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Summary: Castaways Of The Flying Dutchman
Review: It was all right. I read it because someone in my family received it as a gift and didn't want it (guess whose bookshelf it ended up on). I was mildly interested in it and decided to give it a go. I found the first half of it pretty cool. But in the second half, I found the plot very weak. I was disappointed that the second half has almost nothing to do with the Flying Dutchman. Overall, it wasn't very interesting, but I wouldn't exactly call it a waste of time.
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Summary: I had much higher expectations...
Review: It's not that "Castaways of the Flying Dutchman" was bad, it just wasn't my taste. I enjoyed the beginning of the book because there was some action aboard the ship, but after that the novel started to slow down a bit. Although it's good that Jacques took a break from "Redwall," "Castaways" was lacking on a lot of fantasy elements. While Jacques had some good ideas, I think he could've done much better. The one thing that earned this book three stars is Jacques' writing talent. The characters are pretty good and thought out though. So, read this if you like a novel with light fantasy and not very fast pacing. It's not that the bok was a screwup, I think it was just my personal tastes that through me off. So, if you end up not liking this, "Redwall" is great.Good Luck
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Summary: Read this book!
Review: Join Ben and Ned on an eternal adventure. Washed off the deck of the flying dutchman, they are given eternal youth by an angel. Their mission is to spread joy and sympathy wherever they go. I enjoyed reading this book. It is exciting in the beginning, suspenseful in the end, and hunorous the whole time. People who like the Redwall series will like this book too.
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Summary: Yeah, Its Five Stars, But Jacques Should Stick To Animals...
Review: Neb & Den are taken aboard a ship (the FLYING DUTCHMAN) as..slaves. After braving the Magellan, their captain, who had controlled the ship almost singlehandedly, curses at the heavens. Then, a curse is put aboard the ship, that all things may live forever on the gloomy seas. Neb & Den are thrown overboard, & are washed ashore & put into a shepherd's care (did I mention that this was the 17th century?). They soon leave him. Then, the story flashes ahead 200 years (Neb & Den, now Ben & Ned, have that eternal life thingy...) & they try to save a village from Mr. Smither's "progress." Its like the best Redwall mystery, squared. I do think that you should get a copy of this book today. But, I also think that Jacques should stick to the animals. His newest, "Triss," is one of the best yet......
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Summary: the most enchanting book of all
Review: One of the best books I ever read was Castaways Of The Flying Dutchman. In the book Neb and Den are slaves on a ship with the most feared captain of them all, Captain Vanderdecken. When the are sailing around Cape Horn, Neb and Den get washed of the ship and are meet on shore by an angel. Who tells them they must go and help people all over the world in different centuries, the rest is for you to read. Neb started out mute and lonely and when he got Den he felt a lot better. When they're washed from the deck they start to take it all out of life, help others and not run from their problems. After they get washed of the boat they change there names to get rid of any memory of their bad past. Neb becomes Ben and Den becomes Ned. They become more kind, Curtisy even to their enemies. I can't connect to the part a bought being nice to your enemies but I love mysteries and riddles that take a long time to figure out and there are a lot of mysteries in this book. A reviewer from Pennsylvania, USA A Breathtaking Book, this wonderful story of a boy and his dog is an upbeat, swift novel, that will leave you hungry for more. This book is so upbeat that ANYONE could be lifted away with it. If you hate to read, if you love to read, if you've never read Brian Jacques or if you love him to death, this is defiantly a keeper. This book will entertain young and old as never entertained before, and only the magic of Brian Jacques could accomplish this!
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Summary: Beloved Author Publishes Disappointing New Novel
Review: Popular author Brian Jacques is well known for his Redwall series-fourteen novels that tell the adventures of a medieval community of woodland creatures. This latest novel is the first book outside of the Redwall series. In Denmark, in 1620, a boy is mistreated by his family and left for dead. To escape, he crawls aboard the legendary Flying Dutchman. The ship's cook discovers him and puts him in shackles. The boy Neb is miserable and heading for the southern tip of South America. But before sailing from Denmark, he coaxes a stray dog aboard and hides him under the galley table. He calls his new friend Den, short for Denmark. Jacques retells the frightening legend of the Flying Dutchman with Neb and Den at the very center of the tale. Then the novel takes a sudden turn. Castaways is a disappointment. It starts out a salty sea tale, but turns into a plain old on-land mystery. The book has a lot of big words, but the mystery itself is not challenging. The many characters are not well developed. Even Neb and his dog seem unrealistic. They are almost uninteresting.
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Summary: Best if you read it before Redwall
Review: Probably like most people that bought this book, I got it because I am a huge Redwall fan. The beginning is the best part, I think, with the most suspense and drama. Later on, as the boy and his dog rove the land helping others, it's not as captivating. The multiple plots are OK, but not tied together for a satisfying ending like the Redwall books are. It has its moments of humour, but isn't great. I missed feeling passionate about characters as you do with Redwall.
Perhaps you'd do better reading this before you read the Redwall series. Then you won't miss the swashbuckling rodents that we all love.
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Summary: Sorta Good
Review: Redwall was better than this book. I feel REALLY bad that I'm giving Brian JAcques only four stars... If I could, i'd do 4.5... Anyway, I think BJ does better with animals. But he still wrote good.
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Summary: Much more than a human version of Redwall
Review: The editorial reviews are a good place to learn about the plot, and personally I prefer to know as little about the plot of a book as possible before I read; it spoils the surprises =+) When I was in fifth grade, my gram bought me Redwall. Several months later, I actually read the book, and was instantly hooked by Brian Jacques' beautiful writing. I have been a loyal Redwall fan ever since, reading and re-reading the books several times. I was both excited and nervous when I heard he would be doing a non-Redwall adventure: a Jacques book is a Jacques book, but would it be able to stand alone in such a large library of Redwall stories? I was not disappointed! It's very hard to review a book like this without comparing it to its predecessors. Like Redwall, Castaways has a fun riddle that requires the brainpower of several different characters. He continues to paint vivid pictures with his words and includes various dialects, a technique that makes the Redwall books, and this one, colorful. Castaways is also full of the same spectrum of emotion. Even the book itself is split into three sections, just like Redwall books. As I read, I realized it was much easier to picture the action in this book, since I have seen many boys and dogs but not many mice wearing habits and sandals and slicing vermin with swords. A few things I loved about this book were the banter between the boy, Neb, and his dog, Neb's "fighting" style, and the inclusion of the Bible in the lives of these people. I must disagree with those who have bad things to say about this novel. As with any good book, my complaint is only that it is too short. I am now 17, and it has been 7 years since I first opened a Brian Jacques book. I enjoy his writing as much now if not more than ever.
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Summary: An extraordinarily breathtaking novel.
Review: The legendary ship Flying Dutchman -- a ghost ship cursed by an angel to always sail the seas, forever bound on an eternal voyage. Only two people -- Neb, a mute from birth, and his dog, Denmark -- are saved of innocence of their hearts, and because they were not full of greed like their shipmates. Cast away upon the deeps, Neb and Denmark are blessed by the angel with the gift of speech and to understand, and to travel on a never ending journey to help those in need, bring down evil where it lies, and restore good. Their fantastic journeys eventually lead them to a village that will be destroyed by evil -- Neb and Denmark, whose names have been changed to Ben and Ned, must help their friends, brave their foes, and fulfill their goal in helping those in need. An absolutely gripping, breathtaking novel, Castaways Of The Flying Dutchman is an extraordinary new novel by award winning author Brian Jacques, and will leave the reader longing for a sequel. Undoubtedly, this is an unforgettable novel.
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