Helpful Score: 6
I read this when it first came out 10 years ago and just reread it in preparation for the motion picture. I think its even better the second time around.. truely feels like a fairy tale. Every paragraph is well written and magical. This is chiefly the tale of a young man setting out on a foolish quest for a fallen star and finding more than he expected. The ending was more bittersweet than I initially remembered too, but maybe thats me getting soft.
Helpful Score: 5
It's billed as an adult fairy tale, but it is very much like any child's/young adult fantasy journey, except there is one mild sex scene and one use of the F word. It was the type of story that would have appealed to me as a tween, but seems to be written too "young" for something geared toward adults.
Helpful Score: 3
This book is a great quick read. I love the story (though the movie is pretty true to the book) and the characters do feel well-developed to me. I love how much of the past connects to the present in this story.
Helpful Score: 2
A quick, absorbing little read. Short. The font in this book is really big, which is why it can boast as many pages as it does. If you're familiar with Gaiman's world-building and character-building, the whole thing will seem like a spin off familiar territory. (It's obviously the same Land of Faerie that Gaiman created for Sandman and his other books and stories.) I enjoyed it and it is a highly acclaimed little book.
Helpful Score: 2
I am now thinking that I should have read this book before seeing the movie. It is one of the few cases in which the movie actually surpassed the book.
This book is in desperate need of characterization. Everyone seems so flat and unfocused. I understand this could be a result of the shortness of the work, or perhaps it was intentional through the prose. Sadly though because of it I have no care for any of the characters. I am not worried for their safety, their success, or their futures. Thus, I feel like I skimmed huge chunks of the book.
This book could also greatly benefit from a more exciting ending. Talk about anti-climactic. The main villain just gives up, his mother ends up being a haughty creature, you never discover anything further about the fellowship, Tristan just writes off the whole reason for his travels in the first place as if he never really cared to begin with.
I had wanted to read this book the moment I finished watching the movie, and now I wish I hadn't.
This book is in desperate need of characterization. Everyone seems so flat and unfocused. I understand this could be a result of the shortness of the work, or perhaps it was intentional through the prose. Sadly though because of it I have no care for any of the characters. I am not worried for their safety, their success, or their futures. Thus, I feel like I skimmed huge chunks of the book.
This book could also greatly benefit from a more exciting ending. Talk about anti-climactic. The main villain just gives up, his mother ends up being a haughty creature, you never discover anything further about the fellowship, Tristan just writes off the whole reason for his travels in the first place as if he never really cared to begin with.
I had wanted to read this book the moment I finished watching the movie, and now I wish I hadn't.
Helpful Score: 2
You don't have to be a Gaiman fan to enjoy this book. It's a quick read, and though it doesn't delve too far past subverting cliches of the fairy tale story, it's a well-written satire on the genre. Guiltless fluff is how I would describe it.
This is one of my all time favorite books.
Helpful Score: 1
It was o.k. Another PBS member said the book felt like a YA book, and I agree.
Helpful Score: 1
Fluffy for Gaiman, but enjoyable nonetheless. The writing style is very simple and takes a few pages to get used to. I hate to say it (I really do) but I think the movie version of this book improved upon it. I read the book recently, liked it, and then HAD to see the movie. What a shame that Captain Shakespeare wasn't a Gaiman creation! Overall, though, this book is syrupy sweet, fun to read, and no need to analyze...it is what it is...and what it is is great. A fairy tale for adults is an apt description.
Helpful Score: 1
I enjoyed this book immensely. Gaiman's ability to use incredibly descriptive words sparsely allows each paragraph to flow quickly into another.
Stardust is a very entertaining adult fairy tale. Avid science fiction readers might find this story a bit 'light' -- just keep in mind it is a fairy tale after all.
Stardust is a very entertaining adult fairy tale. Avid science fiction readers might find this story a bit 'light' -- just keep in mind it is a fairy tale after all.
Helpful Score: 1
Perfect entry to Fantasy novels, includes everything one could hope for in a book about the world of Faerie, plus that Neil Gaiman twist that gives adults every right to enjoy the genre.
Helpful Score: 1
I really, really enjoyed this fairy tale like adventure fantasy. I love Neil Giaman's style of writing. I had read some reviews on how much people loved the book so much that read it to their kids. I hope they edited out the really adult parts of the book! At any rate it was a fun, quick read. It sort of left a story line open for a loosely related book. I loved the characters and how the story flowed! It was great! I highly recommend it!
Interesting quick read. Listed under childrens books, but it definitely is not for someone younger that mid-teens, violence and some sexual content. The book I'm sure has a lot of symbolizm, I'm just not up to figuring it all out.
Helpful Score: 1
I read this book's acknowledgements.
Does anyone else do that? Love the book so much that, by the time you get the end, you're not ready to stop. And you read the acknowledgements, just to prolong the experience.
I picked up this book because of the movie. Because I saw the movie and loved it. The story in the movie and the story in the book are not the same. When you read it, be sure to separate the two in your mind. They're both good, but you can't go into one expecting it to be the same as the other. That would be boring.
This story doesn't have the flashy plot the movie does, but the way it's written is captivating in itself. Neil Gaiman could describe paint drying and it would still be interesting.
If books were cakes, this one would be small with simple vanilla frosting and covered all over with sweet spun sugar netting and edible flowers. The cake itself would be light and vaguely familiar, and it would finish with the unexpected tartness of raspberries.
Does anyone else do that? Love the book so much that, by the time you get the end, you're not ready to stop. And you read the acknowledgements, just to prolong the experience.
I picked up this book because of the movie. Because I saw the movie and loved it. The story in the movie and the story in the book are not the same. When you read it, be sure to separate the two in your mind. They're both good, but you can't go into one expecting it to be the same as the other. That would be boring.
This story doesn't have the flashy plot the movie does, but the way it's written is captivating in itself. Neil Gaiman could describe paint drying and it would still be interesting.
If books were cakes, this one would be small with simple vanilla frosting and covered all over with sweet spun sugar netting and edible flowers. The cake itself would be light and vaguely familiar, and it would finish with the unexpected tartness of raspberries.
Helpful Score: 1
I'm more into hard sci-fi, science fiction which is scientifically accurate. I've read Lord of the Rings and Song of Ice and Fire novels, but I always poo-pahed fantasy as a genre.
This fantasy book, which I read for a book club and in whose selection I played no role, overcame my prejudices and pleased me immensely. Contrary to my preconceived notions, the book did not create drama through cliched violence, sex and gore, but through imagination. I loved how the author built a relationship between the "actual" world and the Faerie ("fantasy") world. On our side, our nursery rhymes described "reality" in the fantasy world.
In addition, the fantasy world's characters were filled with the same types of ambitions and foibles as the human world.
There were so many threads, yet the author really brought them together with panache!
This fantasy book, which I read for a book club and in whose selection I played no role, overcame my prejudices and pleased me immensely. Contrary to my preconceived notions, the book did not create drama through cliched violence, sex and gore, but through imagination. I loved how the author built a relationship between the "actual" world and the Faerie ("fantasy") world. On our side, our nursery rhymes described "reality" in the fantasy world.
In addition, the fantasy world's characters were filled with the same types of ambitions and foibles as the human world.
There were so many threads, yet the author really brought them together with panache!
Helpful Score: 1
A magical fabel for adults. A satisfing fariy tale for the part of us that longs to be a child again. Overall a fun light tale with enough substance to keep us engaged. And a bit of a leson to learn, as all good fairy tales do. A bit of a departure for Gaiman, but still reconizable enough for fans they will not be out of familar teratory. A great read!
Helpful Score: 1
NOT an illustrated version--but still the same (excellent) story.
This books was great. I cannot wait to see the movie. It is a unique fairy tale that I will definitely read it again!
I love this book. What a lot of people don't realize on here is this was originally written as an Graphic Novel. Neil Gaimen wrote the story and it was illustrated by Charles Vess. That why it seems a little flat by itself...because the art was a part of the story. The story was later published without the artwork, which is what most people are reading. Try to get the illustrated version. The art is beautiful, and the story will be richer. The original version has Yvaine on the front with fairies all around her, and is called "Stardust: Being A Romance Within the Realms of Faerie". It's on here somewhere, but it's not this version and I haven't been able to order it yet.
This was a lovely book. A true fairy tale, with interesting creatures, witches, spells, and a grand ending. I'm thinking about reading more of Neil Gaiman's books.
A good love story and a great book.
I didn't really feel too much attachment to the characters until much later in the book. It seemed to have taken its time in the beginning to build up an attachment to Dunstan Thorn and the slave lady, and then after that it just seemed to jump around and not really leave me yearning to read more and more. It was a cute story but also a sad story. I enjoyed it, I was just wishing to enjoy it much more. I am a little disappointed. I was not expecting to read a sex scene at all in this either (right in the beginning).
A humorous, quick little read. I thought the movie was better, for once.
Ok. So maybe I do get into romances. :) I loved this book! I LOVE that when the graceful, beautiful star falls to the ground she curses. That is why I love Neil Gaiman - things in his worlds can be beautifully other-world and grossly realistic at the same time.
A classic tale - updated for today, but owing ever-so-much to 19th-century tales based on ancient European folklore... a fast, easy read, but one that's deeply satisfying... everything really ends up just as it should, with just enough plucking on the heartstrings without verging on sentimentality...
very neat and very sweet fantasy adventure
This is the novelization of the graphic novel. In the tiny British country town of Wall, sometime during the Victorian era, young Tristan Thorn has fallen in love and is determined to fulfill his would-be sweetheart's request: bring back a fallen star. In the process, young Tristan will learn some surprising information about his past and enter a dangeorous world of fantasy and magic.
Just as good as I remembered it. Neil Gaiman's a creepy writer.
magic,magic, magic. stardust takes you back to a time when the world was more magical. iread this book in one sitting. loved it..
Another brilliant work by Neil Gaiman!
Stardust (1998) is the first solo prose novel by Neil Gaiman. Stardust has a different tone and style from most of Gaiman's work, more in the style of Tolkien. The story begins in the English city of Wall, and tells of the life of Tristran Thorne.
Wall is named after an old rock wall to its east, in which there is a small opening leading to a forest. This opening is a portal to the magical world of Faerie. It is carefully guarded by two watchmen at all times, except once every nine years on May Day, when a market comes to the meadow just past the wall.
Tristran crosses into wall to retrieve a fallen star, for his sweetheart Victoria. He discovers the star to be a woman named Yvaine, who he attempts to bring back to prove his love to Victoria. On the way back to Wall they are pursued by one of three sisters that are the witch queens, who want to cut out and consume Yvaines heart to regain their youth. Using magic counteracts the effects of the star; therefore with each spell cast by the witch-queen, she grows older and uglier as the magic of the last star dwindles.
This story has a new take on the fantasy genre and well worth the read. Thought there are a few places, one quite early on, that are not for younger readers this was a story for most ages.
Wall is named after an old rock wall to its east, in which there is a small opening leading to a forest. This opening is a portal to the magical world of Faerie. It is carefully guarded by two watchmen at all times, except once every nine years on May Day, when a market comes to the meadow just past the wall.
Tristran crosses into wall to retrieve a fallen star, for his sweetheart Victoria. He discovers the star to be a woman named Yvaine, who he attempts to bring back to prove his love to Victoria. On the way back to Wall they are pursued by one of three sisters that are the witch queens, who want to cut out and consume Yvaines heart to regain their youth. Using magic counteracts the effects of the star; therefore with each spell cast by the witch-queen, she grows older and uglier as the magic of the last star dwindles.
This story has a new take on the fantasy genre and well worth the read. Thought there are a few places, one quite early on, that are not for younger readers this was a story for most ages.
Tristran travels in the land of faerie to find a star that fell when he knelt to propose to the beautiful Victoria who says she will accept him when he brings her the star. His adventures are many but the dauntless young man survives all, finds the star that links her to him with a silver chain. Yvaine hates Tristran and he plans to take her home to Victoria but when he saves her life from the witch queen she is bound to him forever. The two travel to a wall which he crosses to visit his family and the lovely Victoria who vows to keep her promise in spite of the fact that she loves someone else. This is a romantic read most appropriate for young readers.
Beautiful fantasy story about a man and a fallen star girl by a master storyteller.
A very fun fairy tale!
An adult fairy tale, a quick, enjoyable book.
This is a very simple story, but it is so enchanting and well written! An excellent book to use as an introduction to the fantasy genre.
Fun book, from a great author. This is a simple and enjoyable fantasy. Will Tristran win the heart of his true love? ... perils lie ahead in this interesting setting with fun characters.
A unique fantasy, both scary and funny most of the way.
I LOVE THIS BOOK! The movie is a slightly different, but both have the same story. It is very enchanting.
This is a wild, magical ride into a world full of elements of light and dark fantasy. Soon to be a major motion picture.
wow! having seen the movie first, the book was totally unexpected. don't get me wrong - I loved the movie - and I loved the book. two different versions of a similar story. i like seeing a movie before reading the book. it helps me visualize characters and places. time to watch the movie....again!
Reviewed by The Compulsive Reader for TeensReadToo.com
Tristran Thorn would do absolutely anything to win pretty Victoria Forrester's heart. Even venture across The Wall into mysterious Faerie in search of a fallen star.
But once he enters Faerie, strange things begin to happen.
Tristran knows the location of every place in the land. He meets a strange, small man who gives him a candle that allows him to travel great distances. And when he finally finds the fallen star, Tristran discovers that it is not a lump of rock like he thought, but a young woman, who has quite the mind of her own.
Tristran, though, isn't the only one looking for the star. The witch queen and a group of three brothers all want something of it. For these brothers, it's the power she possesses. For the witch, it's her heart.
STARDUST was completely entrancing, charming, and a surprisingly quick read. The star's spunk and Tristran's humanity are both to be admired in this adventurous tale that will make you laugh out loud and break into tears. This is one book not to be missed.
Tristran Thorn would do absolutely anything to win pretty Victoria Forrester's heart. Even venture across The Wall into mysterious Faerie in search of a fallen star.
But once he enters Faerie, strange things begin to happen.
Tristran knows the location of every place in the land. He meets a strange, small man who gives him a candle that allows him to travel great distances. And when he finally finds the fallen star, Tristran discovers that it is not a lump of rock like he thought, but a young woman, who has quite the mind of her own.
Tristran, though, isn't the only one looking for the star. The witch queen and a group of three brothers all want something of it. For these brothers, it's the power she possesses. For the witch, it's her heart.
STARDUST was completely entrancing, charming, and a surprisingly quick read. The star's spunk and Tristran's humanity are both to be admired in this adventurous tale that will make you laugh out loud and break into tears. This is one book not to be missed.
Fine book, pleasant (for the most part) reading, a couple of the more foul swear words and one slippery sex scene. Otherwise, great characters, good plot, satisfying end, fun dialog, good example of the Hero's Journey.
I haven't read much Neil Gaiman; I liked American Gods but for some reason I didn't pursue any more of his. After I saw the mini-series of "Good Omens" I decided I might be missing something. Anyway, this is a sweet fantasy, definitely a throwback to the older tales from Lord Dunsany and James Cabell but with a little bit of fun poking at them. Nice settings, loved all the faerie creatures Tristan comes in contact with - even the nasty ones. My copy of this book has some photos from the movie that was made, I will have to look for it.
I had actually seen the movie before reading this book and I'm glad that I did. It gave me a better visual of what happens in the book as sometimes I did feel that the author wasn't descriptive enough. The story is quite good, but as previously mentioned, it could have been more detailed. The blank pages between chapters in order to make is seem a larger book than it actually is was also a bit annoying.
A quick easy read. A whimsical fantasy story.
I read this book before watching the movie, and glad I did! I love this story! A fantasy fairytale for adults. Neil Gaiman is a great writer! I look forward to reading more from him.
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. -- Amazon.com
"A beautiful, memorable work." -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"Strange...marvelous...magical." -- Philadelphia Inquirer
"A twisting, wondrous tale full of magic." -- Chicago Tribune
"A beautiful, memorable work." -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"Strange...marvelous...magical." -- Philadelphia Inquirer
"A twisting, wondrous tale full of magic." -- Chicago Tribune
In a small English village called Wall
Strange things happen to Tristan Thorn when the love-stricken man goes through the only gap in the wall surrounding the village.
Strange things happen to Tristan Thorn when the love-stricken man goes through the only gap in the wall surrounding the village.
borders on fantasy but an engaging tale.
Just an FYI on the publication: This ISBN applies to at least 3 publications/covers of this book. The one I have is an older edition (dark blue cover with a cut-out to an illustration on the inner cover). The one pictured here on PBS is newer, with images from the motion picture. Another different cover image comes up when you search for it on Amazon.
Personally I was glad to receive the older version, because covers based on movie versions kind of annoy me ;), so just thought I'd let others know!
Personally I was glad to receive the older version, because covers based on movie versions kind of annoy me ;), so just thought I'd let others know!
This has never happened before but I liked the movie better.
Exellent, excellent book. Equally as good and diverse as his other works! Must read!
Each time I tink Neil Gaiman is going to follow a well traveled story arc, he deviates here and there until you end up with something original and magical all on its own. He doesnt disappoint with this book. In some ways, it is a coming of age book, both Tristran and the star growing and changing by the end. Theres trickery, ships of the sky, and a unicorn. The tale is also sprinkled with every day stuff, such as Tristran taking a shovel with him into the woods to make a little deposit. Such little things help to make the characters, and the experience, real.
As much as I love Gaimans work, I do have 2 small issues with this book. Obviously, they dont break the book for me as I have read it multiple times. Its good to love some flawed things in your life aunties, vases, yourself, and books. So much growing up happens between the lines, and much of it within 6 pages where it isnt really described. So, while I get to know Tristran as a young man bumbling through life, and then I see him as a young man having made up his mind about several things and gained the confidence to follow through, the in between stuff was left out. The second point is a mild SPOILER: the star goes from being captured by Tristran, to being obligated to be by his side for an unforeseeable amount of time to loving him. I never really got the sense that she fell, totally, utterly, head over heels in love with him. Rather, what started as an intolerable obligation later became a tolerable arrangement. END SPOILER
As much as I love Gaimans work, I do have 2 small issues with this book. Obviously, they dont break the book for me as I have read it multiple times. Its good to love some flawed things in your life aunties, vases, yourself, and books. So much growing up happens between the lines, and much of it within 6 pages where it isnt really described. So, while I get to know Tristran as a young man bumbling through life, and then I see him as a young man having made up his mind about several things and gained the confidence to follow through, the in between stuff was left out. The second point is a mild SPOILER: the star goes from being captured by Tristran, to being obligated to be by his side for an unforeseeable amount of time to loving him. I never really got the sense that she fell, totally, utterly, head over heels in love with him. Rather, what started as an intolerable obligation later became a tolerable arrangement. END SPOILER
Great book!!
This book was pretty awesome. When I first received it from here I hadn't realized the movie out in theaters was this story! I really want to see the movie now. The only problem I had with this book was that within the first chapter they jumped into a semi-descriptive sex scene. It wasn't anything near porn but still, I didn't need to read that and I skipped those two paragraphs.
Overall, 4 stars, I was very much entertained. =)
Overall, 4 stars, I was very much entertained. =)
This is a great book.
