Book Review: Stardust

There is a way into Faerie, beyond the fields we know, and it lies in a village called Wall, somewhere in the early Victorian era. Every nine years there is a fair on the other side of the wall, where Faerie sells its wares to the mundane. Farmer Duncan Thorne had his moment of mad love with a witch's bondservant; Tristan, his son, turned up in a basket nine months later. Now Tristan is old enough to fall in love, and promises Victoria a falling star... This is a fairy story in the tradition of George MacDonald and Hope Mirlees; a book of passion and terror and wit which reminds us that Faerie is not a safe place, or a fair one. 

Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Paperback, 196 pages
First published at 1999


REVIEW:
Stardust movie is one my favorite fairy tales of all time, so when i learned it was based on a book i just have to buy it and read it because we all know that 95% of the times, the book is way better than the movie!


If you have watch the movie, you need to forget everything. The only thing that the book and the movie have in common is the main idea "Tristan finds star, goes to the Wall, falls in love with the star". The adventure, even the personalities of the characters is entirely different. In general, the story itself is more adulty and even have a slightly different ending. 


Gaiman's writing is fantastic. Written like you hear someone tell you a fairytale, but at times commenting on other parallel things like we do when we talk, it makes the book real and close to the reader. The fact that is also small and you can read it in one sit, creates an exciting read which takes your mind out of our world. 


I can say that i would totally love the Faerie World. It's full of magic and creatures out of myths. But at the same time, i like how dangerous the adventure can be. Where it's different from a usual kid's story (and the movie) is how there are some explicit content or some more mature ( as a way of thinking) scenes.

As for the characters, Tristan and Yvainne easily steal the scene, with Yvainne my personal favorite! I totally loved how strong and how she did not afraid to speak her mind was. And the usual disagreements with Tristan, were just so funny! Both had the most enjoyable scenes from start to end. One more comment though, is that their romance it's not exactly in depth as in most fairytales is as well. It's more based on the journey than the connection between the characters.

Overall i can say i enjoyed it. It was not what i expected after watching movie and it's unfair for anyone to compare them anyway. They are like two different stories. But it was indeed a good story, for a day's read.