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Stardust (Gaiman novel)

Stardust AuthorNeil GaimanIllustratorCharles VessCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishGenreFantasyPublisherDC Comics1999Media typeHardback, Paperback, Audiobook (Read by the author)Pages256ISBN978-0-380-97728-4OCLC39313435
Stardust is a 1999 fantasy novel by British writer Neil Gaiman, usually published with illustrations by Charles Vess. Stardust has a different tone and style from most of Gaiman's prose fiction, being consciously written in the tradition of pre-Tolkien English fantasy, following in the footsteps of authors such as Lord Dunsany and Hope Mirrlees. It is concerned with the adventures of a young man from the village of Wall, which borders the magical land of Faerie.

In 2007, a film based on the novel was released to generally positive reviews. Gaiman has also occasionally made references to writing a sequel, or at least another book concerning the village of Wall.

The story begins in late April 1839, as John William Draper had just photographed the Moon and Charles Dickens was serialising Oliver Twist. The majority of the book takes place seventeen years later, starting around October 1856.

Plot

On the outskirts of Wall, a village in rural England, a fairy market is held every nine years on the other side of a stone wall (for which the village is named) dividing the magical realm of Faerie from our world. In the early Victorian era, young Dunstan Thorn meets a beautiful fairy woman enslaved by the witch Semele, at the market. He purchases a glass snowdrop from her with a kiss, and gives the flower to his fianc�e Daisy. Enthralled by the woman�s beauty, Dunstan meets her in the woods that night and makes love to her. A month later, Dunstan marries Daisy as planned. A little over nine months after, Dunstan receives a baby in a basket�his son by the fairy woman, Tristran.

Eighteen years later, Tristran is besotted with the beautiful Victoria Forester. While walking her home one night, he sees a falling star land in Faerie and vows to bring it to Victoria in exchange for a kiss, and perhaps her hand in marriage. Thinking he will never actually do it, Victoria agrees to do whatever he asks if he brings her the star. After Tristran tells him of the bargain, Dunstan gives Tristran the snowdrop and enables him to pass the wall�s guards by alluding to his fairy heritage.

At the castle of Stormhold, in Faerie, the dying eighty-first Lord of Stormhold gathers his sons�Primus, Tertius, and Septimus. He defenestrates the Power of Stormhold, a topaz pendant that marks its wearer as ruler of the dominion, and declares the first of the brothers to find it will be his successor. The pendant flies upward and knocks a star out of the sky (the same one Tristran promised to Victoria). The brothers depart together after their father�s death and burial; accompanied (unbeknownst to them) by the ghosts of their brothers whom they murdered for the succession. Septimus leaves on his own after poisoning Tertius at an inn. Meanwhile, the Lilim, a trio of ancient witches, learn of the fallen star and plan to hunt it down and eat its heart to regain their youth. The eldest of the Lilim, the witch-queen, is chosen to find the star and consumes the remains of the last star�s heart.

Tristran meets a small, hairy man and they discover that Tristran can magically navigate through and pinpoint any location in Faerie. The hairy man gives Tristran new clothes, a magic chain, and a candle-stub which allows one to travel great distances quickly while it burns. Tristran uses the candle to reach the star, but is surprised to find that it is actually a young woman named Yvaine, whose leg was broken in the fall. Resolving to take her to Victoria anyway, Tristran tethers the angry Yvaine to him with the silver chain; however, the candle burns out before he can return.

Tristran makes Yvaine a crutch and they travel on foot. Arriving at a clearing, they witness a bloody fight between a lion and a unicorn over a golden crown. Tristran saves the unicorn, who is losing, by surrendering the crown to the lion. Yvaine comforts the wounded unicorn and escapes on it when Tristran leaves in search of food.

The witch-queen encounters Semele and asks to share her meal. Semele gives the witch-queen meat cooked with Limbus grass, which causes anyone who tastes it to speak nothing but the truth, forcing her to reveal the purpose of her journey. The enraged witch-queen puts a curse on her, which prevents her from seeing, touching or perceiving the star.

On discovering that Yvaine is gone, Tristran is helped by a talking tree. The tree tells Tristran that there are people looking for Yvaine and of an approaching carriage that Tristran can't miss. She then gives Tristran a leaf and says to listen to it when he needs help the most. Tristran manages to catch the carriage and meets Primus, the carriage�s driver, and persuades him to allow Tristran to ride with him.

In the mountains, the witch-queen transforms her chariot into an inn to catch Yvaine, who is coming her way. Yvaine falls for the trap, and the witch-queen prepares to carve out her heart when Tristran and Primus, who have also been attracted by the inn, arrive. The witch-queen decides to delay killing Yvaine until she has dealt with the two unwanted guests. She attempts to poison Tristran while he is tending to the horses, but the unicorn, which is also lodged in the stable, warns him just in time. He rushes back to the inn as the witch-queen murders Primus. Tristran escapes with Yvaine by forming a makeshift candle (as advised by the leaf) from the remnants of the magic candle he obtained earlier, burning his left hand in the process. Shortly afterwards, Septimus arrives and finds Primus' body. He sets off in search of the witch-queen, to fulfill an obligation to avenge his slain brother, and the pendant, to claim his birthright as the last surviving son of Stormhold.

Tristran and Yvaine end up stranded on a cloud, miles above Faerie, when the candle burns out; but are rescued by the crew of a flying ship. The captain of the ship agrees to help them on their way back to Wall. Tristran expresses regret for chaining Yvaine; but though he longer intends to force her to go with him to Wall, she reveals that�as the custom of her kind dictates�because he has saved her life, she is nonetheless obliged to accompany him.

Upon parting company with the ship and its crew, Tristran and Yvaine set off for Wall, and, after several adventures, encounter Semele. Because of the witch-queen's curse, Semele is unable to see Yvaine, but she agrees to transport Tristran the rest of the way to Wall, as she is on her way to the upcoming market herself. Tristran obtains a promise from Semele that he will arrive at their destination unharmed. Though Semele agrees, this does not prevent her using the snowdrop to transform him into a dormouse for the duration of the journey. Yvaine also rides in Madam Semele's wagon, unbeknownst to the witch. Septimus, meanwhile, plots his attack on the witch-queen, but is himself killed by his intended victim, without reclaiming the pendant. Semele arrives at the Wall market and Tristran is returned to human form.

Tristran leaves Yvaine and crosses back into Wall, to tell Victoria that he has returned with the star. Meanwhile, Yvaine realises she has fallen in love with Tristran and, if he fulfills his promise to bring her to Victoria, she will not only lose him to another woman, but upon crossing the wall and leaving Faerie, will be transformed into a piece of rock. Upon meeting Tristran, a dismayed Victoria reveals she is already engaged to Mr. Monday, Tristran's old employer. She nonetheless tells Tristran that she will keep her promise and marry him. Tristran, not wishing to force Victoria to marry him against her will, reminds her the promise wasn't to marry him, it was to give him anything he desired, and that he desires that she marry her own love, Monday. Tristran later returns to Yvaine at the market. She is delighted to learn that Victoria will be married to someone else, and Tristran that returns her love for him.

Meanwhile, the fairy woman who serves Semele is freed; as her enslavement ends when the moon loses her child (Yvaine), if it happens in a week when two Mondays come together (the marriage of Victoria and Mr. Monday). The woman reclaims her title as Lady Una, only daughter of the eighty-first Lord of Stormhold, and demands payment for her services, which Semele must give on pain of losing her powers. Una seeks out Tristran and Yvaine and reveals herself as Tristran's mother. As such, Tristran is rightfully the last male heir of Stormhold, and Yvaine presents him with the pendant, which she has been carrying.

Yvaine is approached by the witch-queen, whose youth has run out and is now older than ever. Yvaine, no longer fearful, tells the witch-queen that she has given her heart to Tristran. The witch-queen claims she'd have done better to give it to the Lillim, since Tristran is sure to break it as all men do. The witch-queen then departs, anxious of the punishment her sisters will inflict upon her for failing.

Una returns to Stormhold to rule in her son�s stead, while Tristran and Yvaine travel throughout Faerie. Many years later, Tristran and Yvaine finally return to Stormhold, and Tristran assumes the lordship. When he eventually grows old and dies, Yvaine continues to reign as the immortal ruler of Stormhold.

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