The, Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It's classic Pratchett, so there's that. An especially appealing aspect is that though this book is set in Discworld it is pretty much a standalone. That, coupled with tis general kid appeal, makes it an especially attractive choice for a younger reader you want to introduce to Pratchett. Easy in, easy out, and all of the witty and sly touches that make him so appealing.

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 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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

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.

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 the store.co.uk to see what I mean.

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.

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.

Once again Terry Pratchett reaches into is back of tricks and pulls out a rat named Dangerous Beans or another rat called Sardines (a dancing rat, mind you), or a street cat called Maurice, or a young woman named Malicia and even a boy named Keith. Keith? Must be a slip up. Let's see, the story all started when some ordinary rats got into the Magic College's trash heap and ate some thing that gave them brains. Well, a lot more brains than they had before.
And then a hungry cat ate one of the rats and suddenly it was getting regular headaches and making a point of not eating anything that talks. Maurice, being a practically minded cat, immediately saw the possibilities, and recruited Keith, who was a bit dumb looking but could play the pipes. Suddenly the troop was on the road, working the old pied piper scam, and making good money at it. Dangerous Beans was their spiritual guide, their thinker of Big Thoughts, the rest take care of undoing traps, spotting poison and widdling on things, etc. In no time, town after town was anteing up to get rid of their rats.
The only drawback was that one couldn't very well work the same trick in the same place twice, so eventually the gang found themselves in the town of Bad Blintz. And this town was just a bit different. For one thing the resident rats had eaten all the food, but there weren't any resident rats to be found. For another thing, the resident rat catchers seemed to be making rat tails out of shoestrings. And there is something really, really bad in the cellars beneath the city. Worst of all, Malicia the mayor's daughter also lives in Bad Blintz.
If the above description gives you a clear idea of what 'The Amazing Maurice...' is about I've done my job poorly. Suffice it to say that a group of rats that do a much better job of being people than people do find themselves in a battle to save the town and, perhaps, life as we know it. Once again Pratchett has created a morality tale out of sarcasm and parody. One that can surprise us by touching our hearts unexpectedly. In Discworld, where nothing works quite like it should, things still manage to work out well (well, most of the time... for some people).
This tale is funny and likeable. While intended for young adults it works just as well for old youngsters like me. Even the strange references to Mr. Bunnsey and Ratty Rupert are fun. Just don't eat that green wobbly bit.

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 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.

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents is a very witty version of The Pied Piper. Maurice, a talking cat, his stupid looking kid (that's what Maurice refers to him as), and a group of very smart talking rats with names such as Dangerous Beans, Sardines, and Hamnpork, go into towns and trick them into thinking they have a rat infestation. Once the town believes this, Keith (Maurice's stupid looking kid), comes forth as a rat piper and gets money to draw the rats out of town. When they come into the town of Bad Blintz, they quickly realize this town isn't like the others. Something fishy is going on and they're determined to find out what it is.

This was my first Discworld book by Pratchett. I thought starting out with the children's book in the series would be the best introduction for me. I think it was the right thing for me to do. Pratchett is a really good writer and he is very funny. I was surprised at some of the issues brought up in a funny book about rats. I look forward to continuing the series with the books aimed at adults.

A friend gave me this book for my birthday, explaining that it was a book about rats. Was I ever surprised when I opened the cover and started reading. It is not just about rats.
Pratchett has done his work. I believe him when he says that he read loads about rats before beginning this. But not only the rat part is accurate. When he describes rat writing (pictograms, could be hieroglyphic-like), it parallels the history of the development of human writing. The rats in this story provide a kind of microcosm of how human society might have developed; their dreams of utopia do not come from out of the blue. The rats have their version of a holy book, a keeper of the flame, and of course their characters are all very different and sometimes conflict. Baseness, greed, and corruption all figure in the story, and the rats need to discover how to deal with this new threat called EVIL (as the book's back cover will also tell you).
Although the mentally-mutated (smart) rats naturally figure prominently in the story along with a mentally-mutated cat (Maurice), I think that it also works as an allegory. You can read this story either for face value or more deeply. In the latter way, I think that Terry Pratchett critiques current society. It's funny that reading about rats would make one question humanity, but that's what happened to me!
In a way this book is about having dreams and trying to fulfill them, and getting disillusioned along the way but not giving up. However, it has no morality overtones and despite its seriousness, it is also pretty funny (take the tap-dancing rat named Sardines, for instance). The story ends on a happy note too but it isn't overly saccharine. In a way, it's like pop philosophy and a good story rolled into one.
I was also able to read this story without knowing anything at all about Discworld.

This is a collection of short reviews by 4 fourth and fifth graders. Their average rating of the book is 4.5 stars.

Don't let the back of the book fool you! Meet Maurice, Dangerous Beans, and many more to find out the secret. The talking animals are not a fairy tale. This is a humorous book, exciting, and you will stick to it until midnight! *** Warning: If you like fairy tales, put down this book immediately! Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents has left a mark. It is hilariously funny and gripping. *** When Maurice the talking cat comes to Bad Blintz with his crew of educated rodents, they don't find what they were expecting. Instead of a golden opportunity, they find a silly girl, a pair of rat-catching fakes, and something far worse. This book was incredibly funny. It was also very clever. This is definitely not a fairy tale, although some characters think it is. Overall, it has the same hilarious charm that all of Terry Pratchett's book share. *** This is a book full of adventure, an adventure story with humor. Don't miss anything, especially the green wobbly bits!

I travel for a living, and Terry Pratchett's discworld books are always a good standby because a) they are easy to read, b) enjoyable, and c) available in most airport bookstores.

However, my favorite by far is The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. The story is light and fun, with a deeper lesson for those who want it. It is cleanly written and the story progresses nicely. Subjects such as religion, the afterlife, right vs. wrong, and wisdom vs. intellect are all flirted with, but nothing is jammed down your throat.

The characters are largely stereotypical on the surface, but again there is more to them, if you dig in and pay attention (with the possible exception of the mayor's daughter, who is pivotal to several analogies about life and stories, but otherwise is fairly two-dimensional). The character of Maurice (a cat) is the heart of the story, and will likely be a favorite among readers. Maurice represents a facade of control and power that borders on arrogance... and that most of us are forced to adopt to some extent in our own lives/careers; yet like most people, Maurice is not as in control as he thinks, and his wise alley-cat exterior crumbles in the face of morality and courage, proving that he's a good guy (err, cat) after all.

T.A.M.A.H.E.R. is fun and appropriate for all ages, teaches some good life-lessons about compromise and culture-tolerance, and gets five bright pointy stars from me.

I should also note that the story is short -- a refreshing change from novels (especially "fantasy" novels) that are often stuffed full of sawdust and slag in order to round out 400 terribly written pages. In contrast, Pratchett has written a beautifully concise and well structured story.

[Edit: As I am a huge fan of--and therefore inspired by--Terry Pratchett, I feel I'm justified in pointing out my new book Cluck: Murder Most Fowl. Many of my fellow Pratchett fans have been early readers and have enjoyed it. Apologies for the shameless self-promotion, -edk]

The Amazing Maurice (a cat), some educated rats, and a stupid looking boy have been running a con involving plagues of rats and a kid who pipes them away for a price.
Sounds simple, but this is form the imagination of Terry Pratchett. The cat and rats can think and talk (the rats have been eating the garbage behind the wizardry school). The title characters have just arrived in a strange new town. There seems to already be a plague of rats although Maurice and company cannot find any.
If there are no rats, who is stealing all of the food? Where did the rat tails come from that the Rat Catchers have been turning in? What is really behind everything? Can the boy be as stupid as he looks?
All of these questions, and more, are answered in typical Pratchett style in this new tale of the Discworld.
A quick and entertaining read (with uncharacteristic chapters) that catches the reader at the start like a terrier catching a rat, and doesn't let go until it's all over (like a terrier with a rat). A must read for Pratchett fans.

Those of you who are unfamiliar with Terry Pratchett's Discworld are missing out. Badly.

This is the first Discworld book for a younger audience. Pratchett didn't dumb himself down for this one, which is all too common when a writer for grownups decides to take on a younger audience.

If you like this, do yourself a favor and track down some of the others. Otherwise, you are really missing out.

A new Discworld novel (actually probably a novella, by length, but it's bound in cloth with a price to match) by Terry Pratchett, this one skewering the tale of the Pied Piper, with some deep digs at Beatrix Potter... Warped, whacked out, very funny, his usual satirical twist on British customs and culture. So far Pratchett, though ringing the changes on quite a successful formula, has not really been repeating himself and certainly never boring anybody...This novel traces the tale of a cat named Maurice and his troop of rats, all of whom lived a bit too close to the wizardly garbage pile at Unseen University and thus were exposed to magical leakage and somehow developed intelligence. Maurice, being the cat that he is, hooks up with a stupid-looking kid who plays the flute, and they develop a lucrative scam infesting towns and being paid to rid the places of vermin...at which point the troop moves off to the next town. But these rats have plans of their own...and when they meet the story-spinning granddaughter of the famous Grim Sisters, the whole thing gets very messy.
Not a cute little talking animal story. Not really for children. Not a bad read, not at all.

I just finished reading "The Amazing Maurice" and enjoyed every wee last smidgen of it. I've been a Pratchett fan since "Small Gods," which was recommended to me by a bookstore employee (bless him, wherever he is). Pratchett books take up an inordinate amount of my shelf space, and I'm always keen to snap up the next one; all the same, some are better than others. (I still can't warm up to the idea of Sam Vimes as a sentimental dad...but that's another story.) "Maurice" is on a par with "Soul Music," "Equal Rites," and "Small Gods," and most like the latter in that the characters are not part of the usual Discworld "categories" (i.e., the Witches, the Wizards, or the Watch).

Why this novel has been categorized in "young adult" fiction, I don't know, but it certainly deserved its Carnegie award. The sentient cat and rats deal with some seriously adult issues as they try to understand their place in the universe and contemplate the fundamental questions of life, death, social order, and whether or not to eat the green wobbly bit. It's definitely a good read for teens or younger readers, as they deal with these questions themselves, but it's also rewarding for adults who refuse to abandon their imaginations. There are elements of "The Rats of NIMH" and "Watership Down," but "Maurice" is definitely its own story.

The characters in this story are wonderfully well-wrought; by the end, Dangerous Beans, Darktan, Hamnpork, Maurice, and others seem like old friends; on the other hand, the Rat King will give you shivers, guaranteed, especially if you go online and check out photos of real rat kings - creepy.

I give "Maurice" my highest compliment: I was very sad to see it end, and wish it could have been much, much longer.

Maurice is a changeling cat, one who can think and talk. His educated rodents are changeling rats with names like Hamnpork, Big Savings, and Darktan, who became sentient by eating magic-contaminated trash in the University of Wizards’ garbage dump. Maurice ate one of the rats and became sentient as well. The group has teamed up with a “stupid-looking kid” named Keith, an orphan who was raised by a guild of musicians and can play the flute, in a pied piper scam where the rats steal food, frighten ladies, and generally make nuisances of themselves. Then the town advertises for a piper, Keith appears to lead the rats away for a small fee, and they all meet up later to divide the loot. The con is highly successful until the rats develop a conscience, but they reluctantly agree to one final heist in the town of Bad Blintz. Here they encounter Malicia Grim, a pair of dishonest rat-catchers, a dog and rat fighting ring, and a real pied piper.

However, things go horribly wrong as the crew also finds something truly and powerfully evil lurking in the town’s cellars. What will happen to the inhabitants of Bad Blintz? Will the amazing Maurice and his educated rodents survive the fighting? And just what is this great evil force? The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents is Book #28 in the Discworld comic fantasy series, beginning with The Color of Magic in1983, written by the English author Terry Pratchett (1948-2015), set on the fictional Discworld, a flat disc balanced on the backs of four elephants which in turn stand on the back of a giant turtle Great A’Tuin. It is the first “Discworld” novel for children instead of adults, although The Guardian noted that “[t]he main audience for Pratchett’s 48 books, all busily in print, is teenagers.” It differs from most Discworld novels also by its division into chapters. The story has been called a new take on the German fairy tale about the Pied Piper of Hamelin and a parody of the folk tale genre. There are numerous references to the rats’ “widdling” (a term for urinating), as well as drinking beer, farting, and even a veiled scene of obvious adultery.

The rats occasionally have talks about rlllk, which is their word for breeding or mating and embarrasses them somewhat. As to language, in addition to a few common euphemisms such as gosh, mention is made of using “swear words,” and a lot of what is apparent cursing in rat language appears. Also, the “d” word is, unfortunately, found twice. This story will appeal to some youngsters and not to others. Despite the humorous tone of the novel, there are some genuinely frightening moments, too, and many readers, especially those who are younger, may find parts of the story, such as descriptions of how some of the rats die and how others eat their dead, rather intense. At the same time, the rats tackle a number of interesting questions about morality, philosophy, and religion that provide some thought-provoking moments. Generally speaking, I found the tale well-written, the characters likeable, and the plot easy to follow. The book was the 2001 winner of the annual Carnegie Medal from the British librarians, which recognizes the year’s best children’s book published in the United Kingdom.

Terry Pratchett has taken the "The Pied Piper of Hamlet" and turned it on its ear. This time the pied piper is a scam and the group is led by a talking cat who is in cahoots with the rats! This book has been portrayed as a children's book, but is still a perfect discworld novel for adults. There are the usual stupid bad guys and characters that just do not seem to get the larger picture. This book examines the develpoment of society from hunter gatherer to working together and the rise of writing. The rats are borrowed from "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH". The book also has a take on the "Rat King" which is unique and fun. This is a good way to start chilren on Terry Pratchett of for their parents to be introduced to a true modern master at work. Highly Recommended.

[For context's sake, I have been reading the Discworld books in publication order. The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents is #28.]

I wasn't convinced I'd like this book. About a fourth of the way through it still hadn't grabbed me, I didn't much care for the premise or the characters, and the story just seemed to drag. Then it picked up quite a bit, the plot gained some depth, the dialogue got more snappy, and generally the book got good. It's still not one of Pratchett's very best (ie, it wasn't ridiculously phenomenal), but I enjoyed it.