Review: Stardust by Neil Gaiman

He imagined he could see the very faces of the stars; pale, they were, and smiling gently, as if they had spent so much time above the world, watching the scrambling and the joy and the pain of the people below them, that they could not help being amused every time another little human believed itself the center of its world, as each of us does.

Tristan Thorn dreams of little else other than winning the affections of the beautiful Victoria Forester. And when, one evening, they spot a shooting star hurtling through the night sky, he makes the ultimate romantic gesture and promises to bring it to her in exchange for a kiss. His quest takes him out of the village of Wall where he has lived all his life, and into the land of Faerie where he finds a whole lot more than he'd bargained for! But Tristan is not the only one in pursuit of the star; hot on his heels rides a witch on the hunt for everlasting life and a prince determined to rule the kingdom. Will Tristan succeed in bringing home his prize? Or will his aims change along the way?

In my review of A Game of Thrones I expressed my relief that, despite having watched and loved the series, the book turned out to be everything I'd hoped for and more! So with Stardust being one of my absolute favourite films, I went into this book confident that it too could surpass all expectations. Unfortunately, in this case, I was left disappointed. Basically, I wanted a fairytale. And I didn't get one. For once in my life I wanted cute, I wanted sweet, I wanted romance, I wanted the knight in shining armour, I wanted everything that the film had led me to believe I would get, and I got none of it! The tone was flippant without being particularly humorous and I found the writing downright lazy in parts. Several events occurred because 'they just did', realisations seemed to dawn on people without any need for evidence, and the ending sadly just flopped. Maybe I'm more of a traditionalist than I had previously thought and wanted to be left with that warm fuzzy feeling that, in all fairness, Neil Gaiman never promised to deliver. Overall, Stardust was entertaining and certainly had its moments, but if you're expecting a fun-filled adventure with a happy-ever-after akin to the film then you might be sorely disappointed.

RATING: ★★★☆☆

Lou x

Review: A Game of Throne by George R. R. Martin

Winter is coming...

The Hand of the King is dead and the stability of the Seven Kingdoms is hanging by a thread when Robert Baratheon, Ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, rides North to Winterfell to ask his old friend Lord Eddard Stark if he will take the dead Jon Arryn's place. Although loathed to leave his home and family, Ned begrudgingly accepts when word reaches Winterfell that the circumstances surrounding Arryn's death are believed to have been more than a little suspicious. The kingdom is crawling with secrets, yet knowledge comes with a price. For when you play a game of thrones you win or you die.

It's always going to be hard to read (and review) a book objectively when you've already seen its counterpart on screen. Before I began A Game of Thrones I knew that one of two things was going to happen; either 1) it was going to be as good as, or even more spectacular than the tv series and I was going to love it, or 2) it wasn't going to live up to the high expectations generated through watching the programme and it was going to be a huge disappointment. Luckily the former prevailed; this book was amazing and I absolutely adored it! As it turns out, the tv adaptation had stuck surprisingly faithfully to the original story so I found I had to use little imagination to picture scenes and settings clearly, and it was probably even a benefit in helping to negotiate the many characters that crop up throughout this epic saga! I didn't feel as though this hampered my enjoyment of the story in any way, though it would have been very interesting to have read this without being able to preempt the plot! Although mainly set in the fictional land of Westeros, I found that its similarity to Medieval Britain made it easier to connect with the story, and with battles and sword-fighting and kings and tournaments, it almost read like a piece of historical fiction as opposed to fantasy. The plot itself was rich and luxurious, unfolding through the viewpoints of eight of the main characters in their own eponymous chapters, making a book which was wide in scope feel remarkably intimate. Despite its length, I was completely hooked for the entire 864 pages and can hardly wait to get on to the next one! A Clash of Kings, I'm coming for you!!

RATING: ★★★★★

Lou x