Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, The

Inhoud

It's not a game any more . . .

Every town on Discworld knows the stories about rats and pipers, and Maurice - a streetwise tomcat - leads a band of educated ratty friends (and a stupid kid) on a nice little earner. Piper plus rats equals lots and lots of money.

Until they run across someone playing a different tune.

Now he and his rats must learn a new concept: evil . . .

Bespreking

A silly but enjoyable quick read

At first glance Maurice is nothing more than a simple stray cat. But behind that shabby black fur lies a mastermind that knows no equals. Sadly enough living in a cat’s body is not exactly the best starting point for concocting evil plans. Luckily Maurice is able talk, as a side effect of something magical that went horribly wrong. This way is able to educate his own Pied Piper. Now, all he needs is an army of trained rodents.

Refreshing is maybe that best adjective to characterize this Discworld episode aimed at younger readers. Whereas Pratchett’s usual style is already playful and silly, he clearly was not feeling limited while addressing that specific demographic. With no holds barred on the area of the fantastic, he weaves a story that captures your deepest childlike imagination, something we can never get too much of, I believe. No, it certainly is not the best plot the author ever designed, but it certainly delivers in keeping the pace of the story alive. Even more than in his other novels he manages to characterize the players in a just a brilliant lines of text, such that it becomes very hard to suppress a snicker while reading. Certainly when Maurice needs to play his best cards not to get discovered by the humans it gives birth to some scenes that might be competing with the best Pratchett has written.

So If you’re feeling playful and are in for a quick read, remember The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents and you will not be disappointed.