"Hey, Mum", says Darling Daughter (DD), "the school library has two whole shelves of Terry Pratchett - do you want me to bring any home?" "Oh, yes" say I, "Please." Fast forward one day (I read fast). "So, Mum, what's The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents about?" queries DD. "Well," I answer, "It's about one cat, and a whole slew of rats who can talk..." "What, you mean to each other?" asks DD. "Well, yes, and to anyone else who will listen...it's kind of a twist on the Pied Piper of Hameln." "The ...  Read the complete review

This is the first Discworld book that has been written for younger readers, if you hadn't been told this before you started reading it though you might have found it hard to notice. The book definitely feels like it has been made easier to read than other Discworld books (which were already very easy to pick up and read), characters feel more like they fit into a children’s book (although are made no less real by this) and chapters have been added (Discworld books don't normally have them). The humour in the book also feels a bit different to other Discworld books. The basic jokes which are obvious to almost everyone reading the book are still ...  Read the complete review

Amongst the presents I received on Christmas Day was this little beauty – The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett. What a great title for a game of charades! I have been really getting into Pratchett in the past year or so and had been looking forward to this one, because I’m a big fan of rats! I have kept rats on and off since 1989. We currently have three – two white ones (Sabrina and Salem) and a black and white one (Hattie). So this subject matter is perfect. Pratchett is a wonderful author, a classic storyteller in the old tradition. Of course, you get well-developed characters and bucketloads of humour, ...  Read the complete review

Meet the Kid. He doesn't really have a name, because he's all mysterious and all that. He makes a living going around town and piping away the plagues of rats that are swarming the streets, making everyone uncomfortable. It's a living, albeit a not very honest one. Those aren't ordinary rats. They're educated, and go wherever the boys takes them. It's a fantastic scam, and no one's caught on yet. And to think he's not even the mastermind behind it - his streetwise, talking cat Maurice is. The rats aren't too happy about this trickery, and agree to do one more before quitting, in the village of Bad Blintz. But things are different in Bad ...  Read the complete review

A Discworld novel aimed at a slightly younger audience that the rest of the series, Maurice takes an irrevelant and often satirical look at the legend of The Pied Piper. Maurice is an intelligent cat- and not just in the cutesy-wutsey-aww-just-look-at-him kind of way. Maurice can talk. As can a select group of rats in whose company Maurice chooses to reside in. Together along with a young piper they have brought into their social circle , though admittedly it is more Maurice's idea than the rats, the group have organised a very clever and lucrative scam; upon entering a small town, the rats put on a show of force and misbehave in people's kitchens. Then along comes the ..  Read the complete review