50 Books in a Year: Book #29 Stardust

          My sister is a lover of Fantasy. She's read more Fantasy books that I know and has turned me on to several series I didn't know existed. The problem *whispers* is that if she knows a book is a movie, she watches it instead of reads it (I know, it's shocking). A few years ago she raved about this movie she watched called "Stardust", to this day she loves it despite the fact that Claire Danes is in it and she claims that my mother (who dislikes all things magical) likes it and has seen it several times. I have never seen the movie, but when I saw the book at the used bookstore I recognized the title and bought it, not knowing the plot.

          The plot goes a little something like this...from Goodreads:

Stardust is an utterly charming fairy tale in the tradition of The Princess Bride and The Neverending Story. Neil Gaiman, creator of the darkly elegant Sandman comics and author of The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, tells the story of young Tristran Thorn and his adventures in the land of Faerie. One fateful night, Tristran promises his beloved that he will retrieve a fallen star for her from beyond the Wall that stands between their rural English town (called, appropriately, Wall) and the Faerie realm. No one ever ventures beyond the Wall except to attend an enchanted flea market that is held every nine years (and during which, unbeknownst to him, Tristran was conceived). But Tristran bravely sets out to fetch the fallen star and thus win the hand of his love. His adventures in the magical land will keep you turning pages as fast as you can--he and the star escape evil old witches, deadly clutching trees, goblin press-gangs, and the scheming sons of the dead Lord of Stormhold. The story is by turns thrillingly scary and very funny. You'll love goofy, earnest Tristran and the talking animals, gnomes, magic trees, and other irresistible denizens of Faerie that he encounters in his travels. Stardust is a perfect read-aloud book, a brand-new fairy tale you'll want to share with a kid, or maybe hoard for yourself. 

          I love, love, love, love, love this book. I've already recommended it to all my friends and my sister (she just bought it...*whispers* to read). Frankly, this book has everything you could possibly want in a book lovely dialogue, romance, fights, intrigue and a unicorn, yes! This really is a book for everybody and I totally understand why they made it into a movie, as you don't really have to be a lover of Fantasy to understand it. I think that if you read this book you'll want to read more Fantasy and you may even want to read more Neil Gaiman. What I like about this book is that it's easy enough to read in a day, but still for those who want something with more depth, perfect for a summer read. I finished it on a Saturday in a house full of children. I could not put it down.
          That's what happened to me...I'm not really sure that I'm going to watch "Stardust", as I don't want to ruin my love of the book, but I'm now reading American Gods, and I read his blog and follow him on Twitter. I think Twitter was made for such things!

5 Stars


This book is recommended for people who also enjoy: The Princess Bride, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Time Quartet, The Last Unicorn, The Neverending Story (which I have only seen, but own), The Amber Chronicles, Ella Enchanted, The Lord of the Rings.

If you are new or old to the Neil Gaiman experience check out his blog. An awesome post with a lovely Craig Fergeson interview can be found here.