Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Stardust

by Neil Gaiman

From the multi award-winning creator of The Sandman, Neil Gaiman, comes an incredible work, one that combines enchanting prose with superb fantasy illustration breaking new ground in graphic novel storytelling. Together with acclaimed artist Charles Vess, Neil Gaiman returns to the realm of Faerie for a lavishly illustrated tale of a long-ago world where magic and humanity mingle in extraordinary ways. Presented in an all-new format, Gaiman's exquisitely crafted text and Vess's breathtaking illustrations combine to create a novel with pictures, an adult fairy tale that plunges the reader into the very heart of a magical land. * An illustrated fairy tale from Neil Gaiman, creator of The Sandman

Reviewed by ladygrey on

3 of 5 stars

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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.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 27 March, 2011: Finished reading
  • 27 March, 2011: Reviewed