| Product: |
Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents -Terry Pratchett |
| Date: |
05/08/05 (175 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Fun, easy read with no prior knowledge of Discworld required
Disadvantages: Diehard Discworld fans may be disappointed at the lack of complexity and Discworld continuity
"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 what??" Ah.
I found this exchange interesting. One, that DD did not know the story of the Pied Piper, and two, that she made the assumption that the cat and rats talked only to each other a la Watership Down or much of Peter Rabbit (which is also alluded to The Amazing Maurice...), but were simply dumb (in both senses of the word) animals to human beings.
For Maurice (the cat) and the cast of hundreds of rats can and do talk and understand both each other AND folks like you and me. And a stupid looking kid named Keith. And a girl called (the daughter of a mayor, no less), rather interestingly, Malicia. And a highwayman. Plus a couple of dense ratcatchers...and a city council. Oh...and one of the rats tap dances, and a few have a nifty synchronised swimming routine. But I get ahead of myself.
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But is it Discworld?
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Normally , at this point, I'd explain to the uninitiated that Terry Pratchett's Discworld is a disc that sits atop four elephants, who in turn rest on the World Turtle. I'd explain that magic here is real. That the Discworld is a world of gods and magicians, DEATH as a personification (a seven-foot-tall skeleton with a scythe), and even the DEATH of Rats carries a wee scythe, and wears a black robe that no doubt has a little label inside that says 'extra EXTRA small.' (Actually, I made the label bit up).
Thing is, though, you don't really need to know that to read The Amazing Maurice. The book is ostensibly aimed at younger readers (say around 10-13), and calls itself not a Discworld novel, but rather 'A Story of Discworld'. You really DON'T need any knowledge of the previous Discworld books to understand and enjoy The Amazing Maurice.
What you do need, and indeed, what you will soon understand whilst reading it, is that it's the NARRATIVE that's important. The story is all. Things happen purely for dramatic purposes - when a dresser full of plates falls, one plate inevitably "roll[s]...spinning round and round and getting lower on the floor with the groiyuoiyoiyooooinnnnggg sound you always get in these distressing circumstances."
Well...mostly. Real life does insist on interfering with Malicia's insistence (and our expectations) on DRAMA.
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Confused? OK, OK, THE PLOT
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Take one very bright, and very mercenary, talking cat (Maurice). To the cat, add a load of unusually named rats, who also can talk. Combine, and slowly add one stupid looking kid, who plays a mean pipe. The mixture gives you one nifty scam.
Maurice conceived this little, mostly harmless con - he, the rats and Keith (the boy) enter a town. The rats do what rats do best - widdle on the cheese, frighten housewives, gnaw on the bread, and perform a little tap-dance (thanks to Sardines, the tap-dancing rat).
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As an interlude, I should add that the rats named themselves after words they'd seen in the rubbish tip on which they lived and fed. You see, the rubbish tip was behind the Unseen University - the university for wizards. Who KNOWS what wizards chuck out - and how the detritus has been altered by magic. Eating that stuff causes...A Change. Of course, Maurice himself isn't certain what Changed him...after all, HE didn't eat from the tip...
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ANYWAY, Keith offers to pipe the rats away for a small fee. Keith pipes, the rats follow. The mayor pays off the kid, and everyone is happy. Or that's how it's supposed to work.
And that's how it did work, until they enter a town with rich buildings and poor people. Maurice may be well aware that the Bad in Bad Blintz means 'bath', but really, there is something VERY bad happening in Bad Blintz. Something very bad indeed.
For a start, the tails the very well-fed looking ratcatchers proudly display appear to have aglets. And our Clan of rats notice something else very odd...for despite the clear shortage of food for Bad Blintz's residents, there are no rats - or rather, there are no wild, dumb rats. Oh, there are plenty of traps, and there's lots of poison. There are rat-runs a plenty. Just no...rats...besides themselves. Until, of course, they find the cages...
And there's the darkling voice. Maurice hears it in his head. It's not a nice voice. It's really not. It says to Maurice "I can think for EVERYONE. I will always be with you". It doesn't mean that nicely.
Clearly it's up to Maurice the cat; Dangerous Beans, Peaches, Darktan, Hamnpork the rats; Keith the 'stupid looking boy', and Malicia the mayor's daughter - the granddaughter of the sisters grim - the girl who believes everything is a STORY, to do something.
And I'll leave the rest to you to read.
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Matty's Thoughts, Recommendations and all that jazz
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Oh, I did like this book - far more than I thought I would. "A Discworld book that isn't really Discworld," I thought, "what's the point?"
But there IS enough of Discworld in there for the hardened fan (DEATH and the DEATH of Rats both have small cameos), yet it is stand-alone enough for the young person (or the young of heart) who has not yet experienced the joys of Pratchett's fertile imagination.
Since The Amazing Maurice is ostensibly aimed at younger readers, it doesn't have the layers of complexity that other books in the series do - but this isn't really a bad thing. In some of his later books, Pratchett got almost TOO complex and convoluted - for example, in Thief of Time. Here, he goes back to the simple, humorous style. Yet, as is typical with Pratchett, it is still poignant in places - Darktan speaks to the mayor about the responsibilities of leadership: "'It's just all a lot more complicated than I ever thought it would be!' said Darktan, bewildered. 'Because after you've learned to shout you have to learn not to!'"
There are observations about teamwork, about responsibility (both of leadership and of sentience). There are observations too about, how shall I put it...getting along? Here, rats and humans will learn to get along, at least for one lucky town...but it will take time. After all, they are so different - different cultures, different written languages, different sizes and colours...different number of feet...
And, of course, there is the nearly final ironic observation about the power of the story, and where it fits in: "'Stories are just stories. Life is complicated enough as it is. We have to plan for the real world. There's no room for the fantastic' 'Exactly,' said the rat. And the man and rat talked, as the long light faded into the evening."
Um...yeah. No room for the fantastic, said the man to the rat...I like it.
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Price & Availability
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The copy (from, if you recall, the school library) is hard back, and carries a cover price of £12.99. The paperback cover price is £5.99. You can no doubt get it cheaper on line (Amazon are selling it at £4.79).
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The Last Word(s)
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The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents is highly recommended (by me) for Discworld fanatics and virgins alike.
Summary: No room for the fantastic, said the man to the rat...I like it
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