Stardust on August 29th 2006 Format: Audiobook (288 pages) • Goodreads • Amazon • Barnes & Noble
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.
I finally read a Neil Gaiman book! And the bonus is that it was an audiobook narrated in his lovely accent. I picked this one on a whim when Alyssa recommended some to me (and showed me her blog post with specific recommendations).
To be totally honest, I don’t have much to say. I really enjoyed listening to this but think I would probably need to listen again and/or watch the movie to figure out a lot of what happened. It seems kind of weird to give this one four stars, when I was fairly distracted throughout, but it was so good! His writing (or, in this case, narrating) style was excellent. I loved it.
The fairytale elements were so cool and following Tristran on his journey reminded me of all of those classic stories. After finishing Ella Enchanted right before this (which is obviously not the same exact thing, but kind of similar!), I couldn’t help but love the feeling of following someone on a magical journey. Tristran ventures out of his small village called Wall and into the land of Faerie. He meets a lot of interesting characters along the way, in search of the star that he saw fall. He wants to bring the star back for the girl he loves, in order to prove his affection.
I loved all of the side characters and how their stories intertwined with Tristran’s. I definitely didn’t see that ending coming and frankly I feel like I should have. It was all very clever and well-done; I wish I wasn’t a distracted listener through parts of this!
This story can probably appeal to a wide array of readers and audiobook listeners. I think it was a perfect segue into his work – for me, at least!
The movie is so good. I highly recommend it. I really should read the book as well.
I need to see it still!!
Ha ha … that gif is awesome! I looooove Stardust! I’ve read it a few times and really need to read it again! And I completely recommend the movie!
I know I really need to watch it!
I haven’t read any Neil Gaiman either and I need to. It is just so intimidating with his adult books, kids books and graphic novels. I own Ocean At the End of The Lane which is super short so I should get on that.
Yeah I know what you mean!
I am so glad that you liked it! I haven’t read any Neil Gaiman yet, but I think this is the place to start because it is so well known (the trouble with his work is that they are ALL well known) and very, very well loved.
Yes, exactly!