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Description edit
In the sleepy English countryside at the dawn of the Victorian Era, life moves at a leisurely pace in the tiny town of Wall--a secluded hamlet so named for an imposing stone barrier that surrounds a fertile grassland. Armed sentries guard the sole gap in the bulwark to keep the inquisitive... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
This was made into a movie last summer and while the movie is actually quite excellent, the book is even better. It is simply a beautiful story about a boy who sets out to find a fallen star to win a woman’s heart and, in the process of his incredible (and magical) journey, he grows up and... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters/People edit
- Dunstan Thorne: Who goes to seek his heart's desire. Tristran Thorne's father
- Tristran Thorne: Main character. Promises to retrieve a fallen star for Victoria Forester and travels into Faerie.
- Yvaine: The star that fell from the sky.
- Victoria Forester: A beautiful young woman who lives in Wall. Tristran believes he is in love with her. He promises to get for her a star they watched fall from the sky into Faerie.
- The 81st Lord of Stormhold: The ruler of Stormhold.
- Lord Septimus: The seventh son of Lord Stormhold. Succeeds in eliminating several of his older brothers and eventually the sole surviving son of Lord Stromhold.
- Lady Una: First-born and only daughter of the eighty-first Lord of Stormhold. For most of the story she is a slave to Madame Semele who keeps her in the form of a colorful bird. She is the exotic young woman--"her eyes were deep violet, while her ears were the ears of a cat, perhaps, gently curved, and dusted with fine, dark, fur. She was quite beautiful"--selling glass flowers in a booth at the once-every-nine-year market in the field on the Faerie side of Wall.
- Madame Semele/Ditchwater Sal: Owns a stall for the faerie market, she sells flowers made of glass. Lady Una's owner.
- The Lilim: Witches. Daughter of Lilith.
Quotes edit
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“Every lover is in his heart a madman, and in his heart a minstrel”
Tristan -
“For these things have their rules. All things have rules.”
Lady Una -
“It had occasionally been remarked upon that it is as easy to overlook something large and obvious as it is to overlook something small and niggling, and that the large things one overlooks can often cause problems.”
Narrator -
“I should warn you that if you leave these lands for... over there... then you will be, as I understand it, transformed into what you would be in that world: a cold, dead thing, sky-fallen.”
Lady Una -
“The burning golden heart of a star at peace is so much finer than the flickering heart of a little frightened star. But even the heart of a star who is afraid and scared is better by far than no heart at all.”
The witch-queen -
“There is a proverbial saying chiefly concerned with warning against too closely calculating the numerical value of unhatched chicks.”
Quintus -
“Adventures are all very well in their place, he thought, but there's a lot to be said for regular meals and freedom from pain.”
Tristran -
“He could no longer reconcile his old idea of giving the star to Victoria Forester with his current notion that the star was not a thing to be passed from hand to hand, but a true person in all respects and no kind of thing at all.”
Narrator -
“If you touch me," said the star, "lay but a finger on me, you will regret it forevermore." "If ever you get to be my age," said the old woman, "you will know all there is to know about regrets, and you will know that one more, here or there, will make no difference in the long run.”
Yvaine -
“The sun set, and a huge spring moon appeared, high already in the heavens. A chill breeze blew.”
Narrator
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“Because,” announced Tristran, “every lover is in his heart a madman, and in his head a minstrel.”
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Have been unavoidably detained by the world. Expect us when you see us.
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“It’s not hard to own something. Or everything. You just have to know that it’s yours and then be willing to let it go.
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“There is a proverbial saying chiefly concerned with warning against too closely calculating the numerical value of unhatched chicks,” pointed out Quintus.
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(Fairy Tales, as G.K. Chesterton once pointed out, are not true. They are more than true. Not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be defeated.)
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Adventures are all very well in their place, he thought, but there’s a lot to be said for regular meals and freedom from pain.
Highlighted by 33 Kindle customers -
The squirrel has not yet found the acorn that will grow into the oak that will be cut to form the cradle of the babe who will grow to slay me.”
Highlighted by 30 Kindle customers -
they could not help being amused every time another little human believed itself the center of its world, as each of us does.
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It has occasionally been remarked upon that it is as easy to overlook something large and obvious as it is to overlook something small and niggling, and that the large things one overlooks can often cause problems.
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All too often I write to find out what I think about a subject, not because I already know.
Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers
First Sentence edit
There was once a young man who wished to gain his Heart's Desire.
Table of Contents edit
Chapter One: In Which We Learn of the Village of Wall, and of the
Curious Thing That Occurs There Every Nine Years
Chapter Two: In Which Tristran Thorn Grows to Manhood
and Makes a Rash Promise
Chapter Three: In Which We Encounter Several Other Persons,
Many of Them Still Alive, With an Interest in the
Fate of the Fallen Star
Chapter Four: “Can I Get There by Candlelight?”
Chapter Five: In Which There is Much Fighting for the Crown
Chapter Six: What the Tree Said
Chapter Seven: “At the Sign of the Chariot”
Chapter Eight: Which Treats of Castles in the Air, and Other Matters
Chapter Nine: Which Deals Chiefly With the Events
At Diggory’s Dyke
Chapter Ten: Stardust
Series & Lists edit
This is book 52 of 100 in National Public Radio's Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy. (authoritative list)
Preceded by Hyperion, and followed by Cryptonomicon.
Authors & Contributors edit
- Neil Gaiman (Author)
Other Contributors:
- Charles Vess (Illustrator)
- Sash Uusjärv (Translator)
- Artur Barciś (Narrator)
- Meelis Krošetskin (Cover Artist)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: William Morrow
Country: United States
Publication Date: 1999
ISBN: 0380977281
Page Count: 256
Publisher: William Morrow
Country: United States
Publication Date: 1999
ISBN: 0380977281
Page Count: 256
Awards edit
- Mythopoeic Fantasy Award (1999: Adult Literature, #1)
- Alex Awards (2000)
- Locus Fantasy Award (Finalist, 1999, Nominee)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: PS3557.A3519S73 1999
- Dewey: 823.54
Notes for Parents edit
Reading Level: Young AdultsThis book contains very mild sexual content (not graphic) and some violence.
Subjects edit
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Movie Connections edit
- Stardust (IMDb): 2007
More Books Like This edit
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