Stardust

by Neil Gaiman

Life moves at a leisurely pace in the tiny town of Wall - named after the imposing stone barrier which separates the town from a grassy meadow. Here, young Tristan Thorn has lost his heart to the beautiful Victoria Forester and for the coveted prize of her hand, Tristan vows to retrieve a fallen star and deliver it to his beloved. It is an oath that sends him over the ancient wall and into a world that is dangerous and strange beyond imagining...

• ISBN10: 0755337514
• ISBN13: 9780755337514
• Publish Date: 4 October 2007 (first published 26 November 1998)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 29 April 2010
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
• Imprint: Headline Review
• Edition: Media tie-in
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 224
• Language: English

Reviews

[chymerra]

https://readwithme2018.com/2018/07/19/throwback-thursday/

[Amanda]

3.5

[nitzan_schwarz]

I don't really know what I think about this book, to be honest...
Review to come.

[ladygrey]

I don't know that I can offer a fair review of [b:Stardust|16793|Stardust|Neil Gaiman|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328433738s/16793.jpg|3166179]. Because while a lot of people see the wonder of it, I thought it was lovely but somewhat placid.

I think it suffers twice over. Once for having seen the movie first; which is exciting and beautiful and fun. And secondly for not being particularly beautiful; which is an awful thing to say about a fairy tale sort of story. [a:Neil Gaiman|1221698|Neil Gaiman|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg] does a phenomenal job of seeing the world of fairie and how lovely and strange it is, where a glass flower can be traded for the color of your hair, but he evokes it in rather a straight forward sort of way. His writing style worked great for [b:The Graveyard Book|2213661|The Graveyard Book|Neil Gaiman|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1303859949s/2213661.jpg|2219449] but this needed something more magical. I'm not sure if it's a boon or a detriment that the movie captured that sense of magic and gave it life, but I think it's important to read the book before watching the movie.

And now I have a better understanding of how incredibly well this book was adapted to movie form. It may be the second best adaptation I've ever seen.

[empressbrooke]

I read Neil Gaiman's blog and have his books sitting on my bookshelf, so I figured it was about time I read them. I started with Stardust, since it's the shortest and I was eager to finish it before the movie came out. It's a simple story; a short fairy tale for adults about a young man who goes to fetch a falling star for the girl he's in love with. It's reminiscent of other magical journey tales, such as The Princess Bride and The Neverending Story, and it's just as classic.

I didn't realize it until I read Neverwhere afterwards, but Gaiman has a very distinctive voice, and this is what makes his books so damn enjoyable. It flows so well, and it's musical without being flowery or poetic. Stardust is less predictable than I initially thought it was going to be, although Gaiman does foreshadow very effectively.