Basic info. The novel Stardust was written by renowned author Neil Gaiman and was first published in 1999. The movie came out in 2007 with an all-star cast that includes Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert de Niro, Mark Strong, and more.
What’s the story? To prove his love, Tristan, a young man from a small English village, makes a promise to Victoria, the village beauty, to retrieve a falling star. He goes beyond the wall separating the village from the forest and finds himself in an entirely different world. Not only that, the fallen star turns out to be a young woman named Yvaine and she’s also being hunted by two other parties – three witches who want her heart to make them young again and the dead king’s sons who are after the throne.
Which one did I experience first? I saw the movie first. I don’t think I was even really interested in the book. I know Neil Gaiman is a great writer but I have never even read any of his work prior to Stardust. I know, I’m terrible. I currently have two of his books though but I haven’t gotten around to any of them. I know, I am the worst.
ANYWAY, I really enjoyed the movie. It was fun and as action-packed as fantasy-adventure movies go. I also loved the humor. It was something you can enjoy without having to think too much and was really just very entertaining. The story involves a lot of interesting characters. I love the concept that the falling star turned out to be a girl who’s pure and innocent. It’s also a love story but it wasn’t too sappy or mushy and was just really cute and nice.
I read the book a few weeks after the movie came out. I saw the movie tie-in paperback version at the bookstore and just couldn’t resist buying it. It was a nice and pleasant read, that’s what I remember. Of course, it had a few more details than the movie and some things were also different from the movie, but it was my first Neil Gaiman book and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I thought it would be darker or grittier or whatever, but it really wasn’t. For me it had a very “fairy fantasy” feel to it – something I didn’t expect from Gaiman, but he creates great descriptions though so that was good. I’m not sure if I would feel the same way had I read the book first before watching the movie.
Book vs. Movie. The book was well written (hello, Neil Gaiman!), but I actually like the movie more than the book. Maybe it’s because I saw it first, but I really love the fast pace and the overall feel of it. It was just so full of fun, excitement and adventure!
