This book is beautifully written. Full of description and detail. You can't help but feel you are travelling alongside Tristran on his journey into Faerie.I'll step back and start at the beginning.
Fantasy is one of my favorite genres, especially when it is beautifully written, with a focus on the surrounds and character personalities,not so much their figures and looks (also important though). 'Stardust' is Gaiman's first novel and I will be going hunting for other works of his. It's just fantastic.
The story begins in the village of Wall, which is in the 'normal' part of the world (where we are) but it is a border town, butting up against the world of Faerie which is anything but normal. Every 9 years there is a fair in Faerie, and villagers are allowed to cross through the closely guarded wall separating the two worlds to attend the fair and mingle with the people/creatures of Faerie. It is during this fair that the main character Tristran is conceived when his father and a woman from Faerie share a night together.
Flash forward 18 years and Tristran, who was placed on his fathers doorstep 9 months after the fair, is preparing to enter Faerie to search for a falling star which he will then give to his true love, Victoria. He is not the only one looking for the star, who is a living being in the world of Faerie, not just a lump of metal. Other, darker characters want her for their own agendas. The amazing characters Tristran meets in his journey to take the star back to Victoria, and the beautiful landscapes Gaiman describe make this story a pleasure to read. It has a whimsical quality but each character is utterly believable. It made me want to go searching for our own border town.
You might have seen the movie 'Stardust' that came out a few years ago starring Claire Danes. The Movie holds true to the book, but cannot capture the detail and description that Gaiman weaves with his words. A great read that doesn't take long but leaves you feeling fulfilled.
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