The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

By: Terry Pratchett

Narrated by: Stephen Briggs

Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

One rat, popping up here and there, squeaking loudly, and taking a bath in the cream, could be a plague all by himself. After a few days of this, it was amazing how glad people were to see the kid with his magical rat pipe. And they were amazing when the rats followed hint out of town.

They'd have been really amazed if they'd ever found out that the rats and the piper met up with a cat somewhere outside of town and solemnly counted out the money.

The Amazing Maurice runs the perfect Pied Piper scam. This streetwise alley cat knows the value of cold, hard cash and can talk his way into and out of anything. But when Maurice and his cohorts decide to con the town of Bad Blinitz, it will take more than fast talking to survive the danger that awaits. For this is a town where food is scarce and rats are hated, where cellars are lined with deadly traps, and where a terrifying evil lurks beneath the hunger-stricken streets...

Set in Terry Pratchett's widely popular Discworld, this masterfully crafted, gripping listen is both compelling and funny. When one of the world's most acclaimed fantasy writers turns a classic fairy tale on its head, no one will ever look at the Pied Piper or rats the same way again!

©2001 Terry and Lyn Pratchett (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers

Amazing Maurice is truely amazing

Terry Pratchett's writting never stops amazing me with how wonderful it is. I need more

Fantastic story!

Pratchett’s sense of humor is priceless and the reading is very entertaining too! Very clever and satirical take on humanity, the government, fairy tales and the Grimm brothers and so on… So refreshingly entertaining- there is really no one quite like Terry Pratchett!! :)

Not my favorite diskworld, but entertaining

This story took a while to grow on me. I don't think I can pin down just why, maybe it's that the humans were minor characters that I didn't really identify with. It was fun hearing all the different rat voices, and I did grow to like them.

Typical Pratchett whimsy

As a longtime fan of the Discworld series, I was glad to finally check this one out. It's got what you'd expect from a novel set in Pratchett's bizarre flat world - magic, humor, and a few satirical jabs at real life. It's a witty book with a neat little plot that builds to a satisfying conclusion. And of course, it's not really a Discworld book without at least a brief visit from DEATH, so it was nice to see him make an appearance.

The narrator was easy to understand, and he put some life and verve Inyo the text. He gave each character a distinct enough voice that it was always easy to tell who was speaking at any given time.

Good stuff!

It's not my favorite Pratchett book, but I have read it more than once so it's definitely got the Terry touch. You wouldn't know it's a book for children unless you checked.

Much better as an audiobook

I was never a big fan of this Pratchett. Like his other children's books (e.g. Tiffany Aching) it's darker than most Discworld series. Furthermore, it has few truly likable characters (Darktan, Dangerous Beans, and Sardines), and more than its fair share of mildly distasteful antiheroes (scheming Maurice, stupid-looking Keith, bossy Malicia, hidebound Hamnpork to name just a few...). I'd probably only read the hardcover twice (vs. 6-12 times for Pratchett's others).

I was pleasantly surprised to hear Stephen Briggs take characters I found annoying and make them comical and sympathetic. He played up Maurice's dietary angst, made the rat catchers seem like two different people, and even made the Piper less douchey. Maurice's roaring 20's gangstery accent was perfect. I liked it so much, I immediately listened to it again. It's still nowhere near as fun as Moist von Lipwig or Sam Vimes, but as an audiobook, The Amazing Maurice is a solid entry in the Discworld canon.

great Terry Pratchett book

what can I say but another great book by Terry Pratchett, a Scooby-Doo adventure of sorts with political undertones

a message for our time

Somewhere somehow things work out. I always look to Terry Pratchett's warm humanity in times of trouble for a message of hope.

A favoite at bedtime with our son

Terry Pratchett is a household favorite here. This story is really fun and our son (10) requests it at bed time still.

Amazing

I didn't want it to be over! I highly recommend this book. It's very good.