The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents – Terry Pratchett

With the news of Terry Practchett’s death, I had to read a book of his.     I first read one of his books in either late middle school, or early high school – my mother gifted me with a book club edition of The Wyrd Sisters.     I’d never read anything like it (I didn’t read the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy until college).     I just adored the humor, and the footnotes!    And the world building.    I’m still working my way through his books (there are just so many!), but am sad to think that’ll have to come to an end at some point.

Anyway, this book is marketed as a young adult book, and while it is set in Discworld, is a stand alone story.     For some reason, a bunch of rats, and one cat (Maurice), have gained the ability to talk.      With Maurice as their leader (he is a whiz at marketing), they adopt a young orphan who’s good at playing the pipe, and travel around running a Piper scam.

When they arrive at the town of Bad Blintz, they start out with the standard plan, but quickly realize that things here are not what they normally should be.     There are no other rats around (even of the non-talking kind), and it’s quickly clear that something very bad is going on.     What happens next is all about Maurice and the Rats figuring out what being smart is all about – and it’s not easy.

I really enjoyed this story.      There aren’t as many footnotes as some of the other Discworld books, but the humor’s still there.     Thanks, Sir Terry.