Stardust

Schtinky

An old fashioned Fairy Tale without the PC nonsense

"Okay, maybe not the kind of Fairy Tale you would read to your very young children, but after delving through horror and dark fantasy, I found Stardust to be a refreshing, childlike break; minus the hangover of feeling like I was exposed to an excess of sugar and cotton candy. After all, Fairy tales used to be a bit brutal in their own right, and taking away all of the blood and violence in order to conform to today's "Politically Correct" standards also takes away from the lesson to be learned. IMHO. This tale is told with a simple exuberance, yet manages to hold up under the scrutiny of all us die hard Neil Gaiman fans, showing us that he has the talent to lead us along gentler slopes of the same deadly peaks and chasms he has taken us to in his other works. His playfulness shows through in Stardust as a novel, the way his chapbooks "Wolves In The Walls" and "The Day I Swapped My Dad For 2 Goldfish" did with his graphic novels. Tristin Thorn lives in the English town of Wall, right next to, well, the Wall. There is only one way through the Wall, a gap which is constantly guarded by the village folk of Wall; not to keep people from coming in, but to keep the inhabitants of Wall from crossing over into the land of Faerie. Once every nine years there is a huge fair within the field beyond the gap, and only then do the peoples from each of the lands mingle. Tristin is not aware that half of his lineage is from across the Wall, and when the day comes that he watches a falling star with the girl he wishes to marry, and promises to bring her back that very same star, his father Dunstan helps him to cross the gap into Faerie. Over in Faerie, it is time for the Lord of Stormhold to die, and pass along his Reign to one of his sons. Unable to determine which of his surviving sons is worthy, the old Lord tosses the Power of Stormhold (a topaz set in an amulet) up into the air and tells his sons that whoever finds the amulet will rule after him. This won't be easy for the offspring of the old Lord, for already four of his seven sons were dead, killed off by the living brothers in order to eliminate their claim to Stormhold. Also in Faerie live the Lilim, three ancient women who have lived on and on for forever, revitalizing their youth by eating the hearts from fallen stars. When the star falls, one of the ancient crones makes herself young again and sets out after the star. Tristin is helped along in his quest by some, and treated rudely by others, but always manages to get along by determination and, surprisingly, innocence. When he is transported by a magic candle to where the star had fallen, he is shocked to see that the Fallen Star is a girl, and she has a broken leg to boot. The adventures of Tristin in his journey back to The Wall and the market within the field are magical, fantastical, and sometimes just a tiny bit scary. Though the plot really does have a transparent ending, it still does not take away from the total enjoyment of Tristin's adventures and the predicaments he falls in and out of. All of the main characters coalesce in the ending, but the side characters we meet along the way are just as fleshed out and real to me as Tristin, Yvaine the Star, and Madame Semele with her mysterious bird. Go ahead and step through the Gap with Tristin, you won't be sorry you tagged along. Enjoy! ["

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March 24, 2004 Verified Purchase

James Tepper

A Faerie Tale for Young at Heart Adults

"STARDUST is the most recent of Neil Gaiman's back catalog that I find myself working though. Like everything of his that I have read, it is high fantasy, very interesting, at turns humorous and sometimes dark, and very, very well written. STARDUST, unlike some of his others (for example CORALINE AND THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE are clearly for children or young adults) could be read by mature young adults, but as it contains a couple of (relatively tame by modern standards) semi-explicit sex scenes and some 4 letter words, I titled my review for as I did. This one is a real faerie tale, taking place in some parallel late 19th century England, where just outside the walled city of Wall lies a magical land populated by witches, various nasty creatures, ghosts, evil lords and queens and the like. Our hero, young Tristran Thorn, goes on a quest to retrieve a star that he and the girl he loves watch fall the ground. He promises to bring her back the fallen star to get her to give him his heart's desire - maybe a kiss, maybe her hand in marriage, it's not all that clear to us or to Tristran. Tristran himself is of mysterious origins, having been delivered to the gates of Wall as a newborn 9 months after his father, Dunstan, had a tryst with one of the mysterious denizens of the outlying faerie lands during one of the once-every-9-years wall openings for a fair during which humans and fae comingle. The fallen star turns out to have the form (in Fae land) of a beautiful young girl, Yvaine, with a broken leg from the fall, and most of the novel is about the growing relationship between Tristran and Yvaine and a mutual coming of age and falling in love. Plus of course witches and other baddies getting in the way. The imagery is beautiful as it usually is for Neil Gaiman and there are many standard fairy tale tropes abounding, but all given that special little Gaiman twist. A very nice, enjoyable light read for mature young adults and grown ups of every age. Oh, one last thing. For $1.99 Kindle download for 368 pages, this has got to be one of the best deals out there in fantasyland. Highly Recommended. J.M. Tepper ["

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January 13, 2014 Verified Purchase

Chris Howard

A Fairy Tale Like No Other

"It really doesn't get much better than this. Stardust is everything that a fantasy lover, a romantic, a historian, an astronomer, a lover of books could possibly want. Gaiman has never disapointed me and has always over exceeded my expectations. Stardust is no exception to this. Stardust is the beautiful story of Tristran Thorn and a fallen star. The story takes place in the village of Wall, but mostly in Faerie, located right outside of Wall. Every nine years, the inhabitants and creatures of the land of Faerie host a market right outside of Wall. People come from all over the world to visit the market where all sorts of magical things are traded for promises and contracts. Young Tristran Thorn is a product of this market as the reader will discover in the early chapters. Tristran falls in love with Victoria Forester, and on one night vows that if she will marry him, he will retrieve a fallen star that has fallen into Faerie. Stardust is the story of finding that star. Tristran is not the only person looking for the fallen star. There are three princes who's right to the throne depends on finding the star and there is a witch who seeks the star so that she may gain the beauty of youth. It is Tristran who finds the star first and we find that the star is a beautiful woman named Yvaine. I'll leave the rest of the thrilling, warm, romantic, awe inspiring story to the reader. Stardust is one of the most magical books I have read in a long time. Gaiman has an amazing ability as an author to pick the perfect word each and every time. I felt a warmth inside the whole time I read this book. It's absolutely beautiful and everything that fantasy should be. He has a gift like no other when it comes to his power with words and ideas. This is very much a classic fairytale, but at the same time, he makes it just not another fairytale. There are witches, princesses, spells, talking things that don't normally talk, castles, revenge, romance, yet it is such a beautifully unique book. There is another version of this book that was illustrated by the amazing Charles Vess that was published in 1999, and I would love to get my hands on that. Gaiman and Vess are releasing yet another version of Stardust on May 2nd with all new illustrations that will be published by Vertigo. In addition, we can all look forward to Stardust the movie to debut in August I believe. I can't wait to see this movie on the screen, but at the same time, I have my apprehensions. I'm having a hard time picturing Michelle Pfeifer as the witch and with Robert DeNiro as anything at all. But I have no doubt at the same time that I shall enjoy it. Add this book to your collection if you don't already have it. It's a beautiful story that you'll want to start all over again as soon as you turn the last page. ["

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March 16, 2007 Verified Purchase

Connie J. Jasperson

A beautiful, lyrical and sometimes violent journey into fairyland

"I don't know why, but I have always been under the impression that I had read Stardust, by Neil Gaiman. I had seen the film, but for some reason it didn't seem like the book I remembered. There are 2 reasons for that -- first, I had never actually read the book, and second, the film bears only a passing resemblance to the book. (No cross-dressing pirate, a lot more colorful characters...a much better ending...you get the drift.) First published in 1998, Stardust is a beautiful, lyrical and sometimes violent journey into fairyland. First off let me just say I loved this book. Tristran is naive yet brave, and obsessed with the notion of true love. Victoria is snobbish and not really worthy of him. Yvaine has all the best qualities of a true star--she is coldly, amazingly beautiful, and childish. The Lord of Stormhold and his heirs are awesome characters. They are not evil, but they are not good (good people don't kill each other as they scrap their way to the throne.) There are 3 evil characters in this tale (though one is not a character, it's more of a doom): The obviously evil Morwanneg who wants to cut out the heart of the star so she and her sister will regain eternal youth, Madame Semele who is just plain greedy and who holds Tristran's mother captive, and the overhanging evil of what will happen to Yvaine if Tristran succeeds in taking her back to Victoria. Each and every sentence of this book is beautiful. I fell into the prose and the dream that the tale evokes and didn't want to emerge even for food. This ability to draw a scene and set it with both mystery and clarity is why Gaiman is one of my favorite authors. If you have seen the movie, and think you know the story, you couldn't be more wrong. The book holds more magic, love, epic adventure and sheer fairy tale inventiveness than the movie ever could. ["

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April 18, 2014 Verified Purchase