Stardust

By: Neil Gaiman

Narrated by: Neil Gaiman

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)

Better than the Movie

Sadly, I wasn't familiar with Gaiman before I saw the movie Stardust.

Gladly, I started reading Gaiman after I saw Stardust without realizing that he was the original author.

I loved the movie. But the book, as usual, had elements which just wouldn't have worked in the movie, even though the movie did follow the basic plot of the book rather well.

In theory a book *should* be narrated by its author, after all who knows best the inflection and attitudes of the characters in the book? In practice, a professional narrator does a better job, even though the inflections may not always be exactly what the author intended, sometimes the interpretation is actually better!

Exception: Neil Gaiman. Gaiman is an astute reader of his own work. His voice is clear and he really does understand his characters well enough to keep the reader believing them.

Fantastic book. Contemporary fairy tales make me smile.

Best described as a smooth experience

I generally have something critical to say about any audio book - even if it's only that it isn't being read the way I, my own perfect self, would read it. Stardust, however, doesn't have anything for me to be critical OF, except its designation as a children's book. There's a sexual encounter in there that is definitely NOT child appropriate. If I had bought the book for a child, I'd be very angry, but I bought the book for myself, so that didn't cause me any problems, just some surprise - although parents should be forewarned.

Leaving that aside, however, the experience with this book was the smoothest I've ever had with an audio book. Neil writes beautifully, and the reading just blends so well with his writing that it's seamless. I wasn't once aware of a voice not fitting the character, or oddly constructed, or any of the usual issues I encounter - not even that I would've read it differently. This is a perfectly executed audio fairy tale FOR ADULTS.

Not a Childs book

This is advertised as a kids audiobook. It has sexual content that I would not want a child under 16 to hear.

Gaiman can read to me any time!

I love it when Neil Gaiman reads to me. I have every audible thig he has done. This was my last hold out because I was not a fan of the movie. Thank goodness I bought it in a panic when my credit was about to expire for the month. Great story, amazing narration. Happy Camper.

Gaiman cannot fail!

A delightful grownup fairytale. I love that Gaiman doesn't use magic to patch up a plot hole. There's no need anyway -- Stardust is a lovely tale and hugely entertaining.

Well written and surprisingly well narrated.

I found myself debating the level of vulgarity on certain scenes and am forced to conclude that this book is very well written. Truthfully there are at least a couple of scenes with an explicitness so skillfully written that you may find yourself considering if something written with such class is vulgar. The author admits to aiming at a fairytale for adults, and this feels right on. With his audience thus defined, I have no trouble endorsing the work.

His narration is well suited to the work and there is an audio interview at the end. If you've seen the Hollywood production of this novel, you undoutedly will notice differences. I personally liked both versions. These differences, to me, enhance the reason to experience this production. It is a "charming" work.

Gaiman reading Gaiman is the BEST

Gaiman is an author I love more and more as I read him. But to listen to him read his own work is completely magical. This book is sweet and exciting and delightful.

A wonderful fairytale for adults

To sum up, Stardust is a wonderful book, if you enjoy fairy tale adventures, as I do, I highly recommend it. I wish I’d read it sooner. If you saw the movie, don’t start reading/listening expecting the same story. It’s very different, but in a good way. This book is meant for a mature audience, young people or sensitive adults listen with caution. The author is a good reader as well as a good writer. I hope you will also listen to and enjoy this book.

I’d bought a used copy of Stardust quite some time ago, before the movie had come out, it looked interesting but for whatever reason, I never got around to reading it. I eventually watched the movie, and recognized it as based on the book I’d bought and never read, and because I’d enjoyed the movie, continued putting off reading it. As most people, I have found the books are better and I didn’t want to dislike the movie when I had previously enjoyed it.
I’m disappointed I didn’t read it sooner, I really loved listening to it and as I had feared, it is better than the movie. It’s very different in so many ways, so much more detailed and the timeline is surprisingly stretched, how long it takes for them to travel somewhere and all the time spent together is mentioned more than once. I also enjoyed all the world building, the bits about poems and stories having more meaning and how vast and varied the fairy world is. The exchanging of favors, the lead up of the undoing of enchantments and prophetic bits. The characters are also, in my opinion, much more likable in the book and the ending of the book and movie differ so much that I’m actually really confused by why they changed so much. They basically loosely followed the premise of the novel, sped it up, added a few clichés, and changed it into a comedy. I will probably still watch the movie, since I saw it first, I’m usually more forgiving of adaptations, but I have to admit the storyline of the book is vastly better.
As mentioned, this books target audience is adults, there are a couple scenes where characters are having sex. I don’t think I’d describe it as going into great detail, but the way it is written makes it feel that way. I’d definitely recommend against listening with children, or even teens, depending on your beliefs and parenting choices. There are also bits of violence, and descriptions of people and animals being injured and dying. Other than that, its a good story for most ages, at least I don’t remember any excessive cursing, etc. I don’t usually like abridged versions of books, but it would be nice to have a fade to black version, so I’d feel more comfortable sharing it with more people.
There’s not much to say about the performance, the author seems to be talented at reading aloud, because I enjoyed listening. His voice is pleasant to listen to and clear enough to understand. The main character’s name has always thrown me off, so I did have to put the story back a few times when I was distracted trying to repeat it properly…

I apologize for the meandering rant, but I have strong feelings, mostly sadness and frustration, about book to movie adaptations, that I struggle to contain. I realize that this isn’t really the place for it, but I’ve already typed it and dislike the thought of deleting it, so again, if you’ve actually read this far, sorry for this confusing mess of a review. The book really was wonderful.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book

I enjoyed this book right from the start. The author / narrator paints a good picture without being tedious. At times it was very hard to put the book down. If you like fantasy, and fairy tales, I think you will enjoy this book.

Great adult fairytale

This is a wonderful, feel good story by Neil Gaiman. I’ve enjoyed all of the books by him that I’ve read and I highly recommend you check them out if you enjoy this genre. I loved the audible version performed by the author. He’s got a clear easy to listen to voice, and manner of telling his story.