Charles Vess

This is Neil Gaiman's poem, "Instructions" bound as a picture book and illustrated by Charles Vess.

I love this.

I have to admit that when I first came across Gaiman's poem in Fragile Things, I read it, thought it was pretty cool, and moved on, both in the book and in my head. It wasn't until I met Charles Vess at a book signing for Drawing Down the Moon and he told us about this project that I really got excited about the whole thing. He had prints of his artwork for us to look at. As I show more flipped through them, I knew this was going to be something special.

And it is.

Basically instructions for surviving a fairy tale, Gaiman weaves many themes into this short-ish poem. Help who you can. Don't trust those who seem untrustworthy. Trust yourself. Come home at the end.

And suddenly you realize that he could be (is?) talking about how to live your life well. And you are reminded again what a master Gaiman is.

As for the illustrations--perfection.

I love Vess's artwork. It has such a perfect fairy tale feel to it. And when you sit down to really look at just one of these illustrations, you are blown away by the amount of subtle detail worked in.

I highly, highly recommend this. Children will love it, and so will readers of any age who understand that the truest advice can be found in "children's books." show less

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 show more 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. show less

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 show more 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. show less

I really wanted to like this more than I did, but the story failed to catch fire for me. I actually started reading the story on Charles Vess' website, but I never got beyond the first few chapters (I don't find reading on a computer screen very comfortable) so I was pleased to get an ePub file. The story is an urban fantasy version of the Tam Lin ballad set outside Inverness, but it failed for me because I found the characters and some of the situations more American than Scottish. I show more honestly think it might have worked better as a graphic novel or an illustrated story rather than a straight novel, keeping the writing more in the background. As it was, it seemed a bit on the long side. Stylistically, I was reminded of early Charles de Lint which I loved and was hoping for more of the same. Overall, an OK read but somewhat disappointing. show less