Stardust

By: Neil Gaiman

Narrated by: Neil Gaiman

Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

In the sleepy English countryside of decades past, there is a town that has stood on a jut of granite for 600 years. And immediately to the east stands a high stone wall, for which the village is named. Here in the town of Wall, Tristran Thorn has lost his heart to the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester. One crisp October night, as they watch, a star falls from the sky, and Victoria promises to marry Tristran if he'll retrieve the star and bring it back for her. It is this promise that sends Tristran through the only gap in the wall, across the meadow, and into the most unforgettable adventure of his life.

Fantasy fan? Don't miss more from Neil Gaiman.

©1999 Neil Gaiman (P)2006 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Eminently readable, a charming piece of work." (Washington Post)
"An original and well-written fairy tale....This is a refreshingly creative story with appealing characters." (Library Journal)
"The resolution is satisfying and complex, proving that there is more to fairy tales than 'happily ever after'." (School Library Journal)

Beautifully told

I love the sound of the author's voice. He makes you relax as you just sit back and imagine everything he says. I will definitely look for more books by him.

4.5 stars for me

Definitely not a children's book, but truly a unique story, entertaining and fresh, and wonderfully told.

Another great adult fairytale

If you like fantasy, love story, and adventure, this is a terrific book. Gaiman is such an outstanding storyteller, and hearing him read this makes it even more captivating and fun.

Double Bonus

I love Neil Gaiman's imaginative stories and love even more his unique narration. When you get both in one book - that's a double bonus not to be missed!

A Fairy Tale that Bends Yet Follows the Rules

There’s something deeply satisfying about a fairytale done right. At its best, it feels like a challenge to the imagination to understand that, even in a world of pure imagination (or perhaps especially so) there are still rules. Characters don’t get full-on happy endings, or at least not the happy endings they imagine. They run risks, learn things, and, even as they generally return home, they’re changed.

If that sounds like an exaggeration, consider that the Russian formalists – literary critics from the early middle 20th century – developed major strands of formal narrative theory by studying the ways fairy tales established and then played with expectations in their plots.

In any case, Gaiman is straightforward (in the interview appended here) that he wanted to explore fairy stories with this book, and – at least as far as I’m concerned after reading more than a dozen of his books (counting each Sandman volume as a separate book, that is) I think this is probably his best work.

I get tired of Gaiman when he’s trying to show me how smart he is, how his contemporary vision is rooted in mythologies of earlier ages. Here, though, he’s unfettered his imagination, or, more properly, fettered it only to the deep logic and rhythm of once upon a time.

Our central quest here is deeply satisfying as Tristran goes in search of a fallen star only to discover that it’s taken on human form. I really enjoy their interplay, and I appreciated the cleverness throughout – in particular the idea that the star has broken her legs in falling.

But that’s only the start of it. I find the parallel stories satisfying as well. There’s the story of the succession of the Storm King, where, in a deeply creative move, Gaiman has each of the seven sons compelled to kill his siblings and then has the ghosts of the dead siblings stand as a kind of Greek chorus commenting on the activity. There’s the minor witch who has kidnapped the Storm King’s only daughter and turned her into a bird and fairy flea market sales girl. There’s the queen of the witches who seeks to eat the heart of the star in order to restore her youth. And then there are all sorts of intriguing characters who cross paths with our heroes, my favorites being a gnomish packer/trader and a crew of sky sailors who make a living fishing for lightning from the clouds.

In other words all the elements are here. And then Gaiman weaves them all together into a connected story that stays true to its own implicit logic.

If that weren’t all enough, I love the end where [SPOILER] it makes perfect sense that, as the star falls in love with Tristran – as she gives her heart to him – the Witch Queen’s plan to eat that heart is thwarted; it’s no longer the heart of a star but rather a heart given to a young man who’s proved himself worthy.

Anyway, I’m less a Gaiman fan than most I know, but my hat’s off to him with this one. It’s innocent and inventive, taking us on a quest that’s always surprising yet also, even more impressively, in accord with the deeper laws of fairy.

Every bit as lovely as the description appeared.

The preformance and story are both wonderful. This is a good book for anyone who enjoys fairy tales in faerie.

Gaiman read by Gaiman, brilliant

Great story read by a great author. I really enjoyed the interview with Mr. Gaiman as well.

How does he do it?

There's a reason why I own almost every Neil Gaiman story; he's just that good. This story has betrayal, witches, stars, sorcery, poison, and a unicorn. Don't get too excited about the last part (partial spoiler alert), but still this was definately an adult story that I enjoyed almost as much as the Ocean at the End of the Lane (this one is happier though). Enough people already reviewed what this story was about, but I'm here to add that it's worth the half day I crammed it in while at work. Truly one of my favorite stories of his.

Great Faerie Tale

Wonderful adult faerie tale, and a joy to listen to. Narrated by the author himself! The interview at the end is also a treat.

Amazing!

If you could sum up Stardust in three words, what would they be?

Great total package

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the way the world of faery and the

Which character – as performed by Neil Gaiman – was your favorite?

My favorite character? All of them--he wrote the book, so he knows the characters inside out.