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A review by gkneveu
Castaways of the Flying Dutchman by Brian Jacques
1.0
I was very disappointed with this book. My friend had told me about it and it sounded really cool so I got it. I'd never really been into Redwall (the very popular series by this author), but this book is very different than those, so I decided to give it a try, unfortunately it only served to remind me of all the reasons I had never finished a Redwall book.
The story is about a boy and his dog, two unfortunate beings unwillingly taken onto the Flying Dutchman(pre-curse). They are mistreated but remain strong and loyal to each other, and when the captain angers the gods and dooms the entire ship, the boy and his dog are spared because of their innocence. They get the good end of the deal and are immortal like the rest of the crew, but are allowed to leave the ship. Cool idea, right? Too bad it's about the only good thing about the book. The rest of the story is unoriginal and extremely predictable. The writing is mediocre, and the unnatural and forced dialogue makes me cringe. There was so much you could do with this idea, so many interesting stories could come from this young boy and dog who've been alive for hundreds of years, never aging, never able to stay in one place very long and never allowed to get attached to anyone. But the story is so predictable, so uninspired. The characters were flat and uninteresting, and I got attached to none of them, not even the two main characters. It's too bad that such a cool, original idea was so poorly executed.
The story is about a boy and his dog, two unfortunate beings unwillingly taken onto the Flying Dutchman(pre-curse). They are mistreated but remain strong and loyal to each other, and when the captain angers the gods and dooms the entire ship, the boy and his dog are spared because of their innocence. They get the good end of the deal and are immortal like the rest of the crew, but are allowed to leave the ship. Cool idea, right? Too bad it's about the only good thing about the book. The rest of the story is unoriginal and extremely predictable. The writing is mediocre, and the unnatural and forced dialogue makes me cringe. There was so much you could do with this idea, so many interesting stories could come from this young boy and dog who've been alive for hundreds of years, never aging, never able to stay in one place very long and never allowed to get attached to anyone. But the story is so predictable, so uninspired. The characters were flat and uninteresting, and I got attached to none of them, not even the two main characters. It's too bad that such a cool, original idea was so poorly executed.