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Stardust

by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author)

3.97 · rating details · 62,315 ratings · 4,592 reviews

Young Tristran Thorn will do anything to win the cold heart of beautiful Victoria--even fetch her the star they watch fall from the night sky. But to do so, he must enter the unexplored lands on the other side of the ancient wall that gives their tiny village its name. Beyond that old stone wall, Tristran learns, lies Faerie--where nothing, not even a fallen star, is what

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Paperback, 250 pages

Published August 29th 2006 by Harper Perennial (first published October 28th 1998)

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Aug 15, 2007

L.h. rated it

Recommends it for: dreamers

Shelves: fantasy-and-science-fiction, fiction-and-literature

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 Fa...moreDear 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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Feb 06, 2008

Jen rated it

Recommends it for: Die-hard Neil Gaimon Fans

Shelves: fantasy

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...moreA 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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Feb 15, 2008

Kathryn rated it

· review of another edition

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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Aug 20, 2011

Kat Kennedy rated it

Shelves: fun-fantasy, kat-s-book-reviews

Quick question: how many Daleks does it take to conquer Neil Gaiman?

Answer: I don't know - since I am a blasphemous wench and have never seen a Doctor Who episode. Nor do I actually know what a Dalek is and what it does.

To add to my nefarious ways, I'm also not a Gaiman fan (though not for lack of trying!)

Clearly, whilst I am a scifi fan - I'm not the RIGHT kind of scifi fan!

It's rather like two Star Trek fans meeting on the street:

"...more

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Mar 19, 2009

Amang Suramang rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: indonesian, world-literature

Dalam salah satu wawancara, Neil Gaiman pernah berujar bahwa Stardust adalah novel prekuel dari sebuah cerita yang mungkin tidak akan pernah dituliskannya. Oya? Sebuah prekuel? Wah... setelah selesai membacanya aku pikir Neil Gaiman perlu berpikir ulang untuk menuliskan kelanjutannya. Entahlah, mungkin dengan melanjutkan kisah-kisah fantastis Tristan Thorn dan Yvaine berikutnya...

Sebelum berandai-andai lebih jauh, ada baiknya kembali ke niat awal untuk menuliskan review sederhana ten...moreDalam salah satu wawancara, Neil Gaiman pernah berujar bahwa Stardust adalah novel prekuel dari sebuah cerita yang mungkin tidak akan pernah dituliskannya. Oya? Sebuah prekuel? Wah... setelah selesai membacanya aku pikir Neil Gaiman perlu berpikir ulang untuk menuliskan kelanjutannya. Entahlah, mungkin dengan melanjutkan kisah-kisah fantastis Tristan Thorn dan Yvaine berikutnya...

Sebelum berandai-andai lebih jauh, ada baiknya kembali ke niat awal untuk menuliskan review sederhana tentang novel fantasi ini. Akhir era Victorian, yang menjadi setting dalam novel ini dikenal kental dengan kisah-kisah paganisme, sihir, dan misteri. Pada masa-masa ini mitologi Yunani dituliskan kembali dengan semangat baru: Apollo, Athena, bahkan Zeus hingga Demeter, Dionisus, dan Eros diberi "badan" baru yang lebih cocok untuk masa pemerintahan Inggris di masa itu yang sedang gamang diterpa Revolusi Industri. Rakyat Inggris memerlukan suatu gerakan spiritual yang menjadi penyeimbang perubahan jaman. Maka dongeng tentang titisan bintang jatuh yang awalnya adalah kalung kerajaan Stormhold menjadi manusia secantik Yvaine diletakkan dalam konteks waktu seperti ini, sebagaimana yang ditulis Neil Gaiman, cukup dapat dimengerti --- meskipun Neil Gaiman menuliskannya 100 tahun kemudian.

Paganisme, sihir dan misteri ini membalut kisahan fantasi Stardust yang berporos pada hidup Tristan Thorn, pemuda lugu anak Dunstan dan seorang gipsy yang melayani seorang penyihir jahat. Tristan yang naif menyatakan sebuah "dusta" bahwa ia akan rela pergi ke seberang lautan untuk bisa meluluhkan hati gadis bernama Victoria dengan mengambil sebuah bintang jauh sebagai bukti cintanya. Sebuah "dusta" yang harus dia bayar mahal dengan menyeberangi perbatasan Desa Tembok dengan dunia yang begitu baru baginya (dan bagi pembaca).

Bagaimana tidak? Di dunia yang mirip dunia Peter Pan itu, bertaburan banyak makhluk yang memiliki kekuatan sihir, seperti pohon yang bisa bicara dan berpindah tempat, kuda bertanduk (unicorn) dan tentu saja nenek sihir dan peri. Bahkan ada kapal yang berlayar di angkasa juga dengan seorang kapten kapal bernama Shakespeare. Dimabuk oleh cinta dan pembuktian cintanya dengan memboyong bintang jantung itu pada Victoria, Tristan bertemu makhluk cebol berbulu bertopi lebar yang pernah ditolong ayahnya yang dulu pernah menyebrang juga. Dan Tristan terkejut saat menemukan sang bintang jatuh yang ternyata Yvaine, gadis cantik yang galak.

Cerita makin tajam karena tanpa setahu Tristran dan Yvaine, ada banyak pihak yang memburu Yvaine. Mulai dari tiga pangeran kejam dan licik dari Stormhold, lalu ada ratu penyihir yang sepuluh kali lipat lebih kejam dan lebih licik dari tiga pangeran itu. Ia bertekad mendapatkan jantung sang bintang jatuh untuk bisa mendapatkan kemudaan bagi dirinya dan dua adiknya. Cerita selanjutnya apakah Tristan dan Yvaine dapat lolos dari pihak yang memburu dapat dibaca sendiri.

Satu hal yang pasti, tuturan cerita ini sederhana dan tidak rumit, yang setelah dikatakan bahwa ini adalah sebuah prekuel, tentulah akhirnya dapat dimengerti. Sebuah prekuel tidak pernah rumit. Cerita rumit sesungguhnya baru akan datang kemudian. Aku pikir ini layak untuk dinantikan seperti halnya dulu George Lucas menyajikan cerita Starwars yang luar biasa.

Yang pasti juga, cerita fantasi ini membuat aku berpikir ulang tentang karakter-karakter dongeng yang ada selama ini dan juga bertanya-tanya apakah Neil Gaiman sedang melakukan pemberian "badan" baru yang lebih cocok untuk semua dongeng-dongeng yang pernah kita dengar selama ini? Karena aku temukan pola-pola yang kurang lebih sama pada karya-karya fantasi Neil Gaiman yang lain. Bahkan boleh dibilang, pada karya penulis fantasi lainnya. Tetapi sungguhpun demikian, pemberian "badan" baru ini tidak aku sanggah amatlah pintar dan menarik penyajiannya.

Ada catatan lain yang perlu ditambahkan. Rupa-rupanya pencantuman keterangan bahwa Stardust adalah "dongeng untuk orang dewasa" adalah sesuatu yang cukup serius ditanggapi. Aku baca wawancara Neil Gaiman dengan CNN Interactive yang termuat dalam artikel "Adults deserve good fairy tales, too " dan Neil Gaiman cukup serius waktu mengatakan hal ini: "As adults, we are discriminated against. As adults, we are an oppressed majority because nobody writes us fairy tales. I think the problem is not that ... we grow out of fairy tales. The problem is nobody writes us fairy tales; nobody gives us fairy tales that are as satisfying, as meaty, as filled with real people and real incident, as the things that we remember from when we were children."

Lebih lanjut dalam wawancara itu, Neil Gaiman berbicara tentang kekuatan imajinasi. Semakin imajinasi digunakan, maka semakin hebatlah imajinasi yang muncul. Ia bahkan berujar bahwa imajinasi itu semacam "otot" yang bila tidak dilatih, dia akan kendur dan hilang. Maka itulah keuntungan cerita-cerita fantasi, karena ia membuat pembaca berimajinasi. Jadi siapa bilang orang dewasa tidak boleh membaca novel fantasi dan berimajinasi?
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Sep 22, 2009

Ben rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2009, good-fiction, like-magic

I can only do fantasy novels every so often; I much prefer literature. Still, I find it important to read these things on occasion, because they provide such an excellent escape: that leap into worlds that are nothing like ours; the way they enable our going beyond ourselves and render us capable of expanding our consciousness; the way they can temporarily alter us in ways non-fantasy novels are incapable. We could all use that kind of escape once in a while.

And Stardust was great...more

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Apr 17, 2009

Nikki rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, fantasy, romance, fairytales

I just finished rereading Stardust, this time in the illustrated edition. The art is all by Charles Vess, and it's gorgeous. He has his own style, but the art is all accessible and pretty. I particularly liked the illustration of Tristan and Yvaine kissing, on page 202, and the design of Lady Una. I like the way he's portrayed all of the characters, really. It brings them to life in a lovely way, and the art is arranged nicely -- not distracting from the story, but adding to it.

I've al...more

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Jul 25, 2011

Patrizia Oddo rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Mai giudicare la bontà di una torta dalla lista degli ingredienti! Magari ci sono proprio tutti quelli che ci piacciono di più, ma poi quando, già con l'acquolina in bocca, diamo il primo morso ci accorgiamo con delusione che i vari ingredienti non sono stati ben dosati: l'impasto non ha la giusta consistenza, il ripieno è insipido, la granella sa di stantio e l'unica cosa che si salva è la decorazione (ma, ahime, non è commestibile!)
Così se dovessi giudicare Stardust dagli elementi dell

...more

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Oct 12, 2008

erry rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

STARDUST

Semalam aku pergi ke dunia fantasi. Dunia yang hanya ada dalam mimpi dan imaginasi. Peri, elf, penyihir serta makhluk makhluk dan tanaman aneh yang tak pernah kulihat sebelumnya. Tempat yang penuh dengan makhluk-makhluk ajaib, tempat-tempat eksotik dan benda benda unik. Sihir, penyihir, mantera, jimat, kekuatan gelap, mitos dan kekuatan cinta.

Di dunia mimpi aku seakan bisa menyaksikan perjuangan seorang pemuda dunia nyata yang mencari bintang jatuh demi pujaan hat...more

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May 05, 2008

Kevin rated it

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 enjo...moreI 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.
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Oct 15, 2007

John Beeler rated it

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...more

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Oct 10, 2007

Dini rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

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 ...more

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Jul 10, 2011

Callista rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels

I'd been curious about the story, and a friend loaned me the illustrated version. The story took a while to grow on me. Victoria is awful, and Tristan is a sap for wanting her. Yvaine's tetchiness is certainly understandable, and I don't like how Tristan treats her at first. The royals are a bunch of backstabbers, and the witches are horrible. The whole thing is definitely the dark side of a fairy tale. And I did not appreciate what happens to the unicorn. (I can't help it; my inner little girl ...more

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Oct 14, 2007

Todd Johnson rated it

· review of another edition

This is a great, simple little story. A lot of people in the reviews here seem to be upset that it lacks "umph" and "meat," and suggest books to read instead, so that you can get your share of meaty umph. And, if you're looking for meaty umph, I really think you should follow their advice. Some recommend Jonathan Strange, which you should read anyway. But Stardust never sets out to be anything like Jonathan Strange. It's a fairy tale for adults. It's light-hearted, you can re...more

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Sep 10, 2008

Sarah Payok rated it

There is not a lot I can say about this book. It is an adult fairy tale unlike anything I have read before. I loved the movie, but could easily draw parallels between that and The Princess Bride movie. Yet if I compare the books, Stardust is miles above The Princess Bride (which I love). After hours of thought, the only book that has generated any degree of the same emotion when I read it is Nick Bantock's Griffin and Sabine, and even that does not compare. I think I am done with fiction for a w...more

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Jun 15, 2010

Catherine Duthie rated it

I have a new dream. When I get Ghita's story published, I would like a Neil Gaiman blurb on the cover, please.

I've been reading Gaiman's blog and following him on Twitter for ages, as I tend to do with authors who have been recommended to me. If I like them, I tend to eventually try their books. I'd read a couple picture books of Gaiman's before but this was the first novel I tried.

Stardust was, for me, just delightful and pretty darn close to perfect. It's the kind of...more

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Aug 29, 2009

Purplycookie rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, graphic-novel, personal-faves, mythic-fiction, fave-author, romance-novel, witchcraft, faerie

This edition of "Stardust" was the first I've read & truly loved of Gaiman's works. It touched the child in me & got me interested in the fantasy genre once more. What's more it's graced with Charles Vess's exquisite 175 illustrations -- delicate, colorful, ethereal, and full of little details and shadowy corners. He captures every shred of the magic that Gaiman's words are able to conjure, and a little bit more than that.

What is intriguing is the proposition that some time...more

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Jun 19, 2008

D_Davis rated it

Shelves: fantasy

A conventional fairy tale that adds little to the genre. I have the illustrated version, and the best parts are the drawings by Charles Vess.

Why Gaiman is such a popular author amongst genrehounds will forever be a mystery to me.

He is a great comic book writer, but as a novelist I find him to be mediocre at best. His prose is trite and often too quaint, and I feel as if his writing lacks something when removed from the pictures of a comic book.

The adoration ...more

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Feb 08, 2008

Seth Hahne rated it

Recommends it for: people with eyes and souls

It's been a long time since I'd read anything near the neighbourhood of Truly Enjoyable as Stardust. This was truly a treat. It was also well-written enough that pretty much everything I've read since just seems like a pale imitation of good writing. I'm going to need to read a lot of crap over the next month and wash my mind's ears of Gaiman's work here so that good writing once again sounds good—instead of the practice in hackery it currently seems.

Gaiman's writing is always pretty...more

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Aug 20, 2007

Res rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: sff

The one where a young man goes to Faerie to bring back a fallen star for his indifferent true love.

I was lukewarm about the movie, which inspired me to re-read the book.

Two of the finest things in the book are the sense of Faerie's breadth and depth, of all the stories happening in the corners where you only get the smallest glimpse of them, and the feeling the book has for the passage of time and the way it wears away old enmities and old loves.

The first t...more

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Sep 21, 2011

Kim rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, mmxi, meh-at-you

"There was once a young man who wished to gain his Heart's Desire."

So it begins. Fine. Yep. These are the stuff fairy tales are made from-blahblahblah. Sure thing. What else you got?

I really don’t get the point of this novella. I mean, yes, I see that there once was a man who made a journey to capture the uncapturable (a fallen star) for the woman that he loves. Wait. Does he really love her? Do I really care? I spent half the book thinking his n...more
"There was once a young man who wished to gain his Heart's Desire."

So it begins. Fine. Yep. These are the stuff fairy tales are made from-blahblahblah. Sure thing. What else you got?

I really don’t get the point of this novella. I mean, yes, I see that there once was a man who made a journey to capture the uncapturable (a fallen star) for the woman that he loves. Wait. Does he really love her? Do I really care? I spent half the book thinking his name was Tristan not Tristran, so I guess the answer is no. Yes, he thinks she’s a hottie. Yes, he stalks her like a bedazzled Margaret Mary Ray rumbling around in Letterman’s bushes. Christ! He sits in trees and watches her undress. What of it? Where is the love? Has he sat down and had coffee with her? Does he know her favorite book? Whether she likes boxers or briefs? Seriously?

So, he leaves his boring town of Wall to enter Faerie and find this star who is actually a beautiful young woman.(YAWN) He meets colorful filler characters along the way…yadda yadda yadda. But wait, we have another story line going on about some princely brothers who want to take over their kingdom but have to find a topaz that their father threw out the window, towards that SAME fallen star, before he croaked. And wait, there’s ANOTHER story line where 3 old witch hags also want that fallen star because her heart will given them some much needed youth. SEE HOW THEY INTERCONNECT?

Good, because the rest of it is really just a ‘she did this, he did that, they fought, they died, they tricked, he smartens up..’ kind of story. I didn’t really know the characters, I really didn’t care who ended up with who. They all kind of irritated me. The action was pretty dull. What happened to EPIC? Not like ‘dude, that frat party was so epic…’ but like Princess-Bride-Epic or Long-Island-Lolita-Epic… C’mon, Gaiman..bring it on. I know you can do it.. People wouldn’t be so enamored of you if you couldn’t. Right?
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Feb 26, 2009

Jenn rated it

Shelves: books-owned, 2009-reads

It's hard to believe that the same guy who wrote half of Good Omens wrote this book. The writing style seems to be completely different, with chuckle-enticing parts few and far between.

The story is basically about a young man who's obsessed over a girl in his village. She promises "whatever he desires" if he will fetch her a star they saw fall from the sky. The rest of the book is about his journey to find the star and then bring it back.

First off, I just have t...more

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Mar 05, 2009

Melanie rated it

My first Neil Gaiman - why have I not read everything Neil Gaiman until now? I'm utterly, totally, eternally in love with this book, and I'm glad that my introduction was narrated by the author. His narration - a bit wry, a lot affectionate - allowed me to do my part: to imagine the towns, the forest, the mountains, and every character, whether human, animal, or creature.

I love faerie tales that are written for adults - The Wood Beyond the World by William Morris comes to mind, as do...more

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Apr 02, 2009

Ally rated it

Ok, so maybe I'm a little too willing to give out 5 stars - I've always hated trying to give things a numerical rating (I hate surveys and self evaluations at work, and anything else that makes you rate on a scale)

BUT - I was pleasantly surprised (though I shouldn't have been considering this is Neil Gaiman's work) with how the novel is both the best of what the movie was (and the movie is close enough to it - for a movie) and even better.

(I read one review a while back t...more

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Jul 04, 2011

Simona Bartolotta rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fantasy

Non c'è altro da dire: tutto ciò che c'è di magico e fiabesco è in questo libro. Emozionante, unico, magnifico... dalla prima all'ultima parola.

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Jul 24, 2011

Asgoasgo rated it

· review of another edition

Ottima storia, forse non sfruttata in modo adeguato?! Mi ha lasciato un pò il sapore di fiaba per bambini...peccato perchè la trama avrebbe meritato uno stile di scrittura più ricercato.

Cit.: "— Ad ogni modo — disse Cecilia Hempstock, cugina di Louisa — è già stato sposato. Io non vorrei mai sposare uno che è già stato sposato. Sarebbe come se a domare il tuo pony ci avesse già pensato qualcun altro. — Per quanto mi riguarda, quello potrebbe essere l'unico vantaggio nello sposar...more

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Aug 14, 2011

JG (The Introverted Reader) rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: graphic_novels, 5_stars, author_british, fantasy, fiction, modern_fairy_tale, read_in_2011, reviewed, strong_females

Young Tristran Thorn (who's birth is maybe not as...aboveboard...as Victorian society would like) is desperately in love with Victoria Forester. He screws up his courage one night to ask her to kiss him or marry him or just--something! He is met with laughter. In desperation, he offers to slay dragons and bring back treasures for her, each adventure more outlandish than the last. Finally, as they see a shooting star, he offers to bring back the fallen star for her.

She accepts.
...moreYoung Tristran Thorn (who's birth is maybe not as...aboveboard...as Victorian society would like) is desperately in love with Victoria Forester. He screws up his courage one night to ask her to kiss him or marry him or just--something! He is met with laughter. In desperation, he offers to slay dragons and bring back treasures for her, each adventure more outlandish than the last. Finally, as they see a shooting star, he offers to bring back the fallen star for her.

She accepts.

And so Tristran goes over the Wall for which his village is named and into Fairyland.

Tristran is woefully unprepared for what he finds there, but he's an adaptable boy. Maybe suspiciously adaptable? He finds the star and sets off with her toward home and Victoria. That's right--her. In fairyland, the stars are beautiful young women. Tristran's particular star is named Yvaine, and she is unwilling to help him on his quest for true love. Other, more sinister, people are looking for her as well, and many an adventure and near-miss follow.

I have loved this book since I first read it when it was a new book at my local library. I had to have my own copy, and this has to be at least the third or fourth time I've re-read it.

I love the adventure and the unexpected romance, the ghosts of Stormhold, the desperate witch, the humor, the quirky inhabitants of Fairy, and the way that wishes granted rarely turn out as we expect. Tristran grows so much as a character. He goes from a shallow boy whose head is turned by a beautiful face, to a man who places others' happiness before his own. He follows Gaiman's own Instructions about offering aid or accepting help as the situation dictates and finds that things usually turn out for the best that way.

Part of me wishes that Gaiman would go back and fill in some of Tristran's adventures that are only hinted at in the epilogue. Who can resist a story that is summed up with, "Have been unavoidably detained by the world." Intriguing, right? I want to know where he's been in the world and what he's seen. But the rest of me thinks that this book is just perfect the way it is and I don't want it to become a story that is ruined by later installments.

This was my first time reading the Charles Vess edition. Oh my goodness. It is gorgeous. I personally wouldn't really call it a graphic novel. That, to me, implies panels and dialog bubbles. This was more of an illustrated novel. I adore Vess's artwork. His detailed paintings are a delight to pore over. I was fortunate to meet him at an artist signing when his collection, Drawing Down the Moon, was published. He was very nice and I loved hearing him talk about his work. He talked a little about this book, and pointed out some details that I might have rushed over in my eagerness to read the story. Since I knew to look out for the details, I took my time and enjoyed each illustration as its own piece of art. (Hint: look for Gaiman himself in the first fairy market scene. You can take it from there.)

I love this story, and Vess' illustrations just increased my love for it. I highly recommend it.(less)

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Aug 17, 2010

Whitelady3 rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: not-own, portuguese, 2010

I've recently seen the movie version and found it hilarious, so I hurried to the library in order to get the book as I was in need of readings to cheer me up. I had been told that the book was not as fun as the film and that there were differences, but even so I picked it up prepared to enjoy it.

I think my error was seeing the movie first. As I said, I found it hilarious and some characters, being represented by great actors like Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer, attracted my at...more

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Jul 19, 2010

Liz (Consumed by Books) rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star, fairy-tales-and-retellings, own, favorites, highly-recommended, fantasy

I loved this book. Despite the fact that it took me a while to get through, when I picked this up, I was engrossed by Gaiman's plot and prose. I felt that this was the ultimate fairy tale, but with a bit of Gaiman added to make it stand out, namely a couple of aspects that were vaguely horror-esque.

It's hard for me to review this book, because I honestly wouldn't change anything about it. I thought Gaiman's writing, prose and descriptions were absolutely beautiful. Dare I say t...more

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Oct 21, 2008

Haley rated it

It is my experience that the movie versions of books are usually not as good as the book itself. So after watching the movie, I thought I was in for a real treat.
but I was wrong.

In Gaiman's defence, this book was written in the style of an old adventure story or Grimm brother's tale- not so much description or character development. But while that sort of writing may work for a short story, It gets old in a full-length book. (though I'm glad it was a book- otherwise we wouldn'...more

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I've been told I should watch the movie first before I read the book. Any thoughts?	15	46	Feb 06, 2012 12:03pm
Dead Poets Society: Stardust	24	6	Jan 21, 2012 01:17pm
Spineless Book Club: Stardust-Neil Gaiman	1	1	Jan 21, 2012 05:40am
Stardust: Book vs. Movie	37	239	Jan 20, 2012 03:15pm
SPSV Mrs. Rodgers...: Holly Snyder	1	4	Dec 06, 2011 09:03pm
Movie and such	7	45	May 07, 2011 10:00am
YA Book Club: Book vs. Movie	16	109	Mar 10, 2010 10:41pm

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