The Amazing Maurice & His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett

A witty, darkly comic fantasy follows a cunning talking cat who leads a band of unusually literate rats and their hapless human companion as they run a swindling “rat-catcher” scheme, until they arrive in a town where the rat problem proves far stranger and more dangerous than expected; facing a mysterious force that controls the vermin, the group must confront questions of sentience, exploitation and responsibility while navigating clever twists, moral dilemmas and a brisk, satirical take on fairy-tale tropes.

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