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Holistic Guidance - Stardust
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List Price: $13.95
Our Price: $11.16
Your Save: $ 2.79 ( 20% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780061142024
ISBN: 0061142026
Label: Harper Perennial
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: 2006-09-01
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Release Date: 2006-08-29
Studio: Harper Perennial
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Editorial Reviews:
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Young Tristran Thorn will do anything to win the cold heart of beautiful Victoria—even fetch her the star they watch fall from the night sky. But to do so, he must enter the unexplored lands on the other side of the ancient wall that gives their tiny village its name. Beyond that old stone wall, Tristran learns, lies Faerie—where nothing, not even a fallen star, is what he imagined. From #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman comes a remarkable quest into the dark and miraculous—in pursuit of love and the utterly impossible.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: "Go, And Catch a Falling Star..."
Comment: If you like fantasy stories filled with magic, adventure and romance, but are getting sick and tired of boring, long-winded fantasy epics, then look no further than "Stardust." There are no long histories, family trees or endless descriptions of culture, landscapes and back-story. This is just a sweet, simple fairytale told by a great storyteller. Though be warned - the original fairytales were not written for children, and "Stardust" follows in their literary footsteps, by including several violent, sensual and bittersweet scenes. It might be tempting to read this book aloud to children (particularly if you've seen the recent movie adaptation), but this is something I would strongly advise against!
Set in the Victorian Era out in the English countryside, the town of Wall is named so because of the simple-looking wall that divides our world from the realm of Faerie. The two worlds are kept strictly separate (or so the town officials would like to believe) except for a few days every nine years when a faerie marketplace crosses the wall, and Wall itself is turned into a bustling metropolis as travelers from around the world arrive to consort with the fey-folk. Gaiman pours delicious detail into this mingling of two worlds, describing the fairy markets with such obvious relish that you'll be surprised how long the book takes to get to the "meat" of the story in the quest narrative (not that this is a bad thing).
It is at one such meeting of worlds that young Tristian Thorn is conceived. Eighteen years later (and unaware of his faerie-heritage) Tristian has been raised by his father Dunstan Thorn and fallen in love with Victoria Forester, a girl hopelessly out of his league. However, he manages to wrangle an agreement with her: for her hand in marriage, he will fetch her the falling star that they've both just seen fall from the sky.
Little does he know, that the falling star has been witnessed by several others in Faerie: a witch that desires the star to rejuvenate her and her sisters to their youth, and the princely sons of the realm of Stormhold, who are after a gemstone to solidify their claim to the throne, which is currently worn around the star's neck. These various story threads gradually converge as the story goes on, though the tale mainly focuses on the tempestuous relationship that forms between Tristian and Yvaine the star (who naturally takes the form of a beautiful young woman).
There are little subplots and threads of other stories strewn throughout the book, quite reminiscent of Michael Ende's use of the phrase: "that is another story and shall be told another time," in The Neverending Story, or of the collected fairytales of the Brothers Grimm, whose stories have a variety of characters who pop in and out of their tales, seemingly at random. But Gaiman's range of characters and little "plot tangents" serve to give one the sense that there is more going on in the world than the trials and tribulations of our two main characters.
If anything, the ending is a little anti-climactic (especially when compared to the aforementioned movie version) and the final line of the book doesn't pack *quite* the bittersweet punch that I think Gaiman intended, but ultimately this is a lovely little story that wouldn't feel out of place next to Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market and Other Poems (Dover Thrift Editions) or the works of Lord Dunsany. If you've read anything by Lord Dunsany (a forerunner to Tolkien himself) then there's no reason not to enjoy "Stardust" - in fact Neil Gaiman himself pays homage to this early fantasy-author by quoting his famous "beyond the fields we know" phrase from The King of Elfland's Daughter (Del Rey Impact) (and mentions the author in his dedication).
"Stardust" has recently been adapted into a movie, which in many ways improves on several aspects of its source material, particularly in a more climactic finish and the fleshing out of minor characters (although others suffer, such as Victoria, who really isn't such a bad sort in the book, but is portrayed as a spoilt little snot in the film). But Stardust (Widescreen Edition) was filmed with a more tongue-in-cheek air, in the tradition of The Princess Bride (20th Anniversary Edition), and looses some of the mystery and delicacy that Gaiman infuses his story with: let's call it the "fey quality." And though the ending of the film was more satisfying, it's not quite as poignant or thought-provoking. In any case, I recommend both book and movie, and can attest that I own and enjoy both!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Let the magic begins...
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: entertaining, but easily forgettable
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: An odd little book
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Compulsive Reader's Reviews
Comment: 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.
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