Has anyone heard of the book Castaways of the Flying Dutchman? It is written by Brian Jacques, and it is in a trilogy; said book being the first in the series.

I have to say that Redwall never appealed to me, but a friend gave me my copy of Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, and I love it so much I re-read it every couple years. ^^

Since I am terrible at writing reviews, I'm copy and pasting one from Amazon.com

"Fans of the Redwall series eager to sink their teeth into the latest adventure from Brian Jacques will be surprised to find that the cover of Castaways of the Flying Dutchman belies the contents of this fine mystery novel.
A handsome young lad, sporting a billowing, ripped shirt, gazes off into the distance, while behind him a ship founders on an eerily tempestuous sea. It's true, the first (brief) section of the book does tell the tale of a stowaway orphan on the legendary, ill-fated ship, the Flying Dutchman. And that's as swashbuckling a story as they come. But as soon as the boy and his newly adopted dog are tossed into the sea during a ferocious storm, the book takes a sharp turn. Ben and his dog, Ned, given eternal life by a sympathetic angel, now set out to "bring confidence and sympathy, help others to change their fate."
Two centuries later, they arrive in the village of Chapelvale, which is filled with quirky, affectionate citizens, who immediately welcome the mysterious but kindhearted and brave boy and his dog. The impending destruction of their village by the blustering, bloated Obadiah Smithers, an industrial speculator, propels Ben and his new friends into a thrilling search for a solution, involving ancient Byzantine gold chalices, mysterious coded messages, and some fierce tête-à-têtes with hired bullies. Illustrator Ian Schoenherr's intriguing line drawings at the beginning of each chapter hint at the upcoming clues to the mystery. Redwall fans be warned: you'll find no warrior mice here. But readers will find a satisfying story that never leaves a doubt as to the ability of good to triumph over evil." (Ages 9 to 12) -- Emilie Coulter

(Forget the age limit! Totally worth your read no matter the age!)

I read it once, but I don't remember much about it. I'd like to re-read them sometime; they seemed interesting but a bit on the phantasmagorical side...demons and ghosts and such...so they could be a bit borderline. Then again I read them a long time ago so I could be remembering wrong.

Anyways....it's midnight so my brain's probably all messed up!

eruheran

*gasp!* You used phantasmagoria in a sentence!!! You're awesome! I came across the word in the dictionary (since I'm always flipping through it when I write) and fell in love with how unique it was! I've had a difficult time trying to use it correctly in a sentence... XD

I just thought of another 'you know you're a crazy fantasy writer when..':
You take words out of the dictionary just because they sound cool.

Yup, that's me. I found that word in fifth grade but I'm never able to use it!

eruheran

Hahaha! Well, I guess that's one way to go about it.

The angels are angels from heaven, and the rest of the villains are local bullies of some level or another, from bullies to greedy business owners.

@Varon:

Yup, pretty much. ^^ I was excited to see someone else has read the books besides me. You'd think with so many Redwallers here, some of these people would have read the Castaways series!

They were good, but I like Redwall better.

Have you read all of the books in the Castaways series? Angels Command and Voyage of Slaves were the other books. My favorite is the latter. I don't really agree with these theologically, but they make for an entertaining read, and I absolutely love them.

Varon, I'm with you, I'm more for Redwall. But I got to admit, this series is just as good, and I love how Jacques has the same writing style with both series, he's really good.

I'm thrilled to find that there are more Castaways fans on HW.

I've read all of them. I am too.

I, too, have read all three. I only own the first one though.

It's awesome to find Castaways fans here! Redwall always seems to be much more popular, though I don't think that's quite fair. I liked the series well enough, but Castaways of the Flying Dutchman I enjoyed much, much more. I've still only read the first book -- I want to read it again, plus the next two.

It was a bit of a shock for me (and for a lot of people, probably) to find out how different this book is from Brian Jacques' others (except for The Ribbajack ... brrrr!) but his style is still the same even in a different genre, and his characterization is just as good with people as with animals.

I think I shall be updating my library holds list soon ...

It is most certainly a great trilogy to read. I hope you enjoy it!

I am so glad to see other fans here! ^^

I love these books! It's so sad that Brian Jacques died before he could write anymore! I'll really miss reading a new book every year!

I really liked these books. I've reread them too a second time at least.
I enjoyed the story and the characters.