snacking on wizardly refuse, attain sentience. They also hook up with a sentient cat. They can all speak, learn, and chat with each other, and at the Cat's devious notion, dupe a "stupid looking kid" to play the role of a rat-piper, moving from city to city where the rats act up, the Piper comes in and clears the rats out, and they all get paid. This time, however, they've stumbled into a town where there's something really evil going on, and all the wisecracking cats, tapdancing rats, and stupid-looking kids in the world might just be in over their heads. Well written, with a bit of whimsy in nearly every chapter, this was my introduction to the Discworld series, and I dare say I'll be back. The wonderful observations from the rats point of view are fantastic (there's a great part where one of the rats is asked something along the lines of: "Do you know what animal swarms into a place, breeds terribly, spoils everything they can't use and wastes everything they can until there's nothing left?" and the rat says, "Sure. Humans.") The story gets a bit dark in places for a young reader, though a teen would probably get a laugh. And the mythology lover in me adores the play on the Pied Piper of Hamelin - like Orson Scott Card's "Enchantment" did for Sleeping Beauty, Pratchett did here for the Pied Piper of Hamelin. 'Nathan

For "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents", Terry Pratchett's 28th Discworld book, he states in the Author's Note at the end that he did a lot of research into rats before writing this book. It shows. This also marks Pratchett's first Discworld book for the young adult set. It actually serves as a pretty good introduction to the Discworld, giving us an entirely new set of characters to play with thart aren't bogged down in the already established Discworld cosmology (save the necessary cameo by Death, the famous anthropomorphic personification). The story is a spin, obviously, on The Pied Piper of Hamlin, but with Pratchett's usual fairy-tale-crashes-head-on-into-real-world take on things. The rats (and cat) talk - and scheme and scam - but do so in a way completely at odds with the standard Disney-like children's book characters. They're really more characters trying to come to terms with being saddled with things they never wanted - like sentience - than anthropomorphic animals. In fact, stories like Peter Cottontail (and the Brothers Grimm) are parodied throughout the book. In keeping with Pratchett's previously mentioned belief in previous books that kids are just as capable (if not more, in some cases) of dealing with nastiness, death and general unpleasantness, Pratchett doesn't really pull any punches in his narrative. He treats rats as they really are - smelly, foul, incontinent sometime cannibals. That's not to say that, like all of his protagonists, they're not actually good beings - they're just not cute, fluffy and sweet. However, all this said, it's still a story about humankind - and ratkind - triumphing over it's baser beliefs and practices. It's a great story and which, as with all of Pratchett's best books - deals out humor, suspense and creepiness in equal measure. I recommend it for kids, adults, Discworld fans and those new to the series. It's as good as any Discworld book he's done so far and it doesn't need the established background to tell a great story.

Pratchett's Discworld series seems like it is endless. What is it now, more than 35 books? So the man is allowed to have some books that are lesser than the others...P>Okay, now to the book. This book is not a full-fledged member of the Discworld series. It takes place on the Discworld, but does not contain any previously-seen characters, and these chracters will most likely not appear again. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it's just that you Death/Rincewind/Wyrd Sisters/Watch fans won't find your favorite characters in this book. This is typical Pratchett - write some books that feature previous characters, and write some with brand new characters that are most likely a one-off. It keeps him fresh and interesting. This was a very good book, and a lot of fun to read. I don't think that it's Pratchett's best, but it's very good, and there are more than a few authors who could stand to do this well. The plot is strong and well thought out. The characters are not always likeable, as Pratchett is often wont to do. The plot twists and turns in a variety of unexpected ways, and there is really no way to predict what comes next. It's a worthwhile book, and I do heartily recommend it to any fantasy fan, and most sci-fi fans as well. Enjoy!

"The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents" was my first Terry Pratchett read, but not the last. In a spoof of the Pied Piper, Pratchett describes Maurice, a highly intelligent cat by way of the wizards' trash, and his group of rats. Along with a pipe-playing boy called Keith, Maurice and his gang scheme money out of towns by getting rid of their rat infestion. There is something hilarious and yet serious about the entire book. The rats themselves have to be the funniest- with names like "Dangerous Beans", "Hamnpork", and "Darktan", it isn't hard to get a laugh out of them as they explore the world with their new intelligence. They take a stab at philosophy, wondering what happens when you die and what is the point of dreams. In the end they prove stubborn for rights in the town, as well as courageous in their own way. Maurice himself is the most well-done character. Streetwise and cunning, he manipulates the rats into winning him the money that he does not, in fact, know what he's going to do with. In the end he's sweet and heroic- but he's still got that fierce spark in him. I loved reading this, and it has to be my favorite spoof ever. It was my introduction to Terry Pratchett's world, and in my opinion his most well-done book.

Terry Pratchett's Discworld series has topped British bestseller lists for years and has a sizable fanbase in the United States as well. Now with "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents" Pratchett expands Discworld from adult fantasy to young adult fantasy as well. A boy, a cat, and a troupe of rats arrive at the town of Bad Blintz. But while Keith is normal, feline Maurice and his "educated rodents" are not -- they speak, think, and are self-aware (they ate wizards' garbage). And they have a nice racket going, where the rats pretend to infest a town (they gnaw things and "widdle" on the flour), and Keith poses as a piper to lead them away. But something is wrong with Bad Blintz -- there are no native rats, yet the rat-catchers claim that there's an outright plague of them, and are producing rat-tails to prove it. (They bear a remarkable resemblance to shoelaces) With the help of a too-imaginative-for-her-own good girl, Malicia, Keith and Maurice begin to investigate why all the rats are gone, and what the rat-catchers are up to. But when they discover the conspiracy, Maurice starts hearing the voice of something down in the sewers -- something evil, something powerful, something that can command hundreds of rats... So help me, I'm an idiot where funny titles are concerned, and "Amazing Maurice" is further proof that they often c. Much as he gave a new spin to MacBeth in "Wyrd Sisters," here he gives a new spin to the "Pied Piper" legend, with some interesting philosophy and his trademarked humor as well. Does the idea of talking animals and preteens make you cringe? Don't -- Pratchett handles it with rare style. There's plenty of humor in this book, from the names of the rats (Dangerous Beans, Additives, Big Savings, Toxie) to Sardines, the tap-dancing rat with a hat to the incident with the laxatives. His dialogue is still brilliant. ("Think of my dear wife and my four lovely children who'll be without their daddy!" "You're not married. You don't have any children!" "I might want some day!") But Pratchett doesn't forget the deeper currents either -- the sense of evil he builds up is very genuine, and Spider is one of the most unique fantasy villains he's created. Also good is the attitude of the Changed rats: they cherish their greater intelligence, fear their instincts, and gradually we see them overcome some of those ratty instincts (rather than eating one of their dead, they bury him like humans do). Keith is a nice character, seeming dim but surprisingly intelligent; Malicia is a pain in the butt, and only seems to gain any brains near the end. Maurice is the character that Pratchett does best -- he seems, initially, to have no good characteristis, but he's a good person underneath. (With a dirty little secret involving one of the rats) The Educated Rodents are all given individual personalities that Pratchett juggles very well. And Dangerous Beans, a little blind rat, has one of the best scenes in which he confronts the mysterious Spider. "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents" isn't actually that different from Pratchett's adult fantasies, and older fans of that series will enjoy this one just as much as the kids. Witty, thought-provoking, entertaining.

Whether he's writing for adults or children, Terry Pratchett just has a knack for writing something that works. I've read most of his Discworld novels, and some of his non-Discworld novels, and I've loved every single one of them. This one was particularly memorable. This is the story of what happens when rats and cats get influenced by magic, and become "changelings" that can talk and think like humans. Behind every mastermind rat plague is Maurice, a cat who has figured out how to turn the rat plagues to his benefit. Include a kid who acts as the rat piper, and a girl who is convinced the whole thing is a "story" and you have a great tale. Whether or not you like animals, or you are an adult or a child, you are bound to enjoy this one. It is aimed at children, but all the adults will have a good chuckle too.