A couple of years ago one of my best friends recommended a film to me, yes this might seem like a regular occurrence to some people, but I’m not big on films, so this was quite a significant moment in our friendship. She started raving about this film called Stardust telling me how much I would love it and that I absolutely needed to watch it. And I eventually did….and LOVED it!
Now as I have previously mentioned, I hate the idea of watching the film before reading the book, but the I don’t spend a great deal of time in the fantasy section of bookshops, so that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it! I recently read a fantastic review out here in the blogging world, and it was this that prompted me to download the book, and great possibly what made me pick it up sooner than I usually would have done (and typically I cannot remember where I read it, but I shall endeavour to find it when I switch on la laptop!).
Stardust follows the adventure of Tristran Thorn, a 17 year old on the cusp of manhood who lives in Wall, a tiny village bordering a mythical, magical world; a world that humans can only visit once every 9 years on Market Day. Tristran is hopelessly in love with Victoria, and to prove his love he goes on a quest to bring back a fallen star, in the hope that Victoria will agree to let him kiss her when he has done so. Unfortunately for Tristran he is not the only person eager to find this star, which sets him off on an adventure, encountering unicorns, talking trees, strange hairy men, witches, lightening catchers, battling brothers…and true love.
After my last read, which I did enjoy but left me somewhat devoid of that comfortable feeling that a good book brings, I adored Stardust. It was fantastic to pick up a familiar, yet refreshingly new story and become truly engrossed in the world it created. There were enough differences to the film version to keep me intrigued and enough similarities to make this an easy read at a slightly hectic time of the school term. I loved the bizarreness of the whole novel and all the extra little details that film versions just don’t quite capture, and for someone who claims not to like fantasy novels, they are quickly becoming my sure fire enjoyable reads; strange how our taste in literature changes as we grow older.
I wholeheartedly recommend this novel as a delightful, short read that will really take you on a magical adventure to a world full of strangeness and fantastical fairy tale creatures…and love, because who doesn’t love a good romance. Now if only I could find the original review that pointed me in the direction of this amazing novel so I could properly thank them….
LindyLit 