Castaways of the Flying Dutchman

Creator of the widely acclaimed Redwall series, Brian Jacques has now turned his hand to a completely different type of story, with equal success. The Flying Dutchman has gone down in naval history as a famous ghost ship, immortalized in Wagner's opera of the same name. According to maritime folklore, the captain tried vainly to round Cape Horn, and, after failing repeatedly, swore a blasphemous oath that he would round the Horn or be damned. The ship sinks to a watery grave with all hands, her ghost doomed to ride the treacherous waters around Tierra del Fuego forever. But in Jacques's version of this legend there are two survivors of this tragedy. Young Neb is a mute 14-year-old galley boy who has fled his cruel stepfather, only to be faced with even more cruelty at the hands of the vicious crew. He befriends Den, a stowaway dog, and the two of them soon become fast friends. On that fateful night, after the mad Captain Vanderdecken has tried yet again to steer his luckless ship round the Cape, he curses the Lord himself for his failure. As the tumultuous waves overpower The Flying Dutchman, Ned and Den are washed overboard to safety, protected by an angel who grants them eternal youth and the gift of speech because of their inherent innocence. They are washed up on the shore of Tierra del Fuego, alive yet mysteriously changed. A new phase of their lives is about to begin. This is an utterly gripping adventure story, moving from the drama of the high seas in the 1620s to the crisis besetting a little English village in 1896, held to ransom by unscrupulous developers. Like an eternally youthful Robin Hood, Neb (or Ben as he becomes in the later section of the book) traverses the centuries 'doing good', meeting his greatest challenges in Chapelvale. Here there are village bullies to be overcome, villains to be brought to justice and, in true Brian Jacques style, a series of incomprehensible riddles to be solved. Highly satisfying. Ages 9-14 (Kirkus UK)