Stardust: BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

by Neil Gaiman

Aisling Loftus (Narrator), Alex Macqueen (Narrator), Blake Ritson (Narrator), Bryan Dick (Narrator), Charlotte Riley (Narrator), Frances Barber (Narrator), Maggie Steed (Narrator), Matthew Beard (Narrator), Neil Gaiman (Narrator), Nicholas Boulton (Narrator), Sanjeev Bhaskar (Narrator), Sophie Rundle (Narrator), Tori Amos (Narrator), and Full Cast (Narrator)

Matthew Beard and Sophie Rundle star in a brand new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of the bestselling novel by Neil Gaiman, narrated by Eleanor Bron.

Challenged to retrieve a fallen star, Tristran Thorn leaves the sleepy English village of Wall and crosses into the land of Faerie and the realm of Stormhold. Locating the star, he discovers it is no meteorite, but a young woman, Yvaine.

When Yvaine evades him and escapes, Tristran discovers he is not the only one in pursuit of the star: there are dark forces in this magical land, and he must find Yvaine before she falls into their clutches. As he does so, Tristran will uncover the secret to his own identity and a fate beyond his wildest dreams.

Directed by Dirk Maggs and Heather Larmour, and featuring over 35 minutes of unbroadcast material, this stunning new dramatisation boasts an extensive cast including Frances Barber, Maggie Steed, Nicholas Boulton, Blake Ritson, Bryan Dick, Charlotte Riley, Aisling Loftus, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Alex Macqueen. There are also cameo appearances by Tori Amos and Neil Gaiman. Duration: 2 hours 30 mins approx.

• ISBN10: 1785295632
• ISBN13: 9781785295638
• Publish Date: 2 February 2017 (first published 26 November 1998)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: BBC Audio, A Division Of Random House
• Edition: A&M
• Format: Audiobook (WAV)
• Duration: 2 hours and 30 minutes
• 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.