Reunited with Yvaine, the two slowly meandered through the bustling Wall fair, waiting for Tristran's return. Under the light of the full moon, Yvaine came face to face with none other than the elderly witch Mormo. But the once terrifying crone was now a weak, powerless shadow of her former self, stripped of her magic and barely clinging to life. Yvaine looked upon her not with fear or anger, but pity for the ruin she had become. Tristran in his turn is unaware that the star falling in Fairy is actually a girl and thus definitely not something that can be easily “brought” to anybody, or that there are powerful beings also hunting the star for their own reasons, such as the hideous witch sisters the Lilim who seek to eat the heart of a star and regain their youth. Note: I listened to the BBC dramatisation of this with a full cast. While my review is specific to that version of the book, the story, - and to my understanding - the dialogue and prose are the same as the original novel.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique: Young Tristran Thorn will do anything to win the cold heart of beautiful Victoria--even fetch her the star they watch fall from the night sky. But to do so, he must enter the unexplored lands on the other side of the ancient wall that gives their tiny village its name. Beyond that old stone wall, Tristran learns, lies Faerie--where nothing, not even a fallen star, is what he imagined. Towards the end of the novel, it is mentioned that Tristran was rumoured to have been instrumental in breaking the power of the Unseelie Court. [8] In Scottish folklore, faeries are often divided into the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, the Seelie being the faeries benevolently inclined towards humans and the Unseelie being the malevolent or mischievous faeries. [9] Awards [ edit ]Meanwhile, beyond the wall, momentous events were unfolding in the kingdom of Stormhold. The ancient Lord of Stormhold, ruler of the land, had finally passed away, leaving no clear heir to assume the throne. For of his seven sons, only three yet lived: Primus, the eldest and most honorable, Tertius, the brutish and arrogant third brother, and Septimus, the cunning and ruthless seventh son who would stop at nothing to claim the crown. Briggs, Katharine Mary (1976) An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Boogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures. New York, Pantheon Books. "Seelie Court", p.353. ISBN 0-394-73467-X

Having said that, I was a little disappointed that the world was called Fairy, yet there were no fairies, at least we didn’t come across any. Besides that I highly enjoyed the world. How positively charming and delightful. Stardust is so beautifully executed with the blending of folklore and fairytales in our own world, albeit two hundred years ago. Gaiman's execution of the prose and simple idyllic story telling truly lend to the creation of this world that feels real. From the overused tropes to the magically unique ideas, this is a brilliant book. I challenge you to Mortal Kombat!" screams the first Trekker, whipping out a Bat'leth, spittle flying from his mouth as fury transforms his features into something alien and cruel.The only thing that threw me out of it was the weird sex. Gaiman always (always) strong-arms some sex into the books and while it did further the plot, I think that the events would've played out exactly the same without the naked bits thrown in to titillate the audience. One fateful night, as young Tristran and Victoria gazed at the stars, they witnessed a blazing star fall from the heavens. In a boastful wager, Victoria promised her hand in marriage if Tristran would cross the wall and retrieve the fallen star for her, believing the feat impossible. Determined to prove his love, Tristran confided in his father that he intended to cross through the breach in the ancient wall to find the star beyond in Faerie. It was only then that Dunstan realized his son was destined to return to his rightful home.

Damn you. Damn you straight to hell. You've written beautiful faerie stories in your plainspoken postmodern prose, and left my own projected frontiers woefully trodden. It has nothing to do with your brilliance. Had I been born before you I would most likely be the one writing clever novels about fallen stars and sly gods. I would've, I swear! Dustan Thorn made a mistake a long time ago, and Thristan Thorn was born. Pretty clear is not fully human, but he still grows up in the town of Wall, which divided the magic world from ours. To win the love of the girl he cherishes, he promises her a shooting star and he obviously accomplishes that without even being stabbed, poisoned, choked and with all the fingers. Faerie is not a safe place for anybody. Tristran Thorn: The book's main character (renamed "Tristan" in the movie adaptation), [3] a half-Faerie, half-human boy raised by his father Dunstan Thorn and stepmother Daisy, whom he believes to be his mother. Tristran foolishly promises to retrieve a fallen star for the girl he wants to be his sweetheart, Victoria, and so unexpectedly finds the beautiful Yvaine. Still, it's not so much the sex & violence that disturbed me (although if I liked that kind of thing I wouldn't be reading fantasy); it was that they were included in a tale lauded for its childlike adventure and whimsy. Even the description here on goodreads compares it to Princess Bride & the Neverending Story - an insult beyond comprehension to works which demonstrate that, with skill, an author can in fact write a fairy tale for adults without employing R rated tactics. Yet when Tristran returned to her, Victoria's reception was not what he had so idealized. For in his absence, the vain Victoria had foreseen that Tristran might indeed make good on his word, and came to regret making a drunken pledge of betrothal she had not truly meant. She confessed to Tristran that she never had faith that he would cross the wall and retrieve the fallen star, and that while she remained bound by her oath to marry, she rued having made it.I've read the book a while ago - after having known the movie for some time. As for the past few Christmases, the BBC made a dramatisation of one of Neil Gaiman's books again - and what a great job they made of it! Another new one on me, which is worrying because I'm usually good at spotting the BBC adaptations of Neil Gaiman. Because nowadays reader´s have pretty high expectations. Although it might be a bit unfair and caused by Gaimans prodigy status, so it´s a bit his own fault too. Other fantasy authors could mass produce good, average works and series, but as soon as one has written outstanding works, the quality shouldn´t be lowered anymore. An impossible task for poor legendary writers.