Flying_Dutch
Flying Dutch
1991 humorous-fantasy novel by Tom Holt
Flying Dutch (ISBN 0-356-20111-2) is the third humorous-fantasy novel by popular British author Tom Holt. First published in the UK in 1991 by Orbit Books.
Inspired by Wagner's 1843 opera, The Flying Dutchman, the novel asserts that the famous Dutchman and his crew were not, in fact, cursed by the Devil, but were instead the victim of a flawed alchemical experiment which made them immortal, but, as a side effect, gave them a horrible, unbearable stench. Every seven years, the stench wears off, briefly, and the crew can land and reprovision. However, modern technology is catching up with the Dutchman, and compound interest on his ancient life-insurance policy threatens the entire world's economy.