Paperback, 240 pages
English language
Published July 10, 2007 by Titan Books.
E-book extra: Neil Gaiman's "Writing and the Imagination."In the tranquil fields and meadows of long-ago England, there is a small hamlet that has stood on a jut of granite for 600 years. Just to the east stands a high stone wall, for which the village is named. Here, in the hamlet of Wall, young Tristran Thorn has lost his heart to the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester. And here, one crisp October eve, Tristran makes his love a promise -- an impetuous vow that will send him through the only breach in the wall, across the pasture ... and into the most exhilarating adventure of his life.
Forgettable and lacking character development - for my first Gaiman read I was very disappointed.
Loved the part where even in the magical fearie land, the magical word is not "Abraca dabra" but "Please".
Reminder to always, always, always, always have courage, be honest and kind.
Have courage - to be authentic and to be you.
Be honest - to yourself and to others, saves a whole lot of time and trouble for everyone.
Be kind - because as Aesop has wisely said, "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."
It is magical and beautiful in its own ways.
Not to mention the illustrations make it even more beautiful.
However, it lacked emotional depth.
The characters could have been explored more.
Perhaps the sequels would add more depth to the characters.
I’ve been reading a lot of contemporary fairly tales in the past year. Most recently Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus and Philip Pullman’s Count Karlstein. Stardust hits the sweet spot of creepiness, heart, and wonder.
Fantastic!
Magical. Sad and beautiful in all the right places. Funny and enthralling, this is a story that will stick to you, become a part of you.
This is perhaps my favorite of Gaiman's novels that I've read so far. Gaiman is a fantastic storyteller, and his descriptions are extraordinarily vivid.
Classic Gaiman adult fairy tale. Very well done.
I'd actually seen the movie, and this is the audiobook version read by Neil himself (or, @neilhimself on Twitter), but I suspect that even the first time through it would come across as both new and familiar at the same time.
Neil Gaiman is a wonderful reader for his own work.
This is one of the few times where I liked the movie better. The movie had a more climactic ending with an actual final battle that was absent from the book. I found the end especially weak since the movies ending had such a Neil Gaiman feel to it but he didn't even write it. The actual quest throughout the book was much better but the ending just left me with a bad feeling.
Stardust has some strange similarities to A Song of Ice and Fire. There is a wall at the edge of town that is guarded because on the other side there be magics and mythical creatures. There are a bunch of princes killing each other to be crowned kind of all the land. Magis is used sparingly and only when increasing the dramatic tension. Also they say ages like 4 and 40. Now that may just be …
This is one of the few times where I liked the movie better. The movie had a more climactic ending with an actual final battle that was absent from the book. I found the end especially weak since the movies ending had such a Neil Gaiman feel to it but he didn't even write it. The actual quest throughout the book was much better but the ending just left me with a bad feeling.
Stardust has some strange similarities to A Song of Ice and Fire. There is a wall at the edge of town that is guarded because on the other side there be magics and mythical creatures. There are a bunch of princes killing each other to be crowned kind of all the land. Magis is used sparingly and only when increasing the dramatic tension. Also they say ages like 4 and 40. Now that may just be an olde english thing but I have only ever encountered it previously in ASoIaF.
I enjoyed Stardust, which I read because (I'll admit it) there was a movie coming out. I'm somewhat of an anomaly amongst my friends -- I'm not a big Gaiman fan. Not that I think he's untalented, I just don't generally enjoy the type of urban fantasy he writes. But I found Stardust charming and I'm sure I'll re-read it, though I think I read it too close to seeing the movie, as I kept getting distracted by the diferences between the two.
