Friday, February 19, 2010

REVIEW: Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett

With every novel of Terry Pratchett's that I read I find myself getting more and more blown over by his brilliance. I'm not sure what I was expecting when I sat down to read Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, but it sure wasn't that.

Amazing Maurce is funny, and thought-provoking and clever. We meet some spectacular characters and go on a wonderful journey. It's a pied piper story with a twist. On Discworld, there are animals that are changing. Maurice, a street-wise tom and a bunch of rats that have eaten from the magician's rubbish and are now thinking and talking. Together, Maurice, the rats and a dopey looking kid put together a plan to swindle money from some humans. With Maurice guiding the way, they've successfully 'plagued' village after village with rats, forcing the villagers to call on a pied piper (the dim-witted kid, Keith). Maurice is hoping the money they've conned will allow him to finally live comfortably and independently. But Maurice has his own secrets he's been keeping and the rats are pondering the morality of their con-work. So, finally, they've arrived at their last destination, a little village, Bad Blintz. Things are different here, and Maurice and the rats find something very unexpected...

Amazing Maurice has it all, really. An interesting and adventurous plot, a hilarious collection of characters, and Pratchett's humour and fab writing style. This book is aimed at a younger audience than his other Discworld novels, but don't let that stop you. What I love about Terry Pratchett's books for children and young adults is that he never condescends to a younger audience. He writes intelligently and brings up some difficult themes and scenes. There were parts of Amazing Maurice that were absolutely evil and horrible to read. He talks about morality and philosophy, the importance of stories, and good and evil.

Highly recommended.

Read for: 100+ reading challenge, Support Your Local Library, Terry Pratchett reading challenge, and YA reading challenge

Have you read any Terry Pratchett? Which is your favourite?

5 comments:

  1. I liked this book a lot, but I'm still scared of Terry Prachett & Discworld so I've never read anything else by him.

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  2. Another thumbs up for Terry Pratchett.

    You have got me desperate to read another of his books. I am going to try and get hold of Nation next.

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  3. Sounds like a fun read! I have an award for you at The Crowded Leaf.

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  4. It's a while since I read this one, but do remember loving it.

    I'm a big Pratchett fan, but I have to say I think his very best writing is his YA books.

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  5. I have got to get some Terry Pratchett at some point. I keep hearing raves, and have never read him.

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