Book 17 - Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is a pretty big thing in the fantasy/horror and comic community. I loved the depth and creative mythology of his Sandman comics, and have heard rave reviews about American Gods and Good Omens. So I guess my standards were pretty high when it came to reading Stardust, recommended by my friend Ozhaggis.

Stardust is the story of Tristran Thorn, born half of this world and half of faery. Raised in the town of Wall, which is just this side of the wall between the two realms, he has no idea of his heritage. At around the age of 17 he impulsively vows to bring the town beauty a falling star in return for granting him his one desire. Of course the star has fallen on the other side of the wall, so he sets off on a quest to find it. Faery being what it is, the star is not a chunk of rock but a girl with a broken leg who strongly objects to being given to someone else. And of course Tristran is not the only one looking for the fallen star.

Overall the interplay of plot and characters is well done, and the play on traditional fairy tale themes is quite clever. But it just seemed a little light to me - some of the characters and sideplots were a little underdeveloped. I think the problem was that I was expecting it to be a more adult fairy tale along the lines of Gaiman's other work, especially as I found it in the Adult Fiction section of the library. In reality it's probably more suited to the young adult audience, 11+. When viewed from the YA perspective it's a pretty enjoyable read and a great way to look at fairy tale themes and plot techniques. I have to say when it comes to modern fairy tales with a bit of meat to them I still prefer Robin McKinley's "Beauty" or the Once Upon a Time series.