Stardust: Being a Romance within the Realms of Faerie, Book 2 of 4

Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess' Stardust #2

by Neil Gaiman, Charles Vess (Illustrator)

Tristran Thorn’s journey into Faerie grows far more eventful than he had ever imagined. A mysterious little travelling companion becomes an invaluable ally as witches and warlords of unimaginable power assemble elsewhere.

Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Comics, Romance, Fiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Amina (ⴰⵎⵉⵏⴰ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this second book, the reader gets introduced to the living people interested in the falling star and the first time Tristan sees her.

The Stormhold princes, well the living ones (and their father, who's obviously dead)



The very very old witches


And finally, the fallen star

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairy tale romance with a sharp edge of wit and harsh realism. Tristran, a boy adopted by a normal family in the heavily guarded town of Wall has a hard time fitting in do to his mysterious origins as an outsider in a town that never allows outsiders to enter. Though clumsy and a bit awkward, he develops a crush on the prettiest girl in the town named Victoria and vows to do anything to win her heart. Victoria jokingly tells him to travel to the Realm of Faerie to bring back a fallen star in return for her affection, only for Tristran to take her joke seriously and he actually sets out on the ridiculous journey.⁣
⁣
What ensues is a fantasy adventure reminiscent to The Hobbit and The Princess Bride, a coming of age tale full of comedic wit, danger and the discovery of what true love really means. Tristran finds the star he was asked to find, but things don't play out quite like he expected. And isn't that just like real life? Happily ever afters rarely come about like we expect them to. As a matter of fact, we usually discover our happiness where we least expect to find it. It rarely comes from the people, things or places we thought it would. That's where the edge of modernity cuts in.⁣

[Storm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second of 4 illustrated picture books, a collaboration between Charles Vess and Neil Gaiman, adapting his novel Stardust. It starts with the aging Lord of Stormhold throwing the Topaz into the sky, and telling 3 of his surviving 7 sons that whoever gets the star is the next Lord of Stormhold. Thus begins their race to the star! But they are not the only ones looking for the star as Tristan is in hot pursuit. The art is still the pastel watercolor style, but not as wonderful as in the first issue. The animals are wonderfully brought to life, as is Yvaine.

[Katherine Sigarán · Rating 5 out of 5]

The plot moves fast and you can already identify the protagonists and the antagonists and they are characters with interesting stories and motivations, this number continues to handle very well the cliffhangers always leave you wanting to take the next number quickly.

La trama avanza rápido y ya se puede identificar los protagonistas y los antagonistas y son personajes con historias y motivaciones interesantes, este número sigue manejando muy bien los cliffhangers siempre dejan con ganas de tomar el siguiente número rápido.

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second issue suffers from what I would consider to be the lack of minimal exposition and oft times confusing timelines; The story would benefit from just basic inclusions of minimal transitions such as "Meanwhile, elsewhere in Faerie...) as the story introduces a number of new characters without even rudimentary explanation. Minor quibbleS, but it does kind of mess with the overall flow.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stardust, as anybody would tell you, is a classic. But that incisive and yet darkly mesmerising tale has been given a fair (faery-like?) lustre in this illustrated version.
Gobbled up the pages in no time.
The next book would come hereafter.

[Ikayuro · Rating 3 out of 5]

And so the story continues!

I got a little confused in the middle of this one, as the story seems to start jumping characters really randomly, and it was somewhat hard to follow. The ending made me really curious for the next one, though!

[Surya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Illustrations were very good.
I liked the part where Tristran gets lost in sere wood and finds his path back.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10
M (see book 4 review)

[piCtrufa✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

El primer volumen me encantó. Recordemos: mostrándonos el pueblo de Muro, con el Mercado de las Hadas, algo que es muy mágico y hasta siniestro. Pero es que este volumen, ya en Faerie, me ha encantado. También debe ser porque a mí, algo que me gusta mucho en una novela, es el momento de presentación de personajes. Y aquí nos presentan a muchos de los secundarios que viven en Faerie y formarán parte de la trama. Porque muchos van a tener que encontrarse y casi que todos buscan lo mismo, a la estrella caída!

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written on the magical realm of the land of Fearie.
Loved this story however ending was sad, the movie had a better ending :)