Product Description

Maurice, a streetwise tomcat, has come up with the perfect scam. Inspired by the Pied Piper tale, cat and kid lead a band of rats from town to town to fake invasions of vermin. The rewards to get the rats out of town are plentiful. It works perfectly - until their little con game is sussed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2434 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

From the Back Cover
Maurice, a streetwise tomcat, has the perfect money-making scam. Everyone knows the stories about rats and pipers, and Maurice has a stupid-looking kid with a pipe, and his very own plague of rats - strangely educated rats...

But in Bad Blintz, the little con suddenly goes down the drain. For someone there is playing a different tune and now the rats must learn a new word.

EVIL.

It's not a game any more. It's a rat-eat-rat world. And that might only be the start...

About the Author
Terry Pratchett:
Terry Pratchett is one of the most popular authors writing today. He lives behind a keyboard in Wiltshire and says he 'doesn't want to get a life, because it feels as though he's trying to lead three already'. He was appointed OBE in 1998. He is the author of the phenomenally successful Discworld series and his trilogy for young readers, The Bromeliad, is scheduled to be adapted into a spectacular animated movie. His first Discworld novel for children, THE AMAZING MAURICE AND HIS EDUCATED RODENTS, was awarded the 2001 Carnegie Medal.

Customer Reviews

A ratty view of people
On the Discworld, even wizards produce leftovers. Their discarded garbage, however, is laced with traces of magic. Out on the tip, the rats forage in the scraps - apple cores, candle stubs [good carbohydrate source], dogends. Like any trace mineral, the magic builds up until the rats have changed, gaining new talents. Among those talents are speaking and reading. Speaking allows them to communicate better while the reading gives them words to use as names. They're an organized group now, and they have an ambition. They want to find a safe place for retirement. They have a mentor, Maurice, a cat who shares their talents, but has an extra one of his own - he's a con cat. And he has a story hidden away.

A street smart feline, Maurice has learned the value of money. He knows how humans use it, and he wants the independence it offers. To gain it, he's organized the rats and adopted Keith, a rather simple human, into his group. Together, they work the towns to create a "plague of rats" then provide a piper, Keith, to lure them away - for cash. Despite disputes over percentages, the team has scored many successful ventures. But Keith, and the rats, are having misgivings over the ethics of the con. They want to quit, and Bad Blintz will be the last place they work the con.

Every venture has its risks. Bad Blintz is clearly not a rich place. The villagers queue up for bread and sausages, which are in short supply. There are rat catchers who carry strings of tails, but the team can't find a live rat anywhere in the maze of cellars and tunnels beneath the town. In resolving this conundrum, team encounters a powerful new force - one that challenges all the skills given them by the wizards' residue magic. Their very survival rests on how they deal with the mystery. Its resolution is consummately Pratchett.

Terry Pratchett's books increasingly delve into philosophical questions, even moral ones. It would be nice to know if he actually intended this book for "children." You'll note above that the publishers call for "Reader Level Ages 9 - 12," but the editorial reviews say "12 and up." The disparity is typical Pratchett. Why the lack of consensus? One guess is that Pratchett thinks the adult mind set is too rigid to discern the point he's making. This book isn't a fantasy about "talking animals," it's a spur to stimulate thinking about the relationship of humanity to the rest of the animal kingdom. We're part of that kingdom, but we deal with our relations in ignorance. Children, and a few adults, are best suited to begin revising that approach. With human society devastating the habitats of so many creatures, a new way of thinking about them is required. Pratchett's conclusion shows that the process won't be simple and we have to start thinking now about how to do it. Who better to start with than children? They still have the capacity to learn.

It's almost superfluous to discuss Pratchett's writing. He's a master of language and a skilled manipulater of ideas. If you are new to his work, this is a fine place to start. If you're an established fan, there's nothing here to disappoint you. Add this book to your library and buy another for someone. Anyone. They'll surely be grateful. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Ratastic
I remember first coming across this book when my little sister received it as a present. Frankly I thought it would be childish, and only turned to it when I had nothing left to read of my own, but how wrong I was. Even as a member of the 'mtv generation' this book had me completely entralled. Pratchett has to be one of the most eloquent and talented writers of out time and I can't believe I left it as late as my teens to discover him.
This book basically folows the escapades of Maurice, the cat, and his troop of intelligent rats (most of which have wonderfully inventive names, e.g Hamnpork, Dangerous Beans and Nourishing). With a couple of humans thrown in (Keith and Malicia) the cast is complete. It all sounds pretty benign, doesn't it? But the book it a lot darker than it first seems and you will be gripped from start to finish.
Personal favourite characters of mine were Malicia, whose loose tongue gets her into more trouble than she can afford, Keith, whose gentle nature prevents the book from becoming over-exciting, and Nourishing, a young and nervous rat who I adored from her first entry.
The plot is clever and entralling, with a great ending. I can only hope that one day I will be able to write as well as Pratchett. He is a wonderful story teller, and really, with The Amazing Maurice, his work is flawless.

The Amazing Pratchett
Laugh? i nearly had a stroke!
Moving, witty, fantastical and sometimes sobering. Like all pratchett though, it throws up images of hilarity on one page, and insightful social commentary on the next. This is billed as a childs book, but i enjoyed it immensely.

Plus, you cant go far wrong when a lead character shows such vision, hope, ideology, and tolerance in the face of such odds. And he's a blind Albino rat of course.......and called Dangerous Beans. Quality.