Neil Gaiman’s Stardust is a standalone novel. If you take a day’s drive from London, over roads of asphalt that dwindle into a single dirt road lined with rocks and stone that winds through lost forests of endless green, you’ll find the small English town of Wall. Just east of the town is a high granite wall, from which the town takes its name. The only break in the wall is guarded by the town’s inhabitants, who maintain an unbroken record of never letting anyone through into the meadow behind them, except for one day, every nine years. On this day, a mysterious market takes residence in the meadow selling marvels and miracles from the world of the Faerie. It is here where the story begins, the tale that spawned when Tristran Thorn promised to bring back a fallen star for his beloved and traversed the wall that divides his home from that of the faeries.
Our lovely main character of Tristran Thorn is one is the most bland characters imaginable. He has almost no personality outside of idiocy and ignorance and only one singular motivation to drive him through the entire story. The only things resembling characteristics is his pigheaded determination to continue his quest and his immeasurable good fortune that follows him throughout the story. While Tristran fails as a character, he is actually good in concept. Stardust is an adult fairytale, as such, Tristran is reminiscent of most classic fairytale protagonists. He lacks a character so young readers can put themselves in his shoes. He lacks depth so the focus can be placed on the action around him. He lacks common sense and knowledge so readers can learn with him. He has many of the qualities of an average protagonist for young reader. As a result, the book becomes more enjoyable if you don’t analyze him. If you do, all his flaws as an established character are scene and some might find him annoying. He is not meant to be the center of attention; he is merely the backdrop of a larger story. Stardust is another great book by Neil Gaiman. The book advertises itself as a fairytale for adults and, in many ways it lives up to that. In many fantasy classics, there is only focus to the plot. There is one princess to save; one kingdom to rescue; one evil dragon to slay; and the character embarks on a long journey originating from humble means to complete the quest. Stardust follows this same overarching plot progression. Tristran Thorn starts from a simple farm life and is soon given a quest: in order to win the hand of his beloved, he must bring back a falling star. He immediately embarks on this quest and begins a slow meandering adventure through a world of faeries, unicorns, and witches.
While the pacing is undeniably slow at times, and an air of mystery and danger keeps the story interesting. This air of danger is supplemented by a few dark side plots of murder and betrayal. Unfortunately, all the side plots feed back into the main plot without being developed. While this may be Neil Gaiman’s way of emulating the singular focus of fairytales, it is sad to see some interesting stories take a backseat to the plot. By doing this, the story loses a lot of the complexity that is present in good novels. However, developing these side plots would be out of place in a book that tries so hard to be a fairytale.
This book is written like a fairytale or a story meant to be shared by a wandering storyteller. The prose is straight forward, but undeniably beautiful, evoking nostalgic memories of childhood stories. Neil Gaiman’s beautiful prose and excellent storytelling almost hide the simplistic characters and plot progression.