Review Detail

Would you do anything for your Hearts Delight? Catch a falling star, perhaps? Well, Tristran Thorn would do exactly that for his love, Victoria Forester. However, that means crossing the wall that separates Wall, the city, from Faerie. The wall is guarded day and night by two townspeople to make sure exactly that does not happen. However, Tristran has one thing going for him that he doesnt know&his mother was a faerie.

So, cross through the wall he does and along his journey he meets little people and big people and witches and princes. But he does find his fallen star.

Interwoven with Tristrans story are two other stories about the search for the fallen star.

The king of Stormhold is dying and must appoint an heir to the throne from his three surviving sons. (It seems they tend to kill each other off in order to reduce the competition.) His final request is to have his sons bring him to the window of his bedroom, whereupon he takes a topaz that is hanging around his neck, the source of his power, and flings it out the window. (Unfortunately, it was that same topaz that struck the star, causing her&yes her&causing her to fall.) The heir to the throne will be the son who retrieves the topaz.

In the middle of a wood so thick and deep it was very nearly a forest, was a small house& inhabited by three old hags&the Lilem or witch queens. Their mirror showed them as young and beautiful but their bodies told otherwise. One way to regain their youth is to eat the heart of a fallen star.

So, as you see, there are several seekers of this particular fallen star and they each have their own story. But, their stories intermingle and the result is a wonderful tale of love and romance and intrigue and vengeance and double dealing. Neil Gaimen is the ultimate fantasy writer and Stardust is a phenomenal work. My particular copy was illustrated by Charles Vess and the illustrations only enhance the story. The characters, plot, description all combine to make one great read.

I highly suggest you see the movie too, because the differences between Stardust the book and Stardust the movie are significant. (Hintthere is no Robert DeNiro character in the book!!!!!) Any way you want to do it, do yourself a favor and read Stardust by Neil Gaimen. Im sure youll be reading his other books as well. (Im reading his new book, The Graveyard Book, and it is wonderful.)