Maurice is a sentient, talking ginger cat who runs a profitable protection racket across the Discworld with a band of intelligent rats and a dim-witted piper. The rodents, transformed by magical waste, have developed a complex society based on a storybook titled Mr. Bunnsy Has an Adventure. Their scheme involves staging fake infestations and charging towns for removal. The operation stalls in the town of Bad Blintz, where they encounter two sinister rat-catchers and a starving human population. Maurice and the rat leader, Dangerous Beans, must navigate a genuine underground horror involving a malicious rat king that threatens their newfound consciousness and morality.
This novel serves readers interested in subversive fairy tales and the ethics of sapience. It appeals to those who enjoy deconstructions of the Pied Piper myth and stories featuring non-human perspectives on civilization. Readers observe how a criminal enterprise shifts into a struggle for group identity and peace. The narrative leaves the audience with a meditation on how stories shape cultural laws and the difference between acting on instinct versus making conscious moral choices in a modern world.
Escapist; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Escapist Adventurer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2001
- Language
- EN
