Stardust by Neil Gaiman
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Book Reviews of Stardust
Book Review: A riveting adult fairy tale perfectly told
Summary: 5 Stars
We often talk of a book, movie, or short story being a "fairy tale," but Neil Gaiman's STARDUST is literally a fairy tale. Though the past century has seen a host of stories of the supernatural, the world of the fairies generally has been neglected. And indeed, even here most of the characters are human, witches, stars, or other kinds of creatures. The book is enough to convince me that our writers have neglected fairies to our own detriment. Some refer to STARDUST as a graphic novel, which is incorrect. This is an illustrated novel and the difference between the two is significant. The text of a graphic novel cannot stand on its own. If you took away either the visual or textual component of any graphic novel the work would fall to bits. Neither component is in any sense optional. But with STARDUST, you could easily read the text alone with little or not loss of all of the essentials of the story. The text is fully self-contained. The illustrations are, in this case, optional -- though delightful -- embellishments. Had Neil Gaiman chosen to publish STARDUST with no illustrations the book would have been very nearly as good. Thankfully Charles Vess's (not sure why they have violated standard contemporary punctuation practice and not added an "s" to show possession on the cover of the book -- virtually all standard guides such as the MLA Handbook and the Chicago Manual of Style would have had the cover read "Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess's Stardust).
With reluctance I have decided to write a spoiler free review. Often I will post a spoiler warning at the beginning and then proceed to write a review that touches upon occasional spoilers. But I think STARDUST is best read with as clean a slate as possible. Instead, let me write about it in far more general terms. STARDUST is above all about a special part of the world, a world in which fairies are real, where witches truly exist, and where magic governs life. It is a world in which a magical glass flower cannot be bought with money, but can be purchased with a kiss. It is a land where many seek and hope to find a fallen star. It is a world in which the very woods are alive. It is not, however, always a very happy story. There are many, many dark moments (though this was true as well in the Grimm brothers' stories) and you heart will often ache for some terrible misfortune.
Ultimately what makes this such a delicious story is Gaiman's impeccably good taste and fertile imagination. Many of the elements of the story can be anticipated, but the particular way that they are resolved cannot. For instance, I was surprised by the final scene involving the main witch and by the end of the search by the three brothers for the medallion that will be found with the fallen star. That is the challenge with a story like this. There are some elements that almost any such story will be forced to include, the challenge being resolving those elements a a new and satisfying way. In this Gaiman succeeds again and again. By the end of the story the reader will have a wonderful sense of having explored marvelous and magical places through a wonderfully and perfectly related tale. Not everything in the story is explained. A healthy number of bits of the story are left wrapped in mystery, such as the precise identity of the protagonists traveling companion and benefactor when he first enters the land beyond the wall. And we learn very much about the man in the top hat who makes appearance both early in the tale and late. But I found absolutely nothing to criticize at the ending of the story. It truly is a perfectly told story.
Although this is a review of the book and not the film, I have to state a bit of regret that Sarah Michelle Gellar was not able, due to scheduling conflicts, to take the role of Yvaine. I can't imagine anyone who would have been more perfect for the role and while I like Claire Danes, she doesn't have quite SMG's ethereal beauty. SMG says that her husband was scheduled to film something in New York and she chose to be with him rather than make the movie. But with her career languishing following the ending of BUFFY, she really needed/needs a role to break her out of her doldrums. This would have been that role. Mr. Prinze's role better have been a great one to deprive his wife of such a plummy role as this one.
Warning! My review is of the illustrated version of the story. There is to accompany the newly released movie a simply godawful mass-market paperback edition with the actors from the film on the cover. Boycott that edition! The sooner it goes out of existence the better. I think movie tie-in editions are an abomination of publishing.
Book Review: Wonderful modern fairytale!
Summary: 5 Stars
Most of you probably know about Stardust by now. You have either read the book or seen the movie (while different, both mediums portray the same basic points, with some minor deviations). Stardust is the story of Tristran Thorn, an inhabitant from the town of Wall whose mysterious birth is only the beginning of an exciting, cross-generational adventure. You see, Tristran's mother isn't from the town of Wall, or from anywhere you and I have ever been. She's from beyond the wall that lies on the edge of Wall, from a world of magic and fantasy. Tristran, however, is very much from our world, in love with one Victoria Forrester (who is far less of a stuck up wench as she is in the movie), and generally not at all hero material. But, as young love usually goes, Tristran makes an outlandish promise to Victoria after a shooting star lands beyond the wall: in exchange for his Heart's Desire he will bring back that fallen star and present it to her. And thus begins the adventure.
Something tells me I should have read this book a long time ago--my fiance will claim credit, because she rightly deserves credit for getting me to read this book. Stardust is a modern fairytale that merges the dark reality of the Grimm Brothers with the charming feel that comes with the territory. Another way to describe it is to say that it's a novel that tries to bring the frivolity of fairytales into the modern world by making it much more than just a story. Tristran's journey is one into manhood as he goes from being a pimply, shy youth to a full-grown, well-into-his-own young man.
But I don't think Tristran is all that makes this novel so charming. True, his journey is wonderful--meeting Yvaine, falling in love, growing up to become a better person, etc.--but coupled with Tristran and Yvaine is the fantastic world that Gaiman has created. This is a world of unicorns, witches, evil kings and princes, and flying ships. The depth provided in such a small book (194 pages) is really quite astonishing. Gaiman has pulled together a fantasy world that feels real despite its leanings towards the fairytale feel. I think this is particularly admirable considering what Gaiman's novel is trying to do: bring the fairytale into the modern.
To some extent you can say that Gaiman's novel isn't even a single tale, but a connection of multiple tales. After all, there are multiple stories going on behind the scenes: the witch story, the Stronghold story, and the story of Tristran's mother. These stories have their own conclusions, some of them directly related to Tristran, and some not, but all interconnected with Tristran either through his mother or through Yvaine (the star). Of course, the conclusions to these alternate stories are left out of the movie, or altered to be more interesting to a visual audience, but in the novel they add different elements to an already fascinating story--some of alterations make sense and others make you realize that the book really is quite better (but the movie was still darn good for what it was, which is more than I can say for other movies based on books, *cough* Eragon *cough*).
With all that said, all the dark, somewhat macabre imagery, the fairytale feel, the characters, and even the love story (especially the love story, for personal reasons) drove this one home for me (home being that place where books I will always remember go). It's a beautiful story and for someone who hasn't read Gaiman I think it is a great introductory novel. I see now why Gaiman is such a fantasy visionary. Stardust is simply a fantastic novel, no pun intended, and if you haven't read it, I recommend you do. There's not much else I can say to praise this one enough. I can't even say I see anything necessarily wrong with the novel, because once you get into it, everything else seems to fall away and it feels almost as if you're actually there, watching from above as everything goes on below you. Too bad Gaiman's world isn't real, because I would love to ride on a unicorn myself.
Book Review: There was once a young man who wished to gain his Heart's Desire
Summary: 5 Stars
"They have said that the Lilim were dead before now, but they have always lied. The squirrel has not yet found the acorn that will grow into the oak that will be cut to form the cradle of the babe who will grow to slay me."
Tristran Thorn is a young man living in the remote English town of Wall. Just as the name of the town implies a wall surrounds it from the land of Faerie. Guards protect the opening to and from Faerie to prevent denizens from Wall from stumbling out into the bizarre and dangerous world beyond. One night, in a declaration of love, Tristran promises the town beauty, Victoria, that he will retrieve a fallen star for her. Victoria, believing him mad and craven, promises him whatever his heart desires. Tristran sets out towards the star with his heart full of her.
Things become complicated when Tristran arrives at the star site to discover that the fallen star is a young and beautiful woman who has broken her leg. Things become worse when Tristran decides to fulfill his promise to Victoria by binding the star with a magic chain and forcing her to accompany him back to Wall. In fact the star becomes downright contemptible to him, calling him all manner of epithets and proving to be most disagreeable. Having little option though she sets out with him for the long journey to his home.
A series of misadventures follows, some dire some hilarious. Added to the chaotic situation is the fact that a witch queen of the Lilim has decided to pursue Tristran and the star, intending to take the stars heart for her and her sisters as a means of warding off their impressively old age, for everyone in Faerie who uses magic pays the price in time, and the witches are all ancient. Plus, there are three remaining heirs to the land of Stormhold who turn up here and there in the story, each one vying to become the next king of Stormhold, and trying to kill each other in the process.
"Have been unavoidably detained by the world. Expect us when you see us."
Gaiman has invented a story made up of the purest fun and fancy. He never fails to astound me. This was a great read reminiscent of fairy tales, Peter S. Beagle, and many other things I have always loved, yet whimsical and with enough originality and Gaiman wit that it has instantly become a favorite of mine. I cannot wait for the film, though I realize I will likely be disappointed. Still. Great fun. No complaints whatsoever.
And, by the by, this is up there with Dickens for best first line ever. In my humble estimation.
Book Review: Fantastic fantasy
Summary: 5 Stars
When you grow up, you tend to find that the fairy tales that you enjoyed as a child are, well, strictly kids' fare. For the adult reader, the shallow characters, simple narrative and implausible plot twists are a little much, yet even for the grown up, there is an affection for the fairy tale genre. A few writers have been able to tap into this fondness with good adult fairy tales, with probably the most well-known case being William Goldman's Princess Bride. As good as that book is, however, Neil Gaiman's Stardust is even better.
Stardust starts off in the town of Wall during the time of Victorian England. The town has, on one side, an ancient wall which in one place has a hole that people can cross through, though this is rarely allowed except for one day every nine years when the mortals of Wall can meet with the Faerie on the other side at a special bazaar. Dunstan Thorn of Wall has a brief but meaningful encounter with a beautiful slave girl from the other side and a year later, the infant Tristan appears at Dunstan's doorstep.
Seventeen years later, Tristan is a young man in love with the beautiful but shallow Victoria. To put to rest his efforts to woo her, she tells him that she will only marry him if he brings to her a star that has fallen in Faerie. Rashly, he decides to do just that, but in that magical land, the star has taken the form of a beautiful girl who fell out of the sky after being struck by a topaz gem.
Tristan is not the only one interested in the star girl. There is also a trio of witches who want to consume her heart to restore their youth and power. There are also the sons of the Lord of the Stormhold who seek the topaz as it represents the power of their domain. Both of these groups will threaten the progress of Tristan and the girl as they make their way back to Wall, but there are also powerful magic elements that are willing to assist them, and Tristan's half-faerie nature will also help.
In my opinion, Stardust does nothing but cement Neil Gaiman's reputation as the best adult fantasy writer around today. He writes well, he avoids the cliches of the genre, and he is that exceptional fantasy author who writes single volume stories. If Stardust has any flaw, it is that it is a mere 248 pages (in my edition); when a book is as much fun as this one, it ends much too quickly.
Book Review: A Beautiful Fairy Tale
Summary: 5 Stars
"There was once a young man who wished to gain his Heart's Desire. And while that is, as beginnings go, not entirely novel (for every tale about every young man that ever was or will be could start in a similar manner) there was much about this young man and what happened to him that was unusual, although even he never knew the whole of it."
And so opens the beginning of this beautiful tale. At the turn of the Victorian era, in the English countryside, there was a town called Wall. It was named as such for the stone wall that was built to divide the city from the land of Faerie. Once every 9 years, a magical fair took place in the meadow outside Wall. It was the only time people were allowed outside the gap.
Young Tristran Thorn wanted only one thing. He wanted the love of the beautiful, but rather shallow, Victoria Forrester. As he was walking her home one night, they saw a falling star. Tristran told Victoria he would bring her that star if she gave him his "heart's desire". And Victoria, thinking how foolish Tristran was, agreed.
So with a pack on his back, Tristran sets off in the land of Faerie looking for the star. But he is not the only one looking. The witches of Lilim need the heart of the star to regain their youth. And the Lords of Stronghold are looking for the star in hopes of gaining the right to rule the land of Stronghold.
This book is magical. Set in the land of faerie, we encounter unicorns and talking trees; witches and goblins; pixies and stars. Stardust is beautiful in it's simplicity and it's lyrical prose. I can't believe I waited so long to read it! The characters are unique and full of life. They were written with such a vividness that I can picture each and every one. If you haven't read this wonderful little fairy tale, you should. It will have you believing in magic and happily ever afters again!