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Average Customer Rating:

Let the magic begins...

Customer Rating:

Neil Gaiman is by far one the top fantasy writers of our time. Personally I like when he writes with that dark humor of his. (just like he did on -American Gods, Neverwhere & Anansi Boys). Stardust on the other hand it's the "nice" book of the pack. Nevertheless, it's a beautiful piece of work. You will be transported to the town of Wall and beyond the market.. to an extremely well crafted land of magic, witches and kings. Stardust it's quite entertaining and will keep you turning page after page. Great book for both young and adults.

entertaining, but easily forgettable

Customer Rating:

i finished this book in only 3 hours, and will probably forget it just as quickly as i read it. it was entertaining enough, and was a breeze to read through. the imagery was very vivid and the author has a great talent for descriptive prose that brings much needed color and richness to the story, or what little there is of one. unfortunately everything else in this book is bland and uninspired. what could have been a fantastically imaginative and interesting storyline turns out to feel like an outline of events, heavily padded with pretty imagery, and nothing more. there is no suspense, no mystery, and no real intrigue in this book. the characters are flat and do not engage in meaningful, believable interactions with each other. there is very little dialogue between even the main characters, and their personalities and motives are far too transparent, and embarrasingly simplistic. other more interesting characters appear out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly. in the end i didn't care what happened to any of them, which is probably a good thing, since the ending was extremely weak. i would call it an anti-climax if there had been any suspense at all and i actually cared about what was going to happen. there wasn't, and i didn't. i would expect this from a young adult's novel, and think maybe it could succeed as one, minus a few more adult scenes in the book, but as an adult novel, it really didn't do it for me. i didn't expect deep, thought-provoking literature. it was okay as light, mindless entertainment, but i could very well have watched the movie again and found just as much entertainment, if not more, in half the time. the movie, which actually adds a lot more action, humor, and interest to the story, was so much better.

An odd little book

Customer Rating:

Much less dark than Gaiman's first full-novel, Neverwhere: A Novel, Stardust is essentially a satirical take on classic fairy tales. Starting in the village of Wall, which is seperated from the world of Fairie by a simple row of stacked stone, the young hero crosses into the fantastic and forbidden realm in search of a fallen star to give to his love. Along the way he will learn the secret of his family history, encoutner creatures and people who seem to ahve stepped out of the imagination. I didn't like this book as much as I liked Neverwhere, but it moves along quickly and is a lot of fun. Perhaps its greatest flaw is that it never builds a head of momentum like Neverwhere does, so the ending comes rather abruptly, which, in retrospect, might be the point. I highly recommend the Stardust: Being A Romance Within the Realms of Faerie, as images add a life to the prose that seems rather pedestrian compared to some of Gaiman's more epic works.

The Compulsive Reader's Reviews

Customer Rating:

Tristran Thorn would do absolutely anything to win pretty Victoria Forrester's heart. Even venture across The Wall into mysterious Faerie in search of a fallen star. But once he enters Faerie, mysterious things happen. Tristran knows the location of every place in the land. He meets a strange, small man who gives him a candle that allows him to travel great distances. And when he finally finds the fallen star, Tristran discovers that it is not a lump of rock like he thought, but a young woman, who has quite the mind of her own. But Tristran isn't the only one looking for the star. The witch queen and a group of three brothers all want something of the star. For these brothers, it's the power she possesses. For the witch, it's her heart. Stardust was completely entrancing, and charming and a surprisingly quick read. The star's spunk and Tristran's humanity are both to be admired in this adventurous tale that will make you laugh outloud and break into tears. Stardust is not to be missed.

Loved this book

Customer Rating:

Loved this book. Very well written and not something you'll be disappointed with by the end. Read the book about 2 days after I saw the movie for the first time. Have to say though, I actually liked the movie a bit better. There were some things changed and added for the movie (like captain Shakespeare) that would have been nice if they had actually been in the book. But keep in mind that when I say I liked the movie better, it's only by a little bit. This book is still a great read especially if you're like me and you still love fairy tales.