Stardust [Hardcover]

 

 

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Stardust by Neil Gaiman is an adult fairy tale that took some time to get into. Overall, it was an enjoyable book that is written so beautifully and has a great but very sad ending (might not be sad for everyone)! I did feel distant from the characters, maybe because there were a couple of storylines going on in this short story since there were many people after the star: Tristan, the three lords after the power Stormhold, and a witch. However, that may have been a good thing, because I would not feel greatly upset if something bad happened to the characters.

The story mainly revolved around Tristan Thorn, who is so in love with Victoria Forester that he would do anything to win her heart when she refuses to kiss him. Victoria tells him that she would do anything he desired if he brought back the shooting star that they just saw that night. Happily, Tristan obeys. He enters beyond the wall that is gaurds Wall, into Faerie, which does not follow the same rules as Wall does, and nothing is as he imagined.

I do hope that Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman is even more enjoyable than Stardust.

I would be one of those people who checked out Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess' "Stardust: Being a Romance Within the Realms of Faerie" because they really enjoyed the movie "Stardust." When I went to my local comic book store to pick up this week's comics I notice they had this elegant hardback edition of "Stardust," which I took to be a sign that I should pick it up instead of trying to track down all of the issues on eBay. So each night since seeing the movie I have been reading a couple of chapters of the book before turning out the lights, because it seemed the sort of thing that should be read in bed (actually, it seems like it should be read to somebody, but then the narrative flow of Gaiman's text would be broken up every time you had to show the person who was being read to the illustrations by Vess).

One of the nice things about reading the book after seeing the movie, instead of the other way around, is that instead of bemoaning what has been altered, added or deleted you get to enjoy seeing the entire world of Faerie envisioned by Gaiman and illustrated by Vess. As soon as you start reading Chapter 1, "In Which We Learn of the Village of Wall, and of the Curious Thing That Occurs There Every Nine Years," you are aware of the differences, because Dunstan Thorn does not have to sneak past the two guards (not one) that guard the gap in the wall in order to meet the personal slave of the witch-woman who owns the stall where flowers are sold. So there are myriad differences between the book and the movie revealed in each and every chapter.

In fact, many of the things that I liked most about the movie are not in the book. That is not to say or even to suggest that this is a bad thing, because movies and illustrated novels (which is what this book is and not a comic book) have decidedly different approaches when it comes to what is visually important. The big moment in the movie was exactly what I wanted to be (indeed, I had turned to my wife and whispered that I wondered what would happen if the fallen star got really, really happy), and what happens in the original story is radically different but equally appropriate to the path that Gaiman and Vess had stacked out for their characters.

The inevitable question would be which is better, the novel or the movie, but everybody knows what the answer to that question usually is in such cases. However, what is important is that those who enjoy one should be able to enjoy the other. If you have seen the movie and liked it, then you should check out the book. If you have read the book, or the original comic books, then you should go see the movie. There will be those who will be disappointed by one given the other, and some will be touched or moved by either, but that is their loss.

My familiarity with Gaiman's work has been pretty spotty. I have only seen a couple of issues of "The Sandman," a couple of years into the telling of the tale, so I could not really appreciate what was going on. But I have read his novel "American Gods" and his alternative history comic book series "Marvel 1602." "Stardust" is different from those other works, but you can get a sense of how this is just another corner of Gaiman's imagination. Equally important are the illustrations by Vess, because they help reinforce the idea that even if it is set during the time of young Queen Victoria in the land across the pond that this is indeed a faerie tale. If anything, both the book and the movie reminds us of what that means.

Fairy tales tend to lose their sparkle when they're made into books for adults.

But Neil Gaiman creates his own sparkling fairy tale in "Stardust," an entrancing fantasy tale that never loses its magic. With beautiful prose, likable characters, and a mesh of the grotesque and the ethereal, this is Gaiman's reworking of fairy tales -- with a slight wink to the readers.

Years ago, Dunstan Thorn fell in love with a beautiful slave from across the Wall. Nine months later, he got a baby boy on his doorstep. His son Tristan grows up unaware of his heritage, and longs for the beautiful, frosty Victoria Forester. When she rejects him, he makes a rash promise -- he'll pursue a fallen star over the Wall and bring it back to her, if she gives him her hand.

But when he finds the star, he learns that it is a beautiful young girl, a daughter of the moon named Yvaine. The dying Lord of Stormheld threw a gem to the distance and accidently knocked her from the sky. Now his sons are trying to get the gem back, since the one who gets the gem will be the next Lord. What is more, an ancient witch is pursuing the star, determined to cut out her heart so she and her sisters can be young again. To protect the lovely star, Tristan is called on to be a hero, and to learn who he really is...

Few fantasy stories are as well-done as "Stardust." Gaiman mixes humor, romance, grisly realism and airy-fairiness in a tight little plot. It only really picks up two-thirds of the way into the book, but what a trip it is. It slides rather than explodes to a conclusion, where everything slips into place and all the loose ends are neatly tied together, in a way that makes perfect sense.

His writing is a mix of beautiful details and fast-moving plot. Gaiman frequently pauses to describe the creepy Stormhelm, where murdered ghosts watch their brothers compete, to the beautiful forests of Faerie where little sprites mock people. Some scenes -- like a unicorn's skewering a witch -- are breathtakingly vivid.

Everybody loves an everyman hero, and despite his mystery background, Tristan definitely qualifies. He's a little goofy and a lot clueless, but his earnestness makes him likable. Yvaine is a bit off-kilter in a good way, sharp-tongued and a little naive, but a good match for Tristan. And supporting characters like the evil Septimus and youth-hungry witch are solidly written; even Victoria is shown in a new light.

The beautiful adult fairy-tale "Stardust" is an entrancing read, wonderfully written and full of intriguing characters. An outstanding, timeless story, and sure to enchant fantasy readers. (Yes, even the ones who don't like unicorns)

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5.0 out of 5 stars If you love imagination as I do............
Did you, as a child, hold your breath when Jack reached the top of the bean stalk?....or when Snow White opened the door to the witch's cottage?.... Read more

Published 22 months ago by Ronald W. Maron

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully imagnitive
I first read this book a few years ago. I asked a friend, a manager of a bookstore what her favourite books or authors were to expand upon my reading list. Read more

Published on May 27 2010 by Steven R. McEvoy

4.0 out of 5 stars Stardust
The book arrived in a timely manner and in excellent condition, an overall good book buying experience.

Published on Feb 22 2010 by S. Connors

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent
Not a children's book; an adult ( or teen or "young adult") fairy tale.

Watched the movie first & thought it was great, so searched out the book. Read more

Published on Jan 16 2010 by B. A. Scharf

4.0 out of 5 stars Top
I went to see the movie edition in theaters and just fell for it so, i got the book. But the book is alot deferent from the movie, the book will compleatly send you into the land... Read more

Published on Aug 17 2009 by L. Martin

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading, but you've got to see the movie too
I really enjoyed reading this book, because I like Gaiman's writing style and I particularly like his cheeky sense of humour. Read more

Published on April 16 2009 by killerwhaletank

5.0 out of 5 stars read and re-read it again
Stardust is kind of like comfort food - it's the book you can go back to again and again, anytime you can't seem to find anything else you really want to read, or just need a few... Read more

Published on April 17 2006 by katiemur

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Neil Gaiman’s best
I was drawn to Stardust after enjoying several other books by Neil Gaiman, especially American Gods and Good Omens, among others. Read more

Published on Mar 11 2006 by Hugo Trepanier

5.0 out of 5 stars Fairytale for grownups
Tristan Thorn's journey across the Wall is a beautiful lyrical tale of a young boy who vows to win his love by retrieving a fallen star from across the Wall into the land of... Read more

Published on May 10 2004 by kankan

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps the most heartwarming story I've read in ages
This is the second Neil Gaiman book I've had the pleasure of reading - the first was American Gods. While I found American Gods interesting and quite entertaining, Stardust I... Read more

Published on May 5 2004 by Christopher

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