Stardust by Neil Gaiman
|
List Price: Our Price: $2.00 You Save: $11.99 (86%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Stardust
Book Review: Simple, But Magical
Summary: 5 Stars
I LOVED this simple fairy tale. It lacks depth, perhaps, but it's a heartwarming adventure story. Gaiman is a fun, magical writer.Book Review: Stardust
Summary: 5 Stars
This item was shipped in excellent time and was in the exact condition specified by the seller.Book Review: great book.
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was amazing, it was hard to put down and once i started I couldn't wait to finish it.Book Review: Delightful Story
Summary: 4 Stars
Stardust is a delightful little story of a boy who, in order to win the hand of the girl he loves, goes on a quest to recover a fallen star. He's promised the girl that he will return with the particular star they saw together to prove his love, and she promises his heart's desire if he returns with the item. Seems like a fairly straightforward task, right? Of course it's not! Because the star has fallen into Faerie, the land beyond the gap in the wall of the town of Wall, and no one's gone through the gap except for the fair that comes to town every nine years. Undaunted, however, Tristran resolutely goes through on his quest into the strange land where gnomes, little hairy men, witches, talking trees, and who knows what else lives.
Gaiman has given this tale lots of twists and turns. It doesn't take long for Tristran to discover that he's not the only one looking for the fallen star; the would-be rulers of Stormhold need it to recognize which brother will inherit the kingdom, and a trio of witchly sisters covet the star in order to return themselves to their former youth and beauty. Tristran, whose own parentage seems to indicate he's from Faerie as well, is mightily surprised when he discovers what the fallen star actually is, and he finds himself outwitted and forlorn in his journey to return to Wall to capture his love's heart. Along the way he encounters and battles some strange creatures, and discovers that maybe what he desires most isn't what he thought it was.
This is a short book, and it really could have used a bit more fleshing out at times. Tristran is an engaging character, if a bit naive, and the other creatures he encounters are imaginative, often behaving in the least expected ways. The best part is the ending, when Gaiman gives us some very surprising, smile-inducing twists. Recommended!
Book Review: Solid
Summary: 4 Stars
Stardust is somewhat unusual for Gaiman: the steampunk/techno-travesty universe stays away. He still uses his standard plot, where someone from our world -- surprise! -- blunders into another, intersecting dimension of reality. However, this time the other world is a fairy kingdom, and a fairy kingdom in the traditional sense.
This isn't Disney's fairy utopia. This is more along the lines of the traditional Brothers Grimm. There's a fallen star who is, of course, stunning and magical, but everyone is out to brutally murder her. Fortunately, they're also out to murder each other in the hopes of getting to the star first, or this would be a very short book.
I was charmed and entertained. The main characters, like the typical fairy-syory protagonists, are often (usually? almost always?) dense to the point of pain, but it is a mark of Gaiman's talent that he makes that irritating quirk add to their personality. The plot developments are usually visible from about 6 miles away, but that added to the fairy-tale mood. (Come on. Who's surprised by the ending of fairy tales?)
As with most of Gaiman's books, the very best parts are the ideas. Those, "whoa! That's the coolest interpretation of _______ I've ever heard!" moments make the book.
It's a great beach book, and a very fast read (got through it waiting for a train). Don't expect a perspecvtive-altering, life-changing phenomenon, but it's a good read.