Imagine some rats, having eaten the garbage from a bunch of wizard's labs, became intelligent. Then imagine a cat, from, well, eating the rats, also became intelligent. Now imagine a really dumb human, and a brilliant plan...

The cat - Maurice - decides that he could have a good thing going. The rats pretend to infest a village, the human shows up, plays his pipe and the rats all leave, and the populace pays them handsomely, and the rats, the cat, and their human move on to another town. The gold is potentially endless.

Except for when they arrive in a town where there's already something there, something much worse than them, and something that's not okay with their infringement.

Told with Pratchett's typical razor wit and fun dialog, this tale charms and delights the young reader and the adult alike.

I am somewhat of and avid Pratchett reader, but I had never considered reading this one because I had felt that it may be too 'childish' (as it was in the young-readers section of the store I had visited). I could not be more wrong, and I am glad to have been proven so.

The Amazing Maurice is one part "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH", one part "The Music Man" and one part "Brothers Grimm".

It features a cadre of talking mice and their 'feline agent' as they go from town to town in the Discworld, first creating and then quelling an artifical rat-infestation. (In walks the the boy piper, who is also in on the scam, and out go the rats. Where they meet outside of town to split the money earned from solving the 'rat-problem') And so the little scam goes until they reach a town with problems more scarier than tap-dancing rats.

The book has good sequel-potential, and is a must read for those to enjoy Pratchett's blend of fantasy and humour.

This is a brilliant, and more entertaining take on the tired pide piper story. Great for kids, and even better for the adult reading it to them. Very creative and always funny, Terry Pratchett lives up to his reputation in this book. It's worth a read whether you have kids or not.

This was my first book I read from Terry
Pratchett and is without any doubt in my mind the best book I've ever read. I am trying to find more books by Terry Pratchett because so far I enjoy all the books that I've read from him.