Stardust (P.S.)

published	2006 by Harper Perennial
first published	1999
binding	Paperback
isbn	0061142026 (isbn13: 9780061142024)
pages	288
description	Stardust is an utterly charming fairy tale in the tradition of The Princess Bride and The Neverending Story. Neil Gaiman, creato...more [close] Stardust is an utterly charming fairy tale in the tradition of The Princess Bride and The Neverending Story. Neil Gaiman, creator of the darkly elegant Sandman comics and author of The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, tells the story of young Tristran Thorn and his adventures in the land of Faerie. One fateful night, Tristran promises his beloved that he will retrieve a fallen star for her from beyond the Wall that stands between their rural English town (called, appropriately, Wall) and the Faerie realm. No one ever ventures beyond the Wall except to attend an enchanted flea market that is held every nine years (and during which, unbeknownst to him, Tristran was conceived). But Tristran bravely sets out to fetch the fallen star and thus win the hand of his love. His adventures in the magical land will keep you turning pages as fast as you can--he and the star escape evil old witches, deadly clutching trees, goblin press-gangs, and the scheming sons of the dead Lord of Stormhold. The story is by turns thrillingly scary and very funny. You'll love goofy, earnest Tristran and the talking animals, gnomes, magic trees, and other irresistible denizens of Faerie that he encounters in his travels. Stardust is a perfect read-aloud book, a brand-new fairy tale you'll want to share with a kid, or maybe hoard for yourself. (If you read it to kids, watch out for a couple of spicy sex bits and one epithet.) --Therese Littleton
date added	12-21-06 edit book

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L.h. rated it:

08/15/07

bookshelves: fantasy-and-science-fiction

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: dreamers

Dear Mr. Gaiman,

Damn you. Damn you straight to hell. You've written beautiful faerie stories in your plainspoken postmodern prose, and left my own projected frontiers woefully trodden. It has nothing to do with your brilliance. Had I been born before you I would most likely be the one writing clever novels about fallen stars and sly gods. I would've, I swear!

But instead, I was born forty years too late, and your Faerie, Neil, -do you mind if I call you Neil? Your Faerie, like all o...more Dear Mr. Gaiman,

Damn you. Damn you straight to hell. You've written beautiful faerie stories in your plainspoken postmodern prose, and left my own projected frontiers woefully trodden. It has nothing to do with your brilliance. Had I been born before you I would most likely be the one writing clever novels about fallen stars and sly gods. I would've, I swear!

But instead, I was born forty years too late, and your Faerie, Neil, -do you mind if I call you Neil? Your Faerie, like all of your creations, is a perfectly plausible reality, praised by literary critics, the literate's dollar, and even the behemoth Movie Adaptation. Your prose is simple, if you'll pardon my saying so, not elevated, with exotic adjectives, but simple and modern, easily accessible, solid, quality prose. This reflects nothing upon you, of course -your authorship is the perfect marriage of your own writing talent and our modern culture. Shakespeare's work seems ridiculously complicated to us now, but he wrote for the masses, just like you. Our masses do not value rhetorics, metre, or internal rhyme, or I'm sure you'd write with such tools.

No, Neil, you write with one very powerful tool -distilled imagination. Escapism, unreality, creativity, novelty, and all their side effects. The ever-growing fetus of imagination is hope, for when the surround world seems unbearable. In slavery, in misery, in poverty, in isolation, a person can escape into the brighter day of dreams, or the unknown future, or the magic of Faerie.

And in a world where the demons in the closet are thrust into a florescent laboratory, where telescopes and cameras record the crags and terrain of places where once there were dragons, where we identify which crannies of the human mind are responsible for fear, or love, or sorrow, and even plot out their corresponding hormonal compositions for manipulation and control, perhaps in such a world we must desperately escape into the unexplorable reaches of Faerie. The rules are simple there. Help anyone in need, and graciously accept their payment. Stick with unerringly polite manners, but never let down your guard. You need a sharp wit to go with a good heart. Never eat faerie food.

Popular vote does not elect poor leaders in Faerie. Weapons are easily recognizable, not hidden in letters or water bottles. Death stands tall with his scythe and cowl instead of creeping behind health care bills and drug overdoses, and when he does come, death was either justified, or will be avenged. Villages in Faerie are rarely overrun with slow acting disease, or skeletal toddlers with distended bellies. The old do not die alone there. Despite enchanted princes and disguised witches, Faerie makes more sense than our world, and if it doesn't, it's alright. It's Faerie.

So we escape into your novels, Neil, and into the worlds of Harry Potter and Lyra Silvertongue, and we love you for it (or in my case, hate you). We are too jaded to suspend disbelief, yet we ache for magic. We won't creep into a darkened room for the show, but demand that you blossom crystal snowdrops here in Times Square, your right hand outstretched for our inspection while your left clutches a Starbucks cup. We cannot leave our world for Faerie anymore, so you bring it to us in pleasurable words, easily explainable, hidden just beyond an English countryside wall, or under our feet, or in corners we don't examine too closely.

Sincerely,
L.H....less

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Jen rated it:

02/06/08

bookshelves: fantasy

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: Die-hard Neil Gaimon Fans

A friend gave me this book and I decided to read it before going to see the movie, since I'd heard so many rave reviews of the film. If the movie hadn't been my carrot, though, I never would have made it through the first chapter, let alone the entire story. Let me say that I adore the fantasy genre (check my book list), so this is not outside my interest. However, in attempting to write a "fairy tale for adults" Gaimon completely missed the mark. Apparently his idea of what makes a st...more A friend gave me this book and I decided to read it before going to see the movie, since I'd heard so many rave reviews of the film. If the movie hadn't been my carrot, though, I never would have made it through the first chapter, let alone the entire story. Let me say that I adore the fantasy genre (check my book list), so this is not outside my interest. However, in attempting to write a "fairy tale for adults" Gaimon completely missed the mark. Apparently his idea of what makes a story "for adults" is generous sprinklings of gore, violence, and sex. Considering that the rest of the story is written with child-like simplicity these sections are jarring, to say the least. When I stumbled across the first somewhat graphic sex scene within a few dozen pages, I literally stopped to double check what book I was reading. Call me a prude, but I don't think words like "nipple" and "thrust" really flow well in a fairy tale. Also, I defy any fantasy lover to not flinch in horror at Gaimon's brutal and gore-spattered murder and subsequent dismemberment of the heroine's unicorn. "Pooling bodily fluids"? No, thank you.

Still, it's not so much the sex & violence that disturbed me (although if I liked that kind of thing I wouldn't be reading fantasy); it was that they were included in a tale lauded for its childlike adventure and whimsy. Even the description here on goodreads compares it to Princess Bride & the Neverending Story - an insult beyond comprehension to works which demonstrate that, with skill, an author can in fact write a fairy tale for adults without employing R rated tactics.

Lest you think I am allowing several instances of violence and sex to ruin my opinion of the entire work, let me address the actual plot line and writing. Gaimon can write, obviously, but the plot is riddled with fantasy travel cliches (oh, he slept in a hayloft? How original!) and tiresome caricatures. The hero is an unsympathetic clod, the star is referred to almost exclusively as "the star", rendering her more an inanimate object than a living being, and the rare nuggets of interest, such as the lightning pirates and the mysterious "kingdom brotherhood" are glossed over in a few paragraphs. And for a book that does not flinch from sex, where is the romance between the star & hero? We endure their pedantic bickering the entire book, only to be rewarded with a passionless declaration of love betwixt them by the end.

The ending is predictable yet less than satisfying, since the evil witch queen escapes justice and ultimately the star faces a lonely immortality bereft of her love. Not exactly the stuff happy endings are made of.

UPDATE: I finally saw the movie, and let me say how grateful I am that it is NOTHING like the book! Other than borrowing the majority of the plot & character names, the movie is night & day different, employing a vast amount of humor & charm where the book was violent and grim. I only wish my perspective had not been tainted by the book!...less

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4 comments

Morgan rated it:

04/28/08

bookshelves: magical-fiction

Read in April, 2008

recommends it for: not a lot of people...

My sil, Kirstin, recommended this movie to Jon and I. I enjoyed it, but felt that there was something missing, some fundamental understanding in regards to the world of "Stardust" that I was missing. I also felt it was a bit cheesy and overdone. I knew it could've been better, and was wondering what caused the director to head the direction he did. Well, you can imagine how pleased I was to find out that it wasn't only a movie, it was a book as well! Finally, the missing answers! ...more My sil, Kirstin, recommended this movie to Jon and I. I enjoyed it, but felt that there was something missing, some fundamental understanding in regards to the world of "Stardust" that I was missing. I also felt it was a bit cheesy and overdone. I knew it could've been better, and was wondering what caused the director to head the direction he did. Well, you can imagine how pleased I was to find out that it wasn't only a movie, it was a book as well! Finally, the missing answers! Finally, the understanding in regards to this whole world of Faerie! Finally, the deep and intimate truth!

Well, yeah. Let's just say, I'm not really impressed. How they created the movie from that book is beyond me. There were a lot, A LOT, of liberties taken in the plot of the movie that were no where found in the book. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. The book was actually quite slow moving. Both the book and the movie revolved around the same concept. The city of Wall, England, on the border of Faerie, which no folk can pass into except once every 9 years when a fair unites people from all over the world. The young Tristan Thorn is born after a late night rendevous between a slave girl on the Faerie side, and the ever reliable Mr. Thorn from the sleepy village of Thorn. Young Tristan grows up never knowing his true roots, and assuming he will spend all his life in Wall. But one night, after walking home his one and true love, Victoria Foster, they see a shooting star. Tristan promises Victoria he will go and retrieve that star for her. But once he does, she will have to marry him. Victoria, being the ever flaky female character, laughs him off and assumes he is merely jesting. That night, Tristan sets off into the unknown world of Faerie to collect that star for his truest love. Little does he know what awaits him in the land beyond.

Okay, the storyline is cute enough, but here's what really bothered me:
1) I assumed this was a kids novel, but was not. After a saucy love scene I had to keep my eye out. Also, it was a bit, well, rough. The author used phrases like, "Primus strode over to the ledge to piss..." Piss, really? Was that necessary? I think not. I mean, I know he used it for a reason, but I didn't know why.
2) The plot moved very quickly, and I never felt that we stayed in one place long enough. I was really excited to read about their time aboard the ship, and it was like 2 pages. He simply skims over time by saying, "Later in his life, Tristan would always look back his time on the ship as one of the happiest of his life." Okay, a little more on WHY he enjoyed it so much? Please?
3) SOOOOO anti-climactic. The ending? Seriously? It was a joke.

I will say I really enjoy the interactions between Tristan and Yvaine, but that was about the only thing that was really great about this book. It's somewhere between 2 and 3 stars, but not one that I would quickly recommend. There are far better magical works than this one....less

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Hustinetten rated it:

02/10/08

bookshelves: literaturainglesa

Read in January, 2007

Cuando me enteré de que una de las historias del nuevo libro de Susanna Clarke ocurre en Wall, o lo que es lo mismo, en Muro, el pueblo en el que también comienza Stardust, de Neil Gaiman, supe que ésta debía ser mi próxima parada literaria, antes de echarle mano a The Ladies of Grace Adieu, la compilación de relatos cor...more Cuando me enteré de que una de las historias del nuevo libro de Susanna Clarke ocurre en Wall, o lo que es lo mismo, en Muro, el pueblo en el que también comienza Stardust, de Neil Gaiman, supe que ésta debía ser mi próxima parada literaria, antes de echarle mano a The Ladies of Grace Adieu, la compilación de relatos cortos de la madre del Sr. Strange. Y es que además hacía tiempo que quería leer algún libro del señor Gaiman en donde que no hiciera su aparición el Señor del Sueño (The Sandman lo llevo por la mitad, además de haber pasado por Los Cazadores de Sueños).

Una pena que la lectura me la hayan amargado un poco la traducción y la edición...¡Que eventually no significa eventualmente, leñes, sino finalmente! ¡¡Y las letras no se comen!! ¡¡Caca!!
Es por eso que miré a cuánto se cotizaba en amazon la edición original ilustrada por Charles Vess de Stardust. Que por cierto, es preciosa, pero la portada te destripa totalmente el final. Menos mal que no la he visto hasta ahora. En realidad no se trata de algo grave, nada que nadie en su sano juicio no oliera venir al leer la historia. Pero yo, particularmente, no me lo esperaba.

Y es que me ocurre una cosa curiosa: La experiencia me ha dado un alto grado de previsión en cuanto a el desenlace de historias se refiere, sobre todo si son sencillas, folletinescas...películas de las de mediodía de Antena 3, vamos.
Peeeeeeeero claro, cuando la historia me gusta y me atrapa, quedo ciega, y no veo gran parte de lo que puede ocurrir en los capítulos siguientes. Yo, personalmente, lo considero una virtud, así disfruto el doble y conservo el apreciado factor sorpresa.

En el caso de Stardust, no es que sea un folletín. Peor: es un cuento. Con todos sus actantes, muchas de las treinta y una funciones de Propp, encantamientos, reyes, brujas y demás. Sencillo, al menos en apariencia, porque en realidad el señor Gaiman se las apaña para manejar como si nada varias historias confluyentes entrelazadas. Y lo hace como los grandes narradores de la historia del cuento: permitiendo que lo increíble parezca cosa tan mundana como ir a compra el pan. Hilando los sucesos como si la conexión entre unos y otros parezca lo más obvio del mundo pero, al mismo tiempo, sigas maravillándote con su relato y preguntándote qué ocurrirá a continuación. Siguiendo los esquemas clásicos fielmente, pero introduciendo con habilidad ciertos elementos subversivos. Y al final...

No quiero destripar ni lo más mínimo. Sólo decir que los últimos capítulos me los he leído y disfrutado del tirón, aunque me doliera horriblemente el cuello por estar tanto tiempo en la misma posición, y, por supuesto, me diera muchísima pena despedirme de los personajes. Menos mal que la historia es corta y no me dio tiempo a cogerles demasiado cariño esta vez....less

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Scooter rated it:

02/01/08

bookshelves: all-time-faves

I have very little interest in books in which humans pass into the mystical realm of Faerie, and my eyes glaze over when somebody describes such a plotline. Why, then, have two of the best novels I’ve read recently involve exactly that premise? The first was Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and the second is Stardust. (An interesting footnote to this is that Gaiman helped Clarke get published after reading her short fiction, but Clarke’s excellence would have been discover...more I have very little interest in books in which humans pass into the mystical realm of Faerie, and my eyes glaze over when somebody describes such a plotline. Why, then, have two of the best novels I’ve read recently involve exactly that premise? The first was Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and the second is Stardust. (An interesting footnote to this is that Gaiman helped Clarke get published after reading her short fiction, but Clarke’s excellence would have been discovered sooner or later).

I loved Gaiman’s American Gods and Anansi Boys, so I was willing to give Stardust a chance. I really think it’s his best book that I’ve read… it’s succint, charming, and poignant, with a good dash of humor and a very fast-paced adventure. Though it’s billed as a send-up of fairy tales in the style of William Goldman’s Princess Bride, Stardust is refreshingly straight-forward, without much cute postmodern touches. That is to say, it’s just a fairy tale, but a marvelous one, and with as much subtle meaning as the ones endlessly analyzed by the Bettelheims and Blys of the world.

Tristan Thorn is the book’s young hero. Unbeknownst to him, he is half faerie himself, the result of a sudden indiscretion of his father. He lives in the town of Wall, an English village that is otherwise ordinary, but rests at the gap in a wall between England and the magical land of Faerie. Tristan impulsively promises a young sweetheart anything, and she impulsively calls his bluff, asking him for a star seen falling far beyond the wall.

Needless to say, Tristan tries to make good on his promise, and sets out on his adventure. Here is where lesser authors would lose my interest, setting their heroes plodding through their inevitable setbacks and successes. Where Gaiman succeeds is imbuing practically every character, however fleeting, with a real and interesting persona… the witches and would-be kings racing Tristan to the star for their own selfish ends, and the various helpers and aids that Tristan meets along the way.

Among other things, of all the fantasy books I’ve read by men, this has the most respect for its female characters — the Star herself and Tristan’s fairy mother prove to be the most heroic characters, while the witches and even Tristan’s vain, pretty sweetheart back home are given actual personalities, rather than serving as mere plot devices. ...less

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Kevin rated it:

05/05/08

Read in February, 2008

I am becoming something of a Neil Gaiman fan. It started, as much has these days, with my Kindle. I was browsing for some inexpensive books that I could read and stumbled upon Stardust. And just to prove how clueless I can be, I didn't realize this had been made into a movie until after I had finished reading it. I was vaguely aware that the movie had come out but I just never made the connection between the book and movie in my mind (more about my reaction to the movie later.)

I enjoyed Amer...more I am becoming something of a Neil Gaiman fan. It started, as much has these days, with my Kindle. I was browsing for some inexpensive books that I could read and stumbled upon Stardust. And just to prove how clueless I can be, I didn't realize this had been made into a movie until after I had finished reading it. I was vaguely aware that the movie had come out but I just never made the connection between the book and movie in my mind (more about my reaction to the movie later.)

I enjoyed American Gods but wasn't blown away by it, but I really loved Stardust. While American Gods was long and messy and complex, etc. Stardust was charming, and simple, and nearly perfect. It made me realize why I read stories like this.

What is impressive about Stardust is the skill with which Gaiman introduces the characters and settings in order to set up this fairy tale. He has a very light touch that allows him to set up the back story and introduce the reader to this alternate world in a way that piques their curiosity and pulls them in.

There are a number of story threads but he weaves them in skillfully so that there is both an action adventure side to it as well as a fairy tale/myth side. That these different dimensions work together and compliment each other says a lot about Gaiman's skills as a writer.

And it is also worth noting that he uses an admirable economy of words. The book packs an amazing amount of character development and adventure into less than 300 pages. He has a way of capturing a character's personality with just a short anecdote or description.

I really enjoyed the book's tone/voice. It has a sense of humor and is quirky without being campy or slapstick. It is in many ways a beautiful love story, and a deeply romantic one, but there is an ever present sense of tragedy as well. It has a sense of innocence and humility and yet also a sense of deeper knowledge. It captures the excitement and mystery of myths and magical stories and makes you wish you could connect to such a world.

Some may think this is just another fairy tale story, but that is easier said than done. It isn't easy to take a well known style, or to use a fancy word: trope, and make it your own; do something both familiar and yet different. Gaiman has pulled this off with style.

Stardust was one of those instant favorites. I highly recommend it no matter what your normal reading style or taste.
...less

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Kathryn rated it:

(review of isbn 0380804557)

02/15/08

Read in February, 2008

Since I saw the movie before I read the book, I must preface my review with that fact since a comparison between the two was inevitable and, moreover, greatly influenced my opinion of the book. I loved the movie! I liked the book. Unlike most book-to-film adaptations, however, I felt that the movie had more character development and more details; and, indeed, more heart and more humor. I cannot objectively consider the merits of the book because I missed so many aspects of the movie-story as...more

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John rated it:

10/15/07

Read in October, 2007

I saw the movie first, and read the book second.

Gaiman does a great job of convincing readers that the world of Fairie could and does exist. And like all good fantasy, it's clear that the borders don't stop with his pages. Indeed, that the movie expands on aspects like the three witches and the lightning pirates, where the book spends barely any time at all, shows that there's many more stories to tell in the world of Fairie.

Gaiman is out to make an adult fairy tale, and I suppose he do...more

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Nechan rated it:

(review of isbn 0060934719)

10/06/07

Read in May, 2007

[sebuah novel fantasi dari seorang pengarang graphic novel "sandman"]

"ini adalah dongeng untuk orang dewasa"

tagline yang langsung menarik perhatian gw dalam sekejap pas lagi jalan2
di kino-senayan. Ditambah lagi desain coverbuku yang seolah buku ini
adalah buku tua bersampul kulit usang yang termakan usia. interesting.

Ceritanya sendiri tentang perjalanan seorang Tristran Thorn, pemuda lugu
belasan tahun, menembus negeri peri demi membawakan bintang jatuh untuk ...more

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Darcy rated it:

08/18/07

Read in August, 2007

I just read this book and saw the movie today.

The book –
I would define the writing as whimsical. For instance, “It was night in the glade by the pool and the sky was bespattered with stars beyond counting. Fireflies glittered in the leaves of the elm trees and in the ferns and in the hazel bushes, flickers on and off like the lights of as strange and distant city."

The charming prose was offset by a complete lack of character development and a rushed ending. Thus, there arose ...more

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Megs rated it:

08/22/07

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: Fantasy Fans

I went to see the movie from this book first, and really liked it. So, I wondered silently to myself, the book must be even BETTER, because as bookreaders we all know that the book is about one million times better than the movie. This time, not so much.

The book started off pretty well and hopeful, with the magical land of Faerie being a promise of strange creatures and enchantments. Lilm, the Queen Witch who is three people, lives as old hags in a rundown house with a magic mirror with t...more

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Juliette rated it:

11/18/07

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: adults who dream

If you saw the recent movie adaptation, ignore it; it does not do justice to this amazing book. This book is billed as a "fairy tale for adults", and that is exactly what it is, executed in the most brilliant way possible. It is a true fairy tale for all adults who dreamed that fairy tales could be come true; but with a nice sexy and cynical twist for those same dreamy adults who know what the world is really like.

Sex is blended seamlessly into the story, although not in a pornogr...more

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Maeve rated it:

07/25/07

Read in July, 2007

recommends it for: people with short attention spans.

My beloved best friend raved about this book, after we saw a preview for what is sure to be not such a great movie, regardless of the presence of Robert Deniro... and then gave me a copy of it.

I was, well, less than impressed. First off, the whole "Wall" thing was far too similar to Garth Nix's Sabriel series, which is a much much better written one with a far more interesting and...more

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Natalie rated it:

(review of isbn 0380977281)

04/04/08

What a sexy and fresh fairy tale for adults! It was just the sort of pick me up to read after Harry Potter withdrawals. I had read that if one enjoyed the Princess Bride then they would almost certainly enjoy this too. And like the Princess Bride I believe this novel is destined to become a cornerstone of fantasy literature.

Neil Gaiman displays boundless imaginativeness in this witty, mini, fantasy quest. Amusing and creative features I enjoyed include: the pursuit of a real...more

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Dini rated it:

(review of isbn 0060934719)

10/10/07

bookshelves: fiction

Read in October, 2007

Finally finished this book after six days and an array of distractions.

It was an enjoyable read! A true fairy tale with all the wonder, adventure and magical creatures--and a lot of humor as well. The story tells about the faerie world which is only separated by a wall from the human world. The young, innocent hero Tristran Thorn decides to venture to the other side of the wall in search of a falling star to win the heart of his loved one. But little did he know that some others are also aft...more

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outside247 rated it:

(review of isbn 0060934719)

11/05/07

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: adults who miss childhood fairytales

I loved this book. My only complaint is that it felt like the author was forced to put some adult content into the book in order to sell it to adult readers. It's like when you have a perfectly good movie about an adult subject that's clean & fun. Suddenly the producer realizes that the movie will be rated PG. They can't have that because then adults won't go see it. So they throw in a sex scene or drop a few swear words and bingo - PG-13 - now they can market it to an adult audience. ...more

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Meika rated it:

04/23/08

I saw the movie first, and was so taken with it that I bought the book to see what was left out. They're two different tellings of the same basic story, and both are lovely in their own right. The dangers are less gruesome and less dramatic in the book, and yet...the escapes are by much narrower margins. It's as though Gaiman has crafted the story as a master carpenter crafts a frame...it looks simple but is so exact that only a master could do it so well. No need for a hammer and nails to h...more

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Croaker rated it:

02/29/08

Read in February, 2008

recommended to Croaker by: Sick Monkey
recommends it for: Everyone

Stardust
Neil Gaiman

This is a fairy (or rather Faerie) tale in the best traditions of the Mother Goose, The Brothers Grimm and JRR Tolkien, only better written. His writing mimics Hemingway in brevity and word use, which is no small feat, and the pictures he paints are no less real than describing a Cuban man in a small boat being pulled into the Gulf Stream by a huge marlin.
Consider the things necessary for the complete voyage into Faerie: a wall separating the known from the unknown,...more

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Meagan rated it:

01/24/08

recommended to Meagan by: ...everyone?

Okay, well. Not what I was expecting.

I'm not a fantasy fan particularly, nor am I a science-fiction fan at all, so I approached this book with a bit of trepidation. And, well...it wasn't amazing.

It was fun to read. Lyrical and beautiful writing. But...I wasn't enthralled. I wasn't hanging on the edge of my seat. It was nice, but not...great.

Part of it was the impersonal way he writes about the characters. I know this adds into the very formal, almost...royal(?) feel he has, li...more

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Michael rated it:

09/16/07

Read in September, 2007

recommends it for: people on long flights; people who've never heard of Isaac Azimov; people who are tired of life.

The saving grace of this book is the first half, where despite often clipped and disjointed prose, the author does a decent job, at times, of setting up a dark fairy tale that takes place in the middle of a world bigger than the story. At its best, the author creates a darkness that escapes even Grimm stories: the characters don't just succeed or fail, they struggle, hurt, and cry.

The problem with the book, which becomes especially apparent in the second half, is that the author set out to w...more

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book data (includes all editions)

avg rating (all editions): 3.90 (6872 ratings)
avg rating (this edition): 3.89 (5107 ratings)
number of reviews: 1039

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Stardust (P.S.)

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