Stardust: First impressions

Thoughts on Stardust as you're starting to read? Which edition will you be reading—text-only or graphic novel? Read it before? Post them here!

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Re-reading for me. Love the book and the movie. Glad to join the group for this.

I'm reading the illustrated text edition for the first time, beautiful art!

re-reading for me but as i am traveling on the weekends for family issues i am also supplementing the audio version from audible. It's a wonderful version if you like audio books. I'm a huge fan of them so that when i travel i can continue what i am reading. I usually pick up my book the second i am at my destination and begin where i left off on my audio version

Huh. For me (I read the graphic novel, back before the text adaptation even existed, and will reread it for this), it's such a lushly visual story that I can't imagine how an audiobook would work.

>3 SF_fan_mae:

Is the "illustrated text version" the original graphic novel, or the text adaptation with illustrations? I hadn't heard of that version before.

>5 lorax: The audio version is really good. Gaiman has a lovely voice and listening to him read it is like hearing the best bedtime story ever.

>5 lorax:
It's the text version with illustrations... best of both worlds.

I've been looking into the different versions of the book and think I have it sorted out.

1. Originally published as four single issues.

2. All four issues published together in one volume.

3. Text-only version and the audiobook of it. As far as I can tell the text is the same as in the graphic novel.

4. A hardcover edition with Vess's illustrations containing bonus material.

An exhaustive list of different editions can be found here.

I read the text version. My first impression was that it was very whimsical and I anticipated a fantastic voyage!

Discussion is now fully open! I've posted a few questions (linked below)—feel free to chime in there, or start your own threads, if you like.

I'll be posting a new question in the One LibraryThing, One Book group every day for the first week of discussion. Don't forget to join us for LT Movie Night on Friday, when we'll be watching the film adaptation!

Which edition did you read?
Thoughts on the title?
Multiple character perspectives
Fairytale themes
Favorite scene/passage

I've just finished the audio book (read by Neil, himself). "Ou et la plume de ma tante? " keeps milling round in my head.

>11 .cris: ::high five:: same here!

I have a question. When Tristan and the star (Evane?) were at the fair, a tall man in a black hat greeted him. Do we know who that was?

>13 .cris: That was the lodger who stayed with Dunstan at the beginning of the book. As part of his rent he granted Dunstan his heart's desire and said the gift would last for a few generations.

>14 amanda4242: Thanks. Another drawback with audio books. You can't "riffle" through the pages if you think you missed something.

I read the text only version and really enjoyed it. It's not my usual genre, but sometimes it's good to go outside one's comfort zone. As an adult fairytale I thought it was superb.

I'm about to start reading the book over the weekend - I have a few pages of Stephen King's The Stand left first. All set to watch the film tonight although it will be a little earlier than the time here, due to timezone differences. I'm excited to read the book as I have seen the film several times and love it but have never read the book.

>15 .cris: Agreed! I felt this keenly with this audiobook, although I loved the reading. I wanted so many times to go back and "re-read" parts I hadn't deemed important to hear (or maybe was just merging into traffic and missed.)

I just started it a few hours ago—I'm listening to the audiobook.

My general impression is a reconfirmation of my priors so far. Gaiman's capable, and has a number of great ideas. (Some of his short stories in particular are marvelous; I mention A Study in Emerald as a particular favorite.) He also has a wonderful slant on the world—he gets the genres, styles, aesthetics and even ideas of earlier times, and can recapitulate them with just enough spin to achieve both ironic distance and a certain reinvention of their magic, especially to people for whom the original is no longer accessible. But even while I appreciate what he's doing, and no passage is boring, I find the overall effect rather boring.

This is actually a last impression. I just finished it today. I loved the writing and the visual nature of the scenes. I thought the ending was a bit of a let down, although I can’t suggest a better one. For some reason it disturbs me that this is the end of a dynasty, since they can’t have children . It’s not happily after ever.

I was surprised by how much I liked the Stardust novel. I trust that everything Gaiman writes will be near perfection, but an adult fairy tale made me skeptical. But as always, he creates a world you get lost in and characters you love. The movie was just "okay" in my opinion. Did anyone feel the same way? At points the VFX were great and others it was really distracting. De Nero made me laugh, in sort of a good way. Michelle Pfeiffer's "accent" made me cringe. Aside from that, I'm not sure. I thought it was faithful enough to the book, but maybe it's just the case of loving a book and never being satisfied with an adaptation of it.

As a book to movie adaptation, I read this book after watching the movie. Of course the book has more details and I love the book more than the movie lol. Will update after I am done with the book.

My review of Stardust is in my library.

My opinion hasn't changed much in a year. I was well entertained by the book, but I wouldn't read it again. The twists and turns were part of what made it entertaining for me, and once I knew them, there wasn't enough to warrant a re-read... I return to a book for the language, or to be immersed in a world, or because I fall in love with the characters. This isn't to say these things were lacking in Stardust, but they were just elements I liked but did not fall in love with.

As a writer myself, I also admire how Gaimon made me feel I was reading an epic story without actually writing an epic Game of Thrones style fantasy novel. When I finished I felt full on what was in comparison with the latter, fewer words.