stardust

Rating:
Summary: Short, cute, fantasy book, I guess
Review: This book has a lot of potential, but it didn't seem to quite reach it. Great ideas for the characters and all, but none were really followed through. Each character had his or her own little story, but none of the stories were elaborated on very much. Example: Tristran walks a six month journey in a night, fine, then he has to walk back. Well he does, but it really doesn't seem like too much happened to him. He did a lot of things, but each was just a quick little episode. They could have been more detailed, and the transitions between them were unclear. Ok, so I'm cynical, but I've definitely read better. Still, it was a very cute story. Good for reading to littler children ( but, um, you might want to edit out for a couple of sex scenes before you do). Not for serious fantasy and sci-fi readers, though.

Rating:
Summary: Nicely written, but I want more of it!
Review: Stardust is exceptionally crafted. True to Gaiman form, there's not a wasted word on the page. The whole thing just drips with beguiling imagery.

It's a good story. A tad predictable, but it's a fairy tale, so you can't really expect much else. Granted, I had hoped Gaiman would've put some weird twist on the whole thing, the way he so often does in his short fiction ("Snow, Glass, Apples" is a prime example of this) but I can live with this. Nonetheless I'd have like to see more of the journey than some "throwaway" bits towards the end. One line was all we got about goblin press-gangs and a narrow escape. One line was all we got about fighting the mighty eagle. We barely got a chapter about the cloud ships. All these fascinating ideas, seemingly throw in to enrich the story a bit without actually fleshing it out. Sure, that would've made it an "epic" instead of a "fairy tale" but if anyone could pull it off, it'd be Gaiman.

Still, a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Stardust is an enchanting page-turner
Review: Stardust is a playful yarn that soars through the fantastic world of witches, spells and mythical creatures most believably. Young Tristran Thorne lives in the town of Wall, England, which is separated by a wall from a meadow which leads to the land of Faerie. The only time humans can pass through the six-foot wide opening in the wall is every nine years during the three days of the Faerie Market, where humans can trade with other-worldly merchants not only for goods but for spells and miracles. Tristran falls in love with the beautiful Victoria Forrester, who makes an flippant promise to marry him if he can retrieve a star that fell in the land of Faerie and bring it to her.

Gaiman spins the plot with details that weave together expertly as the book progresses. The characters are colorful and some of the deadpan humor may provoke outbursts of laughter. Even in the most unimaginative reader, the fires of childhood faith in goodness and magic are pleasantly revived.

Even though Stardust is a fairy tale, it is not for children. There are sexual scenes that I found unnecessary even in a book for adults.

Rating:
Summary: Fairy tale for adults. . .
Review: A great story...well-paced...and a fast read...i couldn't put the book down after the 1st couple of pages. It has all the similar weird characters that made Neverwhere great(even the fairie market was similar to the floating market of neverwhere). I have mixed feelings about the ending (which is why I gave the book 4 stars). I was very surprised at how it all winded down, yet disappointed in the way some of the characters reacted in the end(the witch, for ex.). And the epilogue was just terrible.

Overall, it was a fun read. I read the non-illustrated one...but suggest hunting down the Charles vess illustrated version. The book is good without pictures, but Charles' paintings look awesome.

Rating:
Summary: Stardust satisfies the deep inner eye
Review: Neil Gaiman knows how to take you on a satisfying image ride. I must admit, I know him only as a writer. I read Neverwhere last year but have never delved into the Sandman stuff. With Stardust, Gaiman proves that he can always surprise. His style is sparse and based on the "turn," those delightful twists of plot that take you back to the mind of early childhood when no matter what seed of reality you came upon, your imagination would make it bloom so quickly you'd be overcome with colors and smells. Gaiman is minimal, the way a fantasist should be. He resists the genre's tendency to get bogged down in painstaking details about swords and armor. A lot of fantasy novels let me down. I tend to lose interest once I come across those over indulgent descripto-fests that would make even Michener gag. Bad Tolkein imitations continue to degrade the genre also. With Stardust, however, Gaiman gives the reader's deep inner eye a lot of room to wander without losing the direction he's pointing it towards. His descriptions are quick and deft and just when you think the story has climaxed and is going to drop off into predictability, he surprises again, as any good writer will. As with Neverwhere, he will leave you so satisfied as you gulp down those last words that you'll want to rush back to the well to drink again. Bravo, Neil! Can't wait for more.

Rating:
Summary: A book that makes me *swoon*.
Review: I admit that I am biased -- my first experience of Neil Gaiman's writing was akin to that of a religious epiphany. With Stardust, that feeling returned, magnified.

There's a fire that runs in your veins when you read a book which makes you wish you lived in the world contained within its pages. There's something that captures you and keeps part of your soul there, in that wonderful world, in that beautiful story.

This was a story which made me, an avowed technophile, wish for vast untamed forests and a completely virgin world, for mysteries and the old, wild magics. This is a story with *power*. You can feel it.

So feel the magic. Read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing- I think so... and I am a teenager
Review: This is one of the most amazing things I have ever read... It has pure fairy tale in it for people of all ages... And for every one it should bring out a bit of love, and if not that a bit of 'I wish I had the chance to be in a fairy tale' type fealing. I must say, this is incredible. In every way!

Rating:
Summary: The Other Side of Gaiman (Can he EVER go wrong?)
Review: Gaiman shows his lighter side while crafting a marvelous fairy tale that brings together all the ingredients to a truly amazing story. In his previous works, he's disturbed us, shocked us, scared us, made us sigh in sympathy, made a few of us cry in pure overpowering cathartic emotion, made us cackle in morbid glee, and drawn us into seductively dark worlds. Now he's shown that he can do EVERYTHING, including show a little of his lighter side. He evokes the light-hearted, carefree side of us with this book, proving that the kid in us doesn't have to die when we grow a little older. Even the most cynical of us can still crack a genuine smile every once in a while, and this book makes it happen.

Neil Gaiman's works always bring a little mystery back into this stark, seemingly fully explored world of ours. Stardust is no exception and brings back the sense of wonder that permeated us all in early childhood. Read this and reclaim your hope. Read this and reclaim your dreams. Read this and reclaim your soul from the world that seems so dead in comparison.

Rating:
Summary: A compelling traditional fairy tale.
Review: I had read Neverwhere a few months ago, by recommendation by a friend from almost a year ago, I found it to be one of the greatest story's I had ever read, full of lively characters that you can feel for. Stardust, I found, seemed to mildly lack the characterization that Neverwhere did, but was none the less a great story.Where as Neverwhere creates a almost moody gothic feel, Stardust is farely uplifting in a whimsical fantasy fashion. All my praises go to Neil Gaiman. He is a master of story telling.

Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking (even without the Vess)
Review: Anyone who's read the version of this book illustrated by Charles Vess knows how marvelously beautiful it is. However, even though it is indescribably enhanced by the illustrations, the story is strong enough to stand alone. The characters in Stardust - the ones in our world, but most of all the inhabitants of Faerie - are multidimensional, rich and alive and compelling. Stardust is a tapestry of many ideas and stories, woven into a cohesive pattern but leaving room for imagination, and for more Gaiman stories to come. Evocative, and simply unforgettable.