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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
- Tristran Thorn: A half-Faerie creature raised by his father and stepmother. Tristran foolishly promises to retrieve a fallen star for his sweetheart, Victoria. On his journey to find the fallen star meets many colorful characters, has quite an adventure and unexpectedly finds the beautiful Yvaine.
- Yvainne: A beautiful and head strong young woman Tristan meets on his journey. She is pursued by the Lilim and the surviving sons of Stormhold, who want her for their own reasons. She is also injured and Tristan helps her escape danger many times.
- Miss Victoria Forester: A resident of Wall described as "the most beautiful girl for a hundred miles around". She is the daughter of Bridget Comfrey and Tommy Forester. Although very beautiful, she is somewhat proud and dimwitted. She ultimately marries a man called Monday and thereby unwittingly frees Tristran's mother, Lady Una, from slavery.
- Dunstan Thorn: Tristran's father. Main character in the beginning of the book. He visited the Wall Market to find a gift for his sweetheart Daisy, and ended up fathering Tristran by Madame Semele's abused slave girl, Lady Una.
- The Lord of Stormhold: The eighty-first Lord of Stormhold is an old man who rules Stormhold until his death. At the beginning of Stardust, he has four dead sons (Secundus, Quartus, Quintus, and Sextus) and three living ones (Primus, Tertius, and Septimus), in addition to his long-lost daughter Una. The dead sons appear as ghostly observers, while the living sons constantly plot to kill each other in order to succeed their father as Lord of Stormhold.
- Lord Septimus: The youngest and most ruthless of the Lords of Stormhold. He is, by nature, a skilled assassin and has succeeded in murdering the majority of his family.
- Lord Primus: The oldest of the Lords of Stormhold. In comparison to his brothers, he is benevolent, compassionate and reasonable.
- Lady Una: A cat-eared faerie girl of great beauty who works as a slave for Madame Semele until released by an improbable occurrence that fulfills the conditions of her debt. Lady Una suffers constant abuse at the hands of Madame Semele, being beaten and called a "slattern".
- Lord Tertius: Third son of the eighty first king of Stormhold
- Daisy Hempstock: Dunstan Thorn's fiancee.
- The Lilim: Three witches. Daughters of Lilith.
- Madame Semele/Ditchwater Sal: A witch that owns a stall for the faerie market, she sells flowers made of glass.
- Quintus: the fifth son of the 81st lord of stormhold
- Louisa Thorn: Tristran Thorn's younger half sister
- Mrs. Thorn: Tristran's stepmother
- Dann: Add a description of this character.
- Wiese
- Mauer
- Vogel
- Himmel
- Herz
- Wasser
- Feuer
- Messer
- Blick
- Sterne
- Stein
- Baum
- Haselmaus
- Erde
- Boden
- Wein
- Hals
- Weise
- Bett
- Silberkette
- Mond
- Zimmer
- Schiff
- Mrs. Hempstock: Mother of Daisy Hemstock
- Stemfrau
- Elster
- Katze
- Stiefel
- Vater
- Hexenkônigin
- Stirn
- Berge
- Mr. Hempstock: Daisy's father
- Mr. Thomas Forester: Local citizen of the town of Wall
- Mr. Bromios: The local inn and bar keeper. He is tall, olive-skinned.His black hair is curled tightly on his head; his eyes are green.
- Bridget Comfrey: woman who lives in Wall
- Billy: an innkeeper
- Letitia
- Meggot: woman on a ship in Faerie
- Mr. Brown
- Alum Bey
- Brevis: a boy who lives in Faerie
- Robert Monday: man who runs the shop in Wall
- Mrs. Cherry: the schoolteacher in Wall
- Harold Crutchbeck
- Yvaine
Quotes edit
-
“Had you mentioned magic or Faerie to any of them, they would have smiled at you disdainfully, except, perhaps for Mr. Dickens.... He would have looked at you wistfully.”
-
“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 -
“Have been unavoidably detained by the world. Expect us when you see us.”
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
Epilogue
Themes & Symbolism edit
Series & Lists edit
This is book 52 of 99 in National Public Radio's Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy. (authoritative list)
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: 242
Publisher: William Morrow
Country: United States
Publication Date: 1999
ISBN: 0380977281
Page Count: 242
Awards edit
- Mythopoeic Fantasy Award (1999: Adult Literature, #1)
- Alex Awards (2000)
- Locus Fantasy Award (Finalist, 1999, Nominee)
- Geffen Award (2000: Best Translated Fantasy Book)
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
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