Stardust by Neil Gaiman

I'm beginning to think that Sunday evening might just become my weekly review post. I just get so tired during the week that I don't want to write a rubbish post and you not enjoy it (or get anything from it). But then I read so many good books I don't to get lag behind and forget. So maybe I'll just go against what I said anyway. What the hell. What are rules for! So anyway hello and welcome to today's review...

Got quite a different book for you this week compared to last weeks lovely, gory and sexually violent book, Stardust. Written by Neil Gaiman, a man who has been receiving a lot of attention for his latest novel The Ocean At The End Of The Lane- watch this space, that book is currently residing in my pile of books to be read- so before I get to that to see what all the fuss is about, I decided to read another one of his older novels. Wow that was a long sentence.

I have seen the film adaptation that was released nearly 7 years ago now- where the hell is time going?! I really enjoyed the film, mainly down to the adult fairytale feeling that the film gave across. And of course I never miss a chance to watch a film starring the only woman I would ever consider, Michelle Pfeiffer. I was immediately thrown into a completely different universe, but one that I couldn't help but think was slightly familiar. Set in sunny (always is in fairytales) England, there was an extremely picturesque feeling to the whole story, especially in the village of Wall. Gaiman certainly does have a way with words.

I always enjoy a fairytale, mainly down to the themes that it deals with, that can often been of quite a violent or adult nature, but they are dressed in such a way you simply don't think of them as such. Stardust follows the character of Tristian, as he sets off into the other world that Wall sits next to. He is in search of a fallen star that he wants to get in order to get a hand in marriage. Being a demanding woman, she wants the star. In what I think is such a lovely image, the star is not an object, or a ball of gas, but is actually a woman whom has fallen out the sky. She was hit by a gem that 2 brothers, Primus and Septimus, the last two alive lords of the land, who must find the stone in order to become King. There is some great scenes involving them, mainly down to their ghostly brothers who always appear behind them in the film, and this detail is carried on the preceding novel, something Gaiman uses to a great comic advantage. This is also true of the witch who is after the star, and there are some great scenes where she forces an inn keeper to pretend they are married in order to entice the star into staying. There is something so sinister about reading the witch doing everything she can to relax the star, when we know she really wants to cut her heart right out of her.

Now, being 21, you may think my memory may be very sharp, but alas you would be mistaken. But I have to say I was quite impressed in noticing differences between the book and novel, something that alas (I love that word) always must occur. But I think the book wins out on all the alternatives that the film presented. This is more than evident in the witch's final scene, where an old witch, who is also after the star in order to recapture her youth, lets the star go when she eventually gives her heart to Tristian. This means her heart, which needs to be cut out before something like this occurs in order for it to give her the youth back, wouldn't work Gaiman's version is so much better and so less the stereotypical Hollywood ending where the evil is stamped out by the goodies. She simply just leaves them to live their lives in the novel, something so different it was a joy to read.

Does the film of 2007 film adaptation fair better? 

Another book vs film difference, where the book wins out, is seeing Tristian and his starry bride getting to travel and see the world that they will eventually reign first hand before taking over from Tristian's mother as rulers. They just seemed so down to earth, as much as a fallen star can be, that we can only hope for leaders like them in this world. And for people who actually know and have seen what the hell they are talking about.

Gaiman is truly a master of words, he truly drew me into his faitytale world, but not letting the picturesque setting take away from the fascinating characters or the adult tones that burst through. A truly adult fairytale, that anyone will enjoy, Gaiman puts to the forefront a world that anyone would want to be part of. Don't let the film put you off, there are moments that work so much better, are so less cliched, all in the end making a great little read. And the book is quite thin, slip it in your bag for your holidays! I look forward to reading more of his books, as well as the TV adaptation of his novel American Gods.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman is published by Headline in the UK.