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A review by mirandadarrow
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
4.0
My young adult fiction (for YA books, not necessarily YA people, as I would not qualify) picked this book, and I was a little surprised. First, because even though I've read a fair amount of Neil Gaiman, I'd never heard of it. And two, because it didn't really strike me as YA fiction. Yes, the protagonist is a teenager, and he goes on a journey into maturity. So that fits.
Occasionally with the picks for this particular book club (I'm embarrassed to admit how many book clubs I actually belong to, but it is many), I'll read the book with my 10 year old son and bring him along to discuss. Someone in the group suggested that for this pick. And then I got to Tristan's "origin story" and I decided, oh heck no, for a 10 year old boy who isn't particularly mature. So, while this may be YA, it does have dark themes, more in the Hunger Games camp than Harry Potter.
What is really good about this book, what separates Gaiman from others who write similar styles of books, is his ability to paint a deeply rich and interesting universe. I was completely transported into Faerie just like I was taken away in Neverwhere. They characters, the setting, the interactions of the different groups, all converging onto Tristan's mission, it was all excellent.
There was a pretty big chunk of "and then these interesting things happened along the way" after the pirates and before the ride in the cart where presumably Tristan and the star have many interesting interactions. I've read that the movie is actually "better" than the book, which I haven't seen yet, but I'm going to seek out. If that is the case, or even if they are "equally good" as I thought recently of The Princess Bride, it may be because of the opportunity to flesh out these brief descriptions of interesting events. I understand that it would have made the book much longer, and it was beautiful at the length it was. Yes, YA again.
So, while it isn't my favorite Gaiman book (still Neverwhere) and I didn't find it completely addictive YA writing that I couldn't put down (most recently Six of Crows duology), this was really good. Now, to find that movie. But first, I just picked up New Boy (the new Hogarth Shakespeare version of Othello) and I can hardly write a review or find time to eat or get dressed because that is starting off so strong.
Occasionally with the picks for this particular book club (I'm embarrassed to admit how many book clubs I actually belong to, but it is many), I'll read the book with my 10 year old son and bring him along to discuss. Someone in the group suggested that for this pick. And then I got to Tristan's "origin story" and I decided, oh heck no, for a 10 year old boy who isn't particularly mature. So, while this may be YA, it does have dark themes, more in the Hunger Games camp than Harry Potter.
What is really good about this book, what separates Gaiman from others who write similar styles of books, is his ability to paint a deeply rich and interesting universe. I was completely transported into Faerie just like I was taken away in Neverwhere. They characters, the setting, the interactions of the different groups, all converging onto Tristan's mission, it was all excellent.
There was a pretty big chunk of "and then these interesting things happened along the way" after the pirates and before the ride in the cart where presumably Tristan and the star have many interesting interactions. I've read that the movie is actually "better" than the book, which I haven't seen yet, but I'm going to seek out. If that is the case, or even if they are "equally good" as I thought recently of The Princess Bride, it may be because of the opportunity to flesh out these brief descriptions of interesting events. I understand that it would have made the book much longer, and it was beautiful at the length it was. Yes, YA again.
So, while it isn't my favorite Gaiman book (still Neverwhere) and I didn't find it completely addictive YA writing that I couldn't put down (most recently Six of Crows duology), this was really good. Now, to find that movie. But first, I just picked up New Boy (the new Hogarth Shakespeare version of Othello) and I can hardly write a review or find time to eat or get dressed because that is starting off so strong.