Stardust

Back again! I am on a roll with the blogging. I am making up for my blog slacking-ness I'm telling you. Anyways, I am reviewing a book that I finished reading a little while ago because I had actually already seen the movie and was curious how the two compared. I tend to do this a lot. If I have seen the movie, I'll want to read the book and vice versa. Usually it's the other way around but anyways, without further ado Stardust by Neil Gaiman.

Characters: Tristran Thorn: hopelessly in love with Victoria Forester/goes hunting for a falling star/is not entirely human
Yvaine: actually a fallen star/is very annoyed that Tristran has captured her/wants desperately to return back to the sky
The Witch-Queen: one of three extremely powerful witches/hunts Yvaine in order to harness her power/wishes to become young again
Lord Septimus: wishes to become the next ruler of Stormhold/has killed off most of his brothers/is the one who gets closest to becoming the next king

The Plot: Tristran Thorn is becoming desperate. He has tried everything to win the attentions of Victoria Forester (not a major character but has an important role in the beginning) but to no avail. Then one night as he walks Victoria home, Tristran watches a star fall from the sky. Victoria tells Tristran that if he brings her the star that she will marry him. Tristran travels across the Wall (Tristran lives in a town where there is a "Wall" and once you cross this "Wall" you enter a wrold of magic and faeries) in his village and into the strange land beyond where unbeknownst to him, he was born years earlier. When he manages to locate the star, to his surprise the fallen star isn't a rock: its a human. A human with quite a temper. Annoyed that she has been captured by the likes of Tristran Thorn, Yvaine attempts to escape Tristran's clutches. However, danger lurks at every turn as one of the oldest witch-queens in the land across the Wall pursues them relentlessly, in the hopes of capturing Yvaine and using her to create eternal youth. Also, Lord Septimus wants to find the amulet of Stormhold, which will make him King, even if that involves killing anyone who gets in his way.

What I liked: It is such a cute premise for a story. I thought it was really original how Tristran goes looking for a fallen star to give to his "sweetheart" Victoria. I use the word "sweetheart" in quotes here because Victoria merely tolerates Tristran's presence. But I thought the overall setup of the novel was cute and all of the characters had distinctive personalities that made the book a quick, entertaining read.

What I didn't like: I think I made the mistake of viewing the book and the movie out of order. Honestly, I liked the movie so much better that I had a hard time enjoying Stardust. Now, I am not one of those people that instantly likes the books better or instantly likes the movies better. Harry Potter? Awesome movies and books but books are still better sorry Warner Brothers. The Lightning Thief and Inkheart? No comparison. Sherlock Holmes? Stories are literary genius and while I love the movie, falls short of the book. Twilight? Both awful, and I enjoy torturing myself with watching the movies when they come out. The point is that I am not one of those people who gets freaked out about preserving the artistic integrity of a book. I think that you need to change a story to make it your own because you can never live up to the original words that people fell in love with. That being said, you cannot drift too far or you will alienate your viewing group. But I felt like the Stardust movie took a book that had potential, and turned it into something that was far better than what was originally written. Stardust (movie version) had so much more humor from the secretly gay ship captain, to the hilarious ghosts commentating on their brothers' deaths, there were so many other cute moments that I feel like Gaiman could have reached. All the elements were in place, the ghosts were present and the ship captain, I just felt...sad I guess that those little details weren't there because that is why I fell in love with the story. But I can forgive Neil Gaiman for that. I cannot forgive him for the ending. The witch-queen just decided that she was going to give up hunting Yvaine. Really? That is not only 1. completely out of character and 2. builds you up to this climax that doesn't really exist. You feel almost like you missed some crucial chapter, and just skipped to the feel-good wrap up at the end. Also, Tristran doesn't really choose Yvaine at the end. Victoria tells Tristran she loves someone else and that she'll marry him but she really doesn't want to, and Tristran wises up and decides not to marry her. He doesn't realize she manipulated him and used him and had no intention of being with him until she tells him. "Oh uh well I guess I'll just marry Yvaine then uh cause I'm afraid of being alone." says Tristran. (Not really but that's what I imagine him saying). Seriously, such an awful ending that I wanted to tell Neil Gaiman to just watch the movie and get ideas for how to fix it.

Overall: 4 out of 10. Missed a lot of attempts for humor and a terrible ending bring this score down but the cute premise and somewhat lovable characters save this book.