Stardust

Spoiler-free review:

I picked up this book for 2 reasons. First, you never know when you will need a quick read to fill space, and second, I love the movie Stardust! The book was very similar to the movie and it was nice to be able to picture the characters from the movie to visualize those in the book. Obviously things were different in the movie for dramatic effect, but I found it to be fairly similar. This was a quick read (only 233 pages) and such a sweet fairytale. Epic adventure, fantasy and even a little romance thrown in there. I docked a star simply because the writing style was hard for me to understand at times. If you're looking for a quick read with lots of adventure, definitely pick this up!

I love Neil Gaiman, but this was definitely my least favorite of his books so far. The style and tone just didn't work for me, which is a shame because those are sometimes Gaiman's strengths. The prose was still really good, but I couldn't connect with any of the characters or story. Mostly I was just waiting for it to be over. But I listened to the audiobook, and Gaiman is a brilliant narrator, as always.

I'm a huge Neil Gaiman fan, but this one just didn't do it for me. Maybe because I just can't get into classic fantasy. The main character was fairly two-dimensional and unlikable, with hardly any redeeming qualities, the female characters were treated so badly and were so flat and stereotypical, and the plot just wasn't that interesting. I also found the setting pretty weird and wasn't really able to buy into it. This isn't a critique of Neil Gaiman generally, since I absolutely adore some of his other works, but this one wasn't for me.

this was a cute, short read. there were bits that were harder to get into (like with the witches and the storm dudes (i forget their names lol)) but whenever it was Tristran interacting with other characters, it was pretty entertaining. he and Yvaine are very cute together.

i found it kinda disappointing that this was a “folktale meant for adults” because it felt like the bit that really made it “adult” was the sex scene in the beginning

Love this author's imagination. What better way to enjoy his writing than to listen to him read it. ❤️❤️

I remember watching the movie first, being really obsessed with it, and then being somewhat disappointed by my first reads of this book. This was also many, many years ago. I decided to pick it up again this time knowing that I now have some distance from the movie and also that my reading preferences and tastes have changed in the intervening years, so I was curious to see if my opinions may change. Boy, it sure did. I think I might've rated this around 3 or 3.5 stars before but I'm bumping this up to 4 and even 4.5 stars.

In the village of Wall somewhere in Victorian England, Tristran Thorn sets out to find a fallen star to impress his lady love, Victoria Forrester. He goes through the Wall from which the village derives its name, into Faerie. He doesn't understand why Faerie seems so familiar to him, or how he's managing to find his way to the fallen star without any guidance, but he does. He just didn't expect the star to be a very, very sassy lady made even more irritable by a broken leg from falling from the sky. He attempts to convince her to come back to Wall with him to be presented to Victoria. Along the way, they meet several witches, unicorns, devious brother-princes, and lightning-harvesting pirate ships in the sky.

The events of the book and the movie were generally almost the same, so I really need to give Gaiman some props for having come up with such a rich, beautiful, fairytale-esque story that translated so well into the movie that I still love. What is the point of contention here, and what really drove me to have such different impressions of the book during my first and current read, is everything else - the storytelling, the setting, the whole vibe of the story. While the movie is light-hearted, campy and family-friendly fun, the book has a distinctively more adult-fairytale feel, which I was disappointed with before but now am delighted by.

This book also explores the idea of consent and boundaries that was way ahead of its time, and which also sadly did not translate into the movie.

“I was a wood-nymph. But I got pursued by a prince, not a nice prince, the other kind, and, well, you'd think a prince, even the wrong kind, would understand about boundaries, wouldn't you?”“You would?”“Exactly what I think.”

I also kinda weirdly love that parting scene between Yvaine and the old lady that used to be the witch-queen. Even though she's done so much harm and killed the poor unicorn, somehow Yvaine found it in her to be just the right amount of forgiving - not to the point of trying to save her from her sisters' wrath, but also just letting go of the past and leaving her be since she's lost the capacity to harm her. I did kinda wish that Lady Una would've been the next Ruler of Stormhold, that would've perfected the book for me.

I like the movie a Lot more IT is one og my favorites

Such an amazing little book, and now I need to rewatch the movie for the 4th time. In honesty it's probably 4.5-4.75 stars, but I won't give Goodreads the satisfaction of a 4 star rating for this incredible book.

3.5

It was a whirlwind of a read from start to finish. There wasn't a shred of prose that didn't belong, the plot was quick in nature and engaging, and there were a multitude of interesting things happening. I do enjoy how Sir Gaiman provided everything with a positive conclusion and finish; all questions are answered that you might have, all of the bases are covered.

That being said, I did find myself wishing for a bit more ... Full disclosure, however, that I've been spoilt with having seen the film before reading the novel, and for the most part, things matched up! But what the film changed or expanded on, I have to agree with: more time taken on their journey to interact with others, the final “showdowns” with the villain/s ( no spoilers here, ladies and gentlefolk. ), certain deaths, etc. I think in the ending chapter or so, is where things fell flat for me. It was all a bit too easily resolved? I mean, she's a falling star, and? The conflict just ends? Hm.

Admittedly, after such a magical and engaging adventure, it ending like that ( no spoilers! ) was a bit disappointing. Call me hopeless or optimistic, but I do like happier poignant endings. All that to be said, I still recommend it! Especially if you want a relatively quick read, where you do come to care for the characters and wanting to know what happens to each of them, alongside a fast-paced plot.

upping to 3.5 stars because I enjoyed this so much more than when I last read it, I think helped by the illustrations. They really amplify and improve the text, best example of which imo is pg. 96-97 when Tristran is travelling with the Babylon candle for the first time, those were gorgeous and super evocative. I'm not a huge Neil Gaiman fan generally (his books tend to be super hit or miss for me, for the most part I think his screenwriting and comics are better than his novels, exception being the Graveyard Book which I love), but the illustrations in this edition made up for the prose things he does that annoy me, the plot is super well executed, and the imagination and whimsy is lovely.

The best books are those that I finish with a certain sadness, because the story is done and I will never experience it for the first time again.

I want to live in this book. I want to go to magical markets, and kiss mysterious shopkeepers and ride clouds and barter with grumpy witches.
I want to be friends with Tristran, the only man that deserves rights and I want Yvaine to insult me colorfully.

I loved this book and it was too short and I will now go and watch the movie and hope it's as good as the book (it probably won't be)

A well told tale of magic and adventure. And more of a starting point for its movie counterpart

The Stardust film is amongst one of my favourite of the modern films I've watched in my lifetime, and so I've seen the film a number of times and know it well. I was a little wary of pre-expectations but the novel did well to bring something new to the story of Stardust.

However, since the movie is so close to me, there's no other way for me to review the book other than in context of the movie (sorry to those who haven't seen or read either).

I will say I still probably enjoy the movie more (but movies are my jam and the movie got my affections first). However, the book on it's own merits is also really quite good.

The novel follows the movie (or rather the movie followed the novel) fairly closely for the 2/3rds of the story but the movie diverges significantly from the book for the ending, perhaps going for a wilder ending with more “movie going climax”. The book ends more in a way that wonders out into the sunset with a tidy, but kind, epilogue.

I can't honestly say whether the novel is split into acts (as a movie might be), but we follow Tristran Thorn as he promises to return a fallen star in exchange for “what his heart desires” of Victoria.

The prices of Stormhold are off to retrieve the topaz the 81st Lord of Stormhold threw into the night sky (inadvertently knocking Yvaine out of the sky) to claim their position on the throne of Storhold.

Whilst at the same time, The Lilim, three witches, get wind of the fallen star and send out the Witch Queen to retrieve her heart to bring them back to their young.

The story, in novel form, is a sort of travelling adventure slow moving story through the magical world of Faerie (which I'm sure I've read before in a Gaiman book...). In retrospect it does feel like some of the supporting characters are a little sidelined and certainly (probably because of the movie) expected more from the Witch Queen.

But a nicely told tale all the same (except perhaps when the Witch Queen slices off the head of a Unicorn that's already had a spike rammed through it's eye socket!).

The perfect little fantasy for just a quick bit of escapism

I read the first third of this book physically but then switched to audiobook for the rest.

I did enjoy this book, it's super whimsical and fairly witty at times. It's also weird while still being cute.

The part I found most interesting were the brothers of Stronghold and how their ghosts spoke and watched on after their deaths. I wish I could maybe have a whole book drawing that lore out.

However the ending really kind of knocked this down for me. I just felt like nothing really happened.

I look forward to seeing the movie as some say it's a little bit different, but I just don't see myself re-reading this book again or really thinking about it long after hence the just 3 star rating.

Another re-read from my younger years, which I enjoyed. The audiobook elevated the experience as it was a full cast production. I really enjoyed the performances and the story while being short has proven to be memorable as I could still remember the plot fairly well after 10 years.

So is there anything Neil can't do?

This whimsical fantasy romance novel was just what I needed for a quiet day at the lake. It had love, tragedy, intrigue, and death- everything a good book has.

I swear, I will never tire of Neil.

Impetuous youth
making foolish promises
a star for his girl.

This is a wonderful story of coming of age and finding splendor.

Written in marvelous prose it will leave you smiling

Comfort reread. Oddly, I love the hell out of this book, but it's also one of the Very Few books where I really like the movie better? And I don't think that's just because I saw the movie first. They're both spectacular in different ways-Stardust the movie feels like the spiritual successor to The Princess Bride, with delightfully strange characters and really fun quotes, and Stardust the book is full on fantasy magic land where the major conflicts just sort of Resolve Themselves by the people involved being smart enough to give up when needed.

My least favorite Gaiman book so far, but still an enjoyable quick read. It has an interesting, adult take on the fae.

3.6 stars. It was a very imaginative plot but Neil Gaiman seemed to keep his writing within a very minimalist style. Kind of like reading a fairytale written for a junior audience, yet the content was most definitely for an adult audience. I felt that the story could benefit from fleshing the characters out more. The second half of the book seemed rushed and touch-and-go. Had great potential to be very emotionally impactful like the movie, but fell a little flat.

My Rating System:
5⭐️: Excellent book AND influenced a change in my views
4.5⭐️: Excellent read
4⭐️: Great read, will recommend
3.5⭐️: Enjoyable read but missing something that will make it great ⬅️⬅️⬅️
3⭐️: An okay read that I didn't regret spending time on it
2⭐️: Didn't enjoy
1⭐️: Didn't enjoy and had serious issues. Will suggest to avoid.

This book was exactly what I needed: interesting, fun, on the lighter side of things, and filled with vibrant characters.

01/11/2018
Quickie review: Didn't like the portrayal of female characters, didn't care for the writing style, disliked the main character. On the plus side, it was a quick read and parts of the story were interesting.

01/15/2018
(This review can also be found on my blog.)

Two stars always feels like such a negative rating, but it really just means I “didn't like it.” This book could hover around a 2.5 for me, but I think 2 is slightly more accurate. I know Neil Gaiman is a beloved author and I have enjoyed several of his works (although, don't get me started on Anansi Boys), but Stardust just wasn't for me.

I didn't care about Tristran and I hated that he was just an unremarkable boy who got remarkably lucky and saved the day and got the girl even though his plan until almost the end of the book was to essentially enslave her and give her as an offering to another beautiful girl that he covets (I wouldn't call what he feels love).

Besides the star (who doesn't really count as human) and perhaps Tristran's biological mother, every woman in the story is made out to be either unimportant or awful. Victoria is the whole reason for Tristran's quest, but only because she snubbed him and didn't tell him she was engaged. He literally forgets about and could not care less about his adoptive mother and sister. And there are plenty of evil witches, as well as a female merchant who had enslaved Tristran's mother.

Whew, I didn't mean to rant like that, but it all just really got to me. On top of that, I just wasn't a fan of the writing style in this one. There are parts of the story that I found intriguing, so it wasn't all bad. And it is a quick read, very easy to get through. So all-in-all, if this sounds like your jam: go for it. It just definitely wasn't mine.

Volledige recensie hier:
http://charami.com/2017/04/10/gelezen-in-maart/

Stardust is een dun boekje, maar zo ongeloofelijk rijk aan zowel opbouw van atmosfeer als verhaallijn. Een bijzonder mooi, modern en volwassen sprookje dat ik aan iedereen die eens uit zijn saaie leven wil ontsnappen kan aanraden. Een boekje om te koesteren en steeds opnieuw te lezen.