Stardust

How far would you go for love? And more importantly, what might you find when you get there? Neil Gaiman takes a look at this in what is inarguably one of his richest fairy tales to date.

When Tristran Thorn tells Victoria Forrester he would give her a star if she would give him a kiss, he certainly wasn't expecting her to take him up on his offer. Pointing out a falling star, Victoria asks him to retrieve it for her, and so Tristran heads out on a fantastical journey on which he will discover the truth of his family. Unfortunately for Tristran, kissing Victoria Forrester should be his least concern, as it turns out that not only is the star not what it seems, but it didn't fall on it's own.....

Stardust is Neil Gaiman at his very best. Every bit as ambitious as American Gods in its own ways, Stardust combines an intricate plot and vibrant, unique characters to create a fairy tale that wonderfully evokes a sense of wonder and fascination. Even more amusing is the simple fact that it is a romance novel at heart, a genre I wholeheartedly avoid. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this, and I think that says a lot for it.

The element of Stardust I enjoyed the most was the multilayered plot. This is Gaiman with a complexity I haven't experienced in any of his works to date. A sequence of events occurring before Tristran's very conception culminates by the end of this story, with multiple plot threads seamlessly weaving together in a braid of magical prose that just leaves you wanting more by the end. I loved how inseparable yet distinct the plot threads of the numerous characters were, and how organically Neil Gaiman brings them all together when the time is right.

But the star of this show is definitely the magic and the way Gaiman uses it. Magic wild and unfathomable, controlled and mysterious, it's all contained within the pages of this very short novel, and it all coexists in a wonderfully uplifting manner.

Funnily enough, I think this is the first book by him I've read where I wasn't completely swept away by his prose. Which I think proves how enriching it is; for the most part I was jaded enough to just keep reading ahead and consider it to be my due when reading his work, but there were large swaths of the book where he still managed to just sweep me along in events and pull off precisely the effect I thought I'd grown accustomed to with him.

All in all, this is top notch Neil Gaiman. Every bit as rich but much more layered and complicated than his other stuff I've read to date, it still strikes true and at it's heart presents a slightly different take on one of the most important elements of life: love. Definitely not one to miss, especially for Gaiman fans.