Friday, October 29, 2010

Book Review... Stardust dust dust


Stardust

By: Neil Gaiman
Published: September 2006 by Harper Perennial
Library Paperback 333 Pages 
Book Art: Based off the Motion Picture. I am normally a person who likes the original book art but I like how this cover shows more then just the two main characters.
Tags: Steampunk, Young Adult, Fantasy Fiction, Science Fiction, Motion Picture, Witches, Library 

Reason Why the Mad Scientist Picked Up This Book: Sometimes I read a book because it is planned... this one happened to be for a book club.

First Line:  There was once a young man who wished to gain his Heart's Desire. 

Concoction of  Review:

Neil Gaiman has a way with simple prose, bloody brilliant.  He spins together a unique world that I should not think you would want to miss. There are Steampunkery dirigible pirates, unicorns, evil witches, trees whom may talk to you, and many other magical world phenomenon that will keep your delicate fingers flipping pages. *grin* That is the way the Mad Scientist prefers it. 

Dunstan strolls the traveling market which culminates in a moment of abandon. Knocking boots results in a small bundle being pushed through the broken wall with a small name pinned to it... Tristan Thorn. How curious? *peaks eyebrow*

Young Tristan is an odd lad who wants nothing more then to woe his true love, Victoria Forester. In his quest for a sample of her lips he offers her everything under the sun. However, a lady never allows herself to be found in such a improper position with a gentleman, she politely declines his offers. Then a star falls near by which she declares that if he brings her the star she will accept is courtship proposal. Tristan is beside himself with delight and sets out on his quest for the most unusual object to win his lady loves kiss and hopefully her hand in marriage.

Tristan says farewell to his family in Wall and starts on his journey in Faerie after his Heart's request, the fallen star.

Young feet and a love sick heart fuels Tristan throughout Faerie along with a bit of good luck. He finds his fallen star, except this star is not what he thought he would find, nor I. Expecting a rock, we both gasp *gasp* when we find a beautiful young lady. This odd duo disagreed with each other to no end.  The star did not want to go with Tristan to be an object for his love, of course, that is all he wanted. *tsk tsk*  Lets just say she did not make his life easy. 

This book is not all mushy love.  Gaiman added a very interesting sub plot that intertwines pretty nicely.  The sons of Lord Stormhold were sent out on a most difficult quest, to retrieve a family amulet. The intriguing part is when the ghosts of the deceased brothers are about watching their kin kill each other off in attempt to grab ahold of the family throne.

Twisted in between these those two plots where these most wonderful witches who were searching for the star for a gruesome reason. They added a certain punch to the enchantment that already holds you.


Steampunkery Elements:  I just loved the pirates with a surprising vessel. The dirigible was a grand surprise for the Mad Scientist.  It just made me melt when I get to read about sweaty pirates sailing through the skies fishing for lighting bolts.

Motion Picture:  This book has been turned into a fantastic motion picture, although, I have not watched it as of late. The Mad Scientist did get the chance to watch the motion picture several years ago which I was sure that this brain had pushed aside all remembrance of it. Except for Michelle Pheifer looking really grotesque. But as I read the book the images of the movie came flooding back into my head. Most often that is exactly why a reader likes to read the book before watching the movie so the motion picture does not impede judgement. The Mad Scientist would have to say the movie images did not hinder this book for me in anyway, perhaps it improved it a bit. I might just have to go and borrow the movie again.

Rating:

4.34  Blasts
From start to finish Tristan's 
mission is hardly bland.

Quotes:
"I would not wish to marry someone who had already been married. It would be,' she opined, 'like having someone else break in one's own pony."

"The manly heroes of the penny dreadfuls and shilling novels never had these problems getting kissed."

"Every lover is, in his heart, a madman, and, in his head, a minstrel."

44 comments:

  1. I had no idea this was a book. Interesting. This makes me want to watch the movie now. Is that a bad thing.

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  2. I must confess, although I claim to love all the books that Neil Gaiman has wrote, I have yet to read Stardust--although I have watched the movie (which I feel doesn't count as often the movie is no where as brilliant as the book). I must remedy this soon.
    An excellent review!

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  3. I have seen the movie but not read the book. I loved the pirates and their ship was truly a sight to behold. Brilliantly mad review!

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  4. Awesome review! I absolutely loved both the book and the movie :)

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  5. LOVE your blog! Definitely going to be following. Thanks for the visit - you might want to pop over again and check out our new Friday Wish-list Hop!

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  6. awesome review!! i tried to read this one but had a really hard time getting into it, with all the stuff about the wall in the beginning. Maybe I should give it another try!!

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  7. Thanks for the review. I've not see the movie or read the book

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  8. I love the quotes you pulled!

    I actually haven't read this book... I own the movie, but I've heard there are (as is such the case with books turned into movies) some major differences.

    I have read quite a bit of Gaiman though and I completely agree with your assessment of his writing style.

    Thank you for the review though, I will definitely have to read this one!

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  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. Ooh, I love books turned movies, probably because the books are better than the movies. There are rare instances where this isn't true, or that the book and movie are so close it's perfection made visual.

    Some books that were completely different than the movie:
    Last of the Mohicans
    P.S. I Love You (except I read the British version so who knows)

    Books that were a lot like the movie:
    The first few Harry Potters
    Princess Bride

    So what would you say this falls under? A lot like the movie or a not so much?

    I may have to add this to my wishlist. :)

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  11. I enjoyed this movie, but haven't read the book...guess I should!

    Thanks for sharing...and also, for visiting my blog.

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  12. Wonderful book review! Loved both the movie and the book. Stopping by from the Friday Follow and am now following. You have a wonderful blog!

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  13. Happy Halloween!

    Hey Mad Scientist! Thanks for stopping by my blog. Good to see ya.

    I'm here for the blog hop and Follow Friday! I just love these. Answer for the Hop is an IPad or Kindle. Answer for the Follow Friday is: The books I would chose would be Dr. Suess' when she was young then as she grew older I would definitely recommend the Nancy Drew and Trixie Beldon books! I loved them when I was young. Here my links and you can find me on facebook too!
    www.judithleger.blogspot.com
    http://twitter.com/#!/judithleger

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  14. Great review, and thanks for stopping by my blog :)
    I love love LOVE steampunk. Lately The Iron Duke has taken over my stempunkery heart. *Sigh*
    Your blog looks very beautiful.

    smittenskitten
    Smutty Dirty Bitch blog

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  15. You're starting to make me think more and more about the steampunk world!!

    Here's my Hop: Coffee and a Book Chick -- Blog Hop...

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  16. Thanks for stopping by.

    I haven't read this book, but I did see the movie, and I loved it so much :D Thanks for the review!

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  17. I haven't read this one, but I have watched the movie. I liked it ok, probably 3/5 stars for me. Maybe I would like the book a bit more though.

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  18. I haven't read anything by Neil Gaiman yet! I need to to so. I remember seeing the movie awhile back and liked it. Nice review and thanks for stopping by The Prairie Library!

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  19. thanks for visiting my blog, great review I highly reccommend you get the graphic novel as well,its the same prose but with GORGEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS I'm now following you

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  20. Thank you kindly for stopping by my humble blog! I'm easing into the steampunk world, and would appreciate any advice on books of this genre you'd care to pass along!

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  21. I haven't read the book but really enjoyed the movie. At the time, I didn't even realize it was Steampunk; guess I wasn't really familiar with the term at that time... if the term even existed then.

    If you enjoy horror as well as steampunk, you might want to check out my new spot in the blogosphere.

    http://horrorrevealed.blogspot.com/

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  22. Thanks for stopping by my blog; I'm a new follower! I love how you use guns to rate books :)
    This is an incredible review! So eloquently written. I really want to read this book and see the movie now--I heard the movie was really lame, but I suppose I shouldn't take the word of a guy ;)

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  23. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I absolutely love the layout of your blog. I just started reading steampunk and I really enjoy it. I have "Stardust" on my tbr pile. :)

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  24. Happy Hop!

    I'm not a Neil Gaiman fan but you did a great post! Thanks for hopping by my blog. Have a great weekend!
    Ragan

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  25. Great looking blog, thanks for hopping by my place. I love stardust, you did a wonderful review on it. Very cool.

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  26. Very nice review. I must admit, I have never read Gaiman before though he is so highly recommended. Some day, some day...

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  27. That's a great review! Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite writers, but I haven't read this one yet.

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  28. Great review, I haven't read Stardust yet, but going to.

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  29. Hey - I clicked over to check things out over here. You have a great blog. I like your style.

    Looking forward to lots of posts!

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  30. Excellent review! I haven't read this author yet.

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  31. Loved the movie. Still working my way through the book though :/

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  32. You and I have similar tastes, friend. I just finished my first Gaiman last night, and I am looking forward to reading more. I will be posting my review of Coraline tomorrow.

    BTW, your blog layout is amazing! Did you do that yourself, or is it a template? Love it!

    -Linds, http://bibliophilebrouhaha.blogspot.com/

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  33. Thanks for stopping by my blog, through the blog hop.
    I thought I had read Star Dust but your review doesn't sound anything like the book I remember reading, so perhaps it was a different Gaiman book that I had read. I'll have to give this one a try, then.

    Simcha

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  34. I like Neil Gaiman a lot. I don't think I've heard of this move. It sounds complicated though. I'm not sure whether I'd go for it. I think I'd rather read Neil's prose though than see the movie.

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  35. You are definitely going to be my resource as I embark on my steampunk challenge. I'm reading Souless right now and though slow to begin with, now it's picking up.

    I loved the movie Stardust, but I heard the original book had a much sadder ending. Therefore, I stayed with the movie and did not read the book. I prefer happy endings.

    Thank you for commenting on Bitter Frost. You should see those lips up close. If I was bold enough, I would wear that on my lips. And I missed my chance, tonight being Halloween. Maybe I'll just be the strange lady and wear red almost black lipstick w/sticky lip gloss and dip my lips in whatever color glitter I feel like for the day. Maybe I'll take an extra anxiety pill that day, too!

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  36. Hopping by to say have a great week!

    And great review!

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  37. This was such a great book! Thanks for giving it such a wonderful review! I feel like you've really captured the heart of the story! :)

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  38. I loved this book...and the movie too :D
    Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Stardust, this was a fantastic review :)
    I also loved the pirates in this book lol
    I came over from Candace's Book Blog and the Steampunkery- a giveaway from Little Ecletic Me, and I thought this was the perfect post to comment on :D

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