Enchanting...
|
I had previously read Neverwhere, so was not new to Neil Gaiman's writing. This is a beautifully written, dark, yet glittering tale of a faerie land that borders a small town in England. Sympathetically drawn characters abound, gorgeous descriptions of magic and folklore, I was gripped and finished this in two evenings.
I shall be reading more of Mr Gaiman's work, however, my only complaint of Stardust was that it was very, very brief (under 200 pages). I would have loved a fuller version of this story as it most definitely could have been expanded on. But this is my only complaint - Mr Gaiman's story-telling ability is nothing short of genius.
|
|
Very English fairy tale
|
This is a great book for adults and teens, some of the bits may be a bit tough to explain to younger children.
Gaiman paints this wonderful world from days gone by with great English or British quirks to it and marries it up with the fantasy world that exists next door. The story of an epic journey, true love, false love, greed, power and of course, magic, captures the imagination and makes you look at things a little bit differently if only for a moment.
If you've seen the film (which was good in its own right), then do yourself a favour and read the book - you won't be disappointed!
|
|
|
Adorable...loved it.
|
|
I kept getting recommended this by amazon,and i really wasnt sure about buying it, but one day i saw it for a bargain price and snapped it up!! Im sooo glad i did, this is a gorgeous book,i really enjoyed it. As alot of people have said,it is indeed a fairytale for adults. Neil gaiman is an amazing writer,and i am now of to buy many more of his books.
|
|
|
good fun (spoilers included)
|
I made the mistake of watching the movie before reading the book. If i hadn't, i wouldn't have been as disappointed with some aspect of the story. My major gripe about this is the ending. There is no 'climax' as such: i was a bit let down when there was no big battle between the witch and Tristran. There was no big fight at all over either the star or the tropaz. The ending for me was eventless in that sense.
Another problem I had was that the story was too short.
However, taking the book for what it is, I can only say that I enjoyed the journey. The character of Tristran was great. The author has an amazing imagination and there are a few humorous events that made this even more engrossing. I found it interesting how the author managed to write this adult fairytale using a "far, far, away" type of style.
This is the first book I have read by this author and I will certainly take time out to read some more of his work.
|
|
|
Light weight but fascinating
|
Neil Gaiman is another of those authors whose work is a pleasure to read almost irrespective of the story itself. His use of English is descriptive and engrossing, constantly encouraging the reader to continue on to the end of the book.
Stardust is a grown up's, rather than an adult, fairy tale (or Faerie in this case). I make the distinction simply because the whole narrative is slightly tongue in cheek and really rather jolly. There is no gritty under-current such as is found in American Gods or even Neverwhere. This isn't intended as a criticism as it works rather well.
All your standard fairy-tale characters are here, three witches, three brothers trying to win the kingdom, a captured princess, the hero on a quest for his true love, magical talismans and even an equivalent of seven league boots. It's all rather light weight but nicely crafted and enjoyable. Well worth a read.
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada