Stardust

Stardust – Neil Gaiman

Evan’s ESS = 9 out of 10

Erin’s ESS = 5 out of 10

Content = R (Language, Adult Concepts, Violence, Brief Nudity, Unhealthy Brotherly Competitiveness)

Why: Hold the phone, stop the press, turn off the hair straightener - one of the Two Bibliomaniacs actual thinks this movie is better than the book.  She’s wrong of course, and it’s mainly because she has crush on Tristan, but whatever, I’m not bitter.  Because of this, we will refrain from the glowing review originally planned and we will try and paint a much more somber picture. 

The premise for the parallel universe created in Stardust is perfect.  As Neil Gaiman has described, “Faerie” comprises of “each land that has been forced off the map by explorers and the brave going out and proving it wasn’t there”.  As you can imagine, there’s been a whole lot of proving things wrong in the course of our history, which makes for a very loaded world to explore in Stardust. 

Stardust is set firmly in the fantasy genre, with generous amounts of romance sprinkled atop for good measure.  There are shooting stars in human form, lightning pirates, a dysfunctional royal family, and candles that help you travel very far distances.  Right now the verdicts spilt, so we need your help to break the tie – Movie or Novel.

Editor’s Note:  Not that I have to defend myself, but here goes… Tristan might have gotten a bit cuter as the movie progressed, yes, but I felt that the book lacked the whimsical sweetness and charm that the movie had.  The book felt disjointed to me.  It felt like it went from “cute little fairy tale” then turn the page to “raunchy adult scene” then back to “aww, what a cute little story this is”.  Nope, the movie was definitely better on this one.