“Have been unavoidably detained by the world. Expect us when you see us.”
Stardust was my first ever introduction to Neil Gaiman and initially I wasn’t sure how I felt about this book.
The writing in Stardust feels almost traditional in style, it was as though I was being told a classic fairy tale. And then suddenly there’s a sex scene a few pages in that totally threw me out of the story. Although it shouldn’t have. Fairy tales are known for dealing with gory subjects, and often sex is an underlying theme.
However it is this sex scene, that throws (pardon the pun) the story into motion.
This is the brilliance of Stardust, absolutely everything connects, and it’s masterful. Everything ties together so neatly – it reads like a true fairy tale.
There are three main story threads; the witches hunting the star, the princes hunting the pendant, and Tristan who retrieves the star, (a disgruntled you woman named Yvaine,) who unwittingly, also has the pendant. The reader watches as these three threads slowly connect over the course of the novel, and boy is it satisfying!
There is also some glorious imagery in the book as well, Gaiman is a born storyteller, weaving humour and whimsy in seamlessly amongst gore and tragedy. There are also so many calls to traditional fairy tale tropes; love, fairies, witches, a hero’s journey, coming of age, kings and queens, lost sons, abandoned children, frickin’ unicorns. Honestly, his imagination astounds me.
“There is something about riding a unicorn, for those people who still can, which is unlike any other experience: exhilarating, and intoxicating, and fine.”
But none of it feels forced and none of it is boring.
I’ve seen that some people say in reviews that the romance at the end was a little forced? I think I can see where they’re coming from but I personally quite liked it. It was understated and sweet and realistic. Yvaine and Tristran both change over the course of the novel, until they reach a point where they make sense together.
Overall Stardust is a lovely book, filled with twists and turns and a beautiful, bitter-sweet ending.
It is also the perfect introduction to Gaiman’s unique, out-of-this-world style. If it wasn’t for Stardust I wouldn’t have read The Graveyard Book, Coraline, American Gods or, (my personal favourite) The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and read it!
— Rachel Writes’93
The Talking Bookshelf 