The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

  • Author: Terry Pratchett
  • Page count: 368
  • Started on: 2026/01/07
  • Finished on: 2026/01/14
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    • ★★★☆☆

Book cover for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett. The title is in large blue and white letters, with several intelligent-looking rats perched on and around a large cat’s head. The cat has vivid green eyes, and one rat wears a hat with pink ears. A quote from Neil Gaiman reads, “An astonishing novel.

A bunch of rats have learned how to think and speak after being exposed to magical waste. The same happens (indirectly) to cat Maurice, who joins up with the rats (pardon: educated rodents). This book follows the adventures of Maurice, the rats, and a stupid-looking (their words, not mine) kid names Keith who likes to play flute. And what adventures they are!

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett is generally classified as young adult (YA) fiction and even won the Carnegie Medal in 2001, a major award for children’s and YA literature. This means that, compared to most Discworld novels, the plot is more straightforward and the humor is more direct.

I read the entire 5-book Tiffany Aching YA Discworld series too, and enjoyed those more than Maurice - but that also meant they were skewing towards older kids. They are also written after Maurice, so it might be another case of Pratchett finding his stride through practice. I’m not complaining, as I found this book a fun read.

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