Terry Pratchett: The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

Hi

It is time for another TP review!
The Amazing Maurice is actually a children’s book. But as an adult, I enjoyed it very much because of the layers of the story and the humor.
It is also a perfect standalone novel. It has 278 pages and is very easy to read.
You can find my other reviews of Terry Pratchett’s novels here.

“It’s not a game anymore …
Every town on Discworld knows the stories about rats and pipers, and Maurice - a streetwise tomcat - leads a band of educated ratty friends (and a stupid kid) on a nice little earner. Piper plus rats equals lots and lots of money.
Until they run across someone playing a different tune.
Now he and his rats must learn a new concept: evil … “
Maurice is the cat behind the group of speaking rats and a stupid little boy.  They stage a plague in towns along the way in order to get their accomplice, Keith, paid good money to play the pipes and usher them away.
Something has got to go wrong, right?

This story is a new spin on the classic story of The Pied Piper. It’s not the first time TP writes his version of an old tale, he did this in Wyrd Sisters and Lords and Ladies for example. If you read the original story, you notice how well his story is fabricated around the original. How he makes it into a Discworld story that’s entirely new and original.
As most Discworld novels, The Amazing Maurice tackles major moral questions. And this time it’s the rats who question Life, the Universe and Everything. TP is always able to make us think about these big themes without losing pace, fun and action in his novels.
It’s a wonderful, cheeky novel, very entertaining, funny and a light and easy read.
The evolution of the rats parallels that of the humans and once you realize this, it’s even more interesting.
The names of the rats are hilarious and I won’t even name one for you. Just read the novel, be surprised and laugh. A lot. I’m serious.
BUT even though this is a really funny (one of his most hilarious) novel, it is a haunting novel. Spider, the evil rat-king in this novel is truly frightening. He is pure evil and you can feel it in every word about him.

Happy reading.
Helena