One of Neil Gaiman's recurring themes that works so well in his hands is the art and significance of storytelling. The Sandman followed Morpheus, the embodiment of "dream," to that ever elusive place, full of baffling realms our imaginations take us to, and the threshold of inspiration for those who tell stories. Stardust follows a vein of thought within this realm of dreams (Faerie, to be precise), and although it reads at times like a parody of classic western fairy-tale lore, overall it proves to be a celebration, a tribute, and a whole new legend worthy of Gaiman's authorship.

Beyond it's intentionally cliche (but in such a delicate way..) coming of age theme, the story takes unexpected and original turns every new chapter, tipping its hat to formulas of similar stories, but in the end striving to blaze its own path, even if the author shows a bit of pretention in the process. Just as the narrative threatened to lose this reader's interest with uncharacteristically long bits of meticulous description, the story's originality and charm allow it to recover nicely and deliver some of its delicious doses of unreality.

The illustrations are often beautiful companions to the story, incurring a sort of childish wonder at whimsical venues and characters, while sometimes delivering shocking images to emphasize moments in the story that would have scared the shit out of you as a child (well, me anyway..). This is the next step in maturity for those of us who were captivated and elevated by fantasy as young readers, listeners, observers of tales which challenge the depth of our imaginations, but do not insult our intelligence. ( )

D-This is probably my favorite of Neil Gaiman's novels, and I adored the ending. ( )

Absolutely a gorgeous fairy tale for adults. Stardust is a captivating and thriller read, busting across all sorts of genres to weave a fabulous tale. Gaiman really gets at the heart of Faerie -- the man knows whereof he speaks. ;) Highly recommended.

This edition of "Stardust" was the first I've read & truly loved of Gaiman's works. It touched the child in me & got me interested in the fantasy genre once more. What's more it's graced with Charles Vess's exquisite 175 illustrations -- delicate, colorful, ethereal, and full of little details and shadowy corners. He captures every shred of the magic that Gaiman's words are able to conjure, and a little bit more than that.

What is intriguing is the proposition that some time ago, mortal men & faerie creatures are involved in commerce, even though it's only every 9 years. An apt description of the Faerie Market: (There were wonders for sale, and marvels, and miracles; there were things undreamed-of and objects unimagined)
"Bottled dreams, a shilling a bottle!"
"Coats of night! Coats of twilight! Coats of dusk!"
"Swords of fortune! Wands of power! Rings of Eternity!"

Now, if you're mortal, would you pass up the opportunity to go & visit such a wonderful place? Never mind the caution of old, of not indulging in any faerie food & drink. I absolutely devoured the whole page spread of Vess' illustration of the Faerie Market....think of all the possibilities that could occur at such a place (reminiscent of the Floating Market as mentioned in Gaiman's "Neverwhere").

We met the slave girl in disguise who falls in love with the simple Dunstan (helped along with the gift of finding one's Heart's Desire by members of the Fellowship of the Castle). I laughed out loud at her sharp tongue, when she chastised Dunstan's imitation of a little owl's hoot as a signal of his arrival: "That is nothing like a little owl. If my ears were stopped up with twigs perhaps I'd imagine an eagle owl. But it's not a little owl." :)

One cannot help but cringe at what men would do in order to seize power to rule a kingdom, in this case, the Power of Stormhold. I thought that Primus would gain that right to rule, but ahh, be wary of those who are more cunning than you are.

The Three Ladies who are the Lilim can be traced back to old folklore; I don't know how they kept themselves sane having that mirror which reflects a warped version of their personal reality or longing (I can't decide which). In the end, I felt sorry for the oldest of the Lilim, knowing that her sisters await her return with cruel punishment:
Yvaine realized that she felt nothing but pity for the creature who had wanted her dead, so she said, "Could it be that the heart that you seek is no longer my own? I have given my heart to another."
"The boy? The one in the inn? With the unicorn?"
"Yes."
"Your boy will break it, or waste it, or lose it. They all do."
"Nonetheless, he has my heart."

When you read the book you don't realize how big a role the little hairy man plays in Tristran's life, but with Vess' illustrations, you see him popping up everywhere, slyly hidden. The two become fast friends when Tristran first entered Faerie, the former instructing him on the best way to deal with the locals & how not to give away his goal since others are also seeking the fallen star for their own purpose. I particularly liked how the hairy creature gave Tristran the candle-wax to aid him in finding the star ("Can I get there by candlelight? There and back again.")

You find yourself feeling for the characters, no matter the way they were introduced to the story. I rather felt that the unicorn deserved better, since I was appalled by the violent way its life ended. The captain of the ship Free Ship Perdita proved that ships can be airborne, on a lightning-hunting expedition & can later dock on a huge tree with other skyships. You should see Vess' illustration of this.

But the most romantic is of course the colored painting of Tristran & Yvaine realizing that they truly care for each other: (They kissed for the first time then in the cold spring rain; and neither one of them knew that it was raining). And the saddest, is the last illustration of Yvaine who stares "upward into the dark sky and watches, with sad yes, the slow dance of the infinite stars.")

Book Details:

Title Stardust: Being A Romance Within the Realms of Faerie (signed copy)
Author Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess
Reviewed By Purplycookie ( )

Read: 2/18-2/20/09

Synopsis: A graphic novel that is set in the sleepy town of Wall is the english countryside. The town is so named for the border that separates it from the land of Faerie, save for a market that is held every nine years. Dunstan Thorn is in love with a girl in his town, he also falls in love with a mysterious woman with cat-ears and violet eyes at the market. (This page was ripped out of the copy I got from the library). Anyway, time goes on and Dunstan's son, Tristran grows up and falls in love with Victoria. He promises her the shooting star that they see in exchange for his heart's desire. Tristran is able to cross in the lands of Faerie and adventure begins! There are short hairy people, unicorns, a star-woman, and 2 villians who are also after the star.

Pros & cons: It is an interesting tale with wonderful illustrations. There were some parts that were dull and I wanted the story to hurry along. The witch is truly evil and there is one part of hers I did not enjoy reading. This book is part of my start to reading graphc novels and I am impressed. ( )

Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess's "Stardust" is a book I picked up in college, loved immensely, and for some reason hadn't read since. I had been meaning to re-read it before seeing the movie, but since I rarely go to movies, I didn't really get around to it... until I was asked, "Hey, wanna go see 'Stardust' tomorrow?" So then I got right on it again. It's the tale of a father (briefly) and his son (less briefly), and several promises made and kept, some fortuitously, some not. It's also a story of faerie and magic and falling, and well worth reading. I really hope they don't muck up the movie! ( )

I read this all in one sitting on the train home from college. It's a nicely ironic take on a fairy tale; full of all the traditional motifs you would expect in a story of this nature, and a very predictable ending, but with the darker twist you've come to expect from Gaiman. I thought the scene at the end between Yvaine and the oldest witch-queen was quite a nice touch.

I must admit that although I love the Sandman series, and really like American Gods, I'm not the huge fan of Gaiman that most other people on my flist seem to be. His characters always seem (to me) to be 'just' characters. They never truly come alive for me, and always seem to be slightly flat, no matter how much fine detail he puts into them. They're a little too obviously repositories for all the wonderful story ideas and ironic thoughts he has. Stardust is no exception to this; when you couple this with the fact that it's not as imaginative or as inventive as, say, Neverwhere or American Gods are, I would put it on the lower scale of his works.

Of course, the lower scale of Gaiman's books is still much higher than most of the pap that is currently being churned out, and I would still recommend it highly ( )

One of my favorites, now. I saw the movie and thought it was wonderfully fun (very like the Princess Bride in tone and scope) and whimsical, so I thought I'd buy the book and read it. Though the movie and book diverge on several major plot points, I think the movie certainly captured the spirit of the Gaiman/Vess novel. Books are always better to readers, and Stardust is no exception to that rule. I spent a few, lovely hours curled up reading about Tristran and Yvaine, laughing, loving Gaiman's careful prose (so unusual in the Fantasy genre) and philosophical wisdom. Here is a man who has, himself, read much and suffered much. His writing gets beyond plot and seeks to illuminate what makes us human: desire for love, sex, adventure, fear of aging, fear of death, and loss. I'm on my way to the bookstore to stock up on Gaiman's works--I've clearly been avoiding him for too long. ( )

first line: "There was once a young man who wished to gain his Heart's Desire."

Stardust is a much simpler tale than many of Gaiman's other works, but it is meant to be. It is formulaic in the way of most fairy tales, magical and diverting.

I recommend the version illustrated with Charles Vess's beautiful art. ( )

Stardust is such a lovely story by Master Neil, with equally lovely illustrations by Charles Vess! Reading it surrounded me with magic and filled me with happiness. A wonder-filled adventure where everything ties up in the end and finishes quite neatly and smoothly. Magical, and clever too! ( )

I originally reread this book to compare it to the movie that came out in 2007. I liked the movie, but I still think the book is better. The book always has to be better, doesn't it? In any case, I found this lovely illustrated version and very much enjoyed rereading it in this form. Charles Vess does a fabulous job of illustrating Neil Gaiman's world. I have to admit, I inspect covers very closely and am always impressed when an artist captures the book correctly. Most pages of this book have at least one, if not several, illustrations, and there were only a few times that I thought there might be a small error in the drawings. As in, Tristan was said to be holding something and in the picture he's not. Very minor things really. It's a rare chance to read an illustrated version of a book so well written, I really can't complain. Thus, I recommend this book and, further, recommend reading the illustrated version. ( )

Book is better than the movie. But the movie is good in it's own right. ( )

Fantastic! I loved this book. The plot was so tightly woven, the story was grand and simple at the same time, the pictures are beautiful...just great. Better than the movie, too. ( )

When I first read this book about 7 years ago I heartily recommeded it to my teen students. I wondered then why they didn't make it into a movie -- now the book is experiencing a renaissance with the release of the film. A great entre to the fantasy genre. ( )

I bought the hardcover edition ("Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess' Stardust") and it is an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful book, but I have two children (late teens/early twenties) who covet it desperately and I may not get to keep it. Good story in whatever edition, though. ( )

Stardust

It was one of those todays where reading anything that takes thinking and serious consideration of its future implications in my life was not to be desired. I read in spurts like watching TV. Some Tuesdays I have this inkling to be all smart about myself and watch PBS's Nova and relish the fountain of information that it can feed my brain in an hour. Or an other nights I find myself settling on to the couch to watch another episode of House, which my med school friends tell me stretches the imagination of medicine at times. Live is full of checks and balances. Today was abotu finding a relishing little book that I have read mayhaps a dozen times. This book is an interesting blend of both comic book, novel, and fairy tale rolled into one.
The book deals with the adventures of a young lad from a village called Wall ,which in its boundaries can be found a doorway into the world of faerie. Though it seems there may be other doorways this doorway is the place of a great market every nine years in which the worlds of faerie and ours combine. The events in this story take place within the time period of two markets. Young Tristran Thorn makes a promise to Victoria ,a women of very obvious beauty, that he will in fact give her all that he can imagine if only she will give him a kiss. At this moment a star falls and she tells him that in order for him to get whatever he desires from her he must retreive the star. Unbeknowest to him is the fact that he is in fact descended from a bits of the world of Faerie. He crosses through the wall in search of the aformentioned star only to find her to be very short tempered and himself being the sudject of much of this torment. The use of the word fucker is wordered so small the one time it is used and in such a way it carries so much more wieght. Cussing in its proper form is an art form, its one use is quite amusing.
Some great lines occur in the reading of this book. Tristran begins to explains the beauty of Victoria he is stopped. The man stops him in his tracks and responds with: "She has the usual stuff, eyes, ears, nose, lips, and all that."Something along those lines. Hilarious. It is littered with little tid bits of hilarity. Eventually as in most faerie tales there is a happy ending it is just that as you read this book the story flows so well, reading it pure fantasy candy. The book is littered with artwork depicting the various scenes from the book from master fantasy artist Charles Vess. At times the magic of faeries seems to jump off the page. I have to say that the artwork and beauty of recent hit Labyrinth may have been influenced by the simple grace of Charles Vess artwork over the years. Star herself is many times the most well rounded short tempered faerie creature in a while. in the coming year the movie will be released with all kinds of big stars attached.
If you find the time and need some more enjoyable than watching TV , but don't want to invest yourself to heavily in a book, this is the book lighthearted and fun with plenty of illustrations. Great for kids.
I want to plant my flag now i have known about this book for years. I am huge fan of the writer and his stories. There now for all you people becoming fans after this movies release, Bleeeh. Read the book before the movie and don't act like you know it all afterwards. You know you are!!!!!!! With all that said and done I have to move on to other books in the labyrinth that is my home. Some of them waiting to be read so that they may have small impacts on the further education in my life. Others mad that it has been four years since they were purchased and yet sit quietly on my shelves unread feeling unwanted. One or two knowing their own power wait patiently knowing that some books have a time a place to be read in a persons life, they sit there waiting for me to get to that point in my life or just catch up to them.

A lovely fantasy novel by an incredibly talented writer. This edition has art by Charles Vess who gives almost any illustrator a run for the fairy tale illustrative money. ( )

There have been several incarnations of Stardust. It was first published as a four volume comic mini-series which was then collected into a single volume. It was later published without illustrations as is conventional for most novels. And, of course, now there is the movie.

Between the world of Faerie and the mundane England stands a wall. Its only gate is guarded by the men of the nearby village which takes its name from that wall. None are allowed to pass, except for once every nine years when an enchanted market comes to the meadow just beyond. Usually, this is the only time mortals and the magical folk mingle together. But, when Tristran Thorn and Wall's most beautiful young woman together witness a falling star, he makes a brash oath to find and bring back the star in order to earn her love. Thus begins his life-changing adventures in the land of Faerie.

The story is simple enough and really is a fairy tale for grown-ups; whimsical and charming, but not too terribly suprising plot-wise. The writing is not very descriptive and focuses more on the story than any sort of details. Gaiman, as usual, doesn't avoid the nastiness that can be found at the heart of most traditional fairy tales; everything is not butterflies and flowers. I think that the illustrations, although not consistant in style, really do add quite a bit to the story. Those who read the text-only version are missing out.

Experiments in Reading ( )

http://talesofarampaginglibrarian.blo... ( )

(Reread.) I reread this to compare Gaiman's depiction of Faerie to Dunsany's depiction of Elfland. Gaiman's prose is very little like Dunsany's. It's much more matter of fact than Dunsany's lilt, and rightly so, as the realm he's describing is much less otherworldly than Elfland. There are plenty of nods to Dunsany though. I was amused to see a pair of foxes running alongside the unicorn in one of the paintings (unmentioned in the text). Gaimain's story is much more involved than Dunsany's. Where Dunsany spends long, flowing paragraphs setting a tone, Gaiman can rely on the beautiful illustrations by Vess. This frees up the text to present a much more intricate plot, with many more threads. ( )

One of my favourite stories of all time. I love the characters, the fantasy elements, and the light-heartedness.

And I am so, so excited for the movie coming out. ( )

A lovely story with beautiful illustrations. I suppose I looked in every corner for Dream, but he wasn't there, and that's all right. I was privileged to meet the author twice after reading this, and he is very genuine. That's a gift to know, just as his story is a gift. What a storyteller Neil Gaiman is. ( )

A really charming tale. Gaiman mentioned that there were places where he skimped on description because he knew that Vess's illustrations would be there; I wonder how that affects the un-illustrated editions? ( )

This is a captivating fairly tale (though not always a happy one) beautifully illustreated by Charles Vess. His work reminds me of my other favorite illustrator, Arthur Rackham. ( )