''Stardust'' is a 1999

fantasy novel Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fa ...

by British writer

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

, usually published with illustrations by

Charles Vess Charles Vess (born June 10, 1951) is an American fantasy artist and comics artist who has specialized in the illustration of myths and fairy tales. His influences include British "Golden Age" book illustrator Arthur Rackham, Czech Art Nouveau pain ...

. ''Stardust'' has a different tone and style from most of Gaiman's prose fiction, being consciously written in the tradition of pre-

Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

English fantasy, following in the footsteps of authors such as

Lord Dunsany Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957, usually Lord Dunsany) was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. Over 90 volumes of fiction, essays, poems and plays appeared in his lifetime.Lanham, M ...

and

Hope Mirrlees (Helen) Hope Mirrlees (8 April 1887 – 1 August 1978) was a British poet, novelist, and translator. She is best known for the 1926 ''Lud-in-the-Mist'', a fantasy novel and influential classic,David Langford and Mike Ashley, "Mirrlees, Hope", i ...

. 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 John William Draper (May 5, 1811 – January 4, 1882) was an English-born American scientist, philosopher, physician, chemist, historian and photographer. He is credited with producing the first clear photograph of a female face (1839–40) and ...

had just photographed the Moon and

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

was serialising ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...

''. The majority of the book takes place seventeen years later, starting around October 1856.

Main characters

* Tristran Thorn: The book's main character (renamed "Tristan" in the

movie adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

), 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 (see below), and so unexpectedly finds the beautiful Yvaine. * Yvaine: A fallen

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

, which Tristran vows to find and bring to Victoria Forester. In Faerie, stars are living creatures. Yvaine appears to be immortal, but not invulnerable. She is pursued by the Lilim and the surviving sons of the Lord of Stormhold, who want her for their own reasons. When Tristran realises his love for her, he abandons his courtship of Victoria Forester, and Yvaine marries him despite their inability to have children. * Dunstan Thorn: Tristran's father. Main character in the beginning of the book. He visited the Wall Market to find a gift for his sweetheart Daisy Hempstock, and ended up fathering Tristran by Madame Semele's abused slave Faerie girl, Lady Una. Prior to this, he had bought a crystal snowdrop from this girl, and later gives the flower to Tristran. He is married to Daisy, who is the mother of Tristran's half-sister Louisa. * Victoria Forester: A resident of Wall described as "the most beautiful girl for a hundred miles around". She is the daughter of Bridget Comfrey and Tommy Forester. Although Tristran is infatuated with her, she does not return his feelings and does not take his promise to bring her the fallen star seriously at first. She ultimately marries a man called Monday and thereby unwittingly frees Tristran's mother, Lady Una, from slavery. * The Lord of Stormhold: The eighty-first Lord of Stormhold is an old man who rules Stormhold until his death. At the beginning of ''Stardust'', he has four dead sons (Secundus, Quartus, Quintus, and Sextus) and three living ones (Primus, Tertius, and Septimus), in addition to his long-lost daughter Una. The sons are imaginatively named, in Latin, Second, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth (all dead) and First, Third and Seventh (living). Daughter Una is named for a feminine form of the Latin unum, meaning one. The dead sons appear as ghostly observers, while the living sons constantly plot to kill each other to succeed their father as Lord of Stormhold. * Lord Septimus: The youngest and most ruthless of the Lords of Stormhold. He is, by nature, a skilled assassin and has succeeded in murdering the majority of his family. * Lord Primus: The oldest of the Lords of Stormhold. In comparison with his brothers, he is benevolent, compassionate and reasonable. * Una: A cat-eared faerie girl of great beauty who works as a slave for Madame Semele until released by an improbable occurrence that fulfills the conditions of her debt. Una suffers constant abuse at the hands of Madame Semele, being beaten and called a "slattern". When not toiling for the

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...

-woman, she is kept in the form of a multicoloured bird chained by a silver thread to a Gypsy wagon. She is later revealed to be the Lady Una, only daughter of the Lord of Stormhold, and Tristran's birth mother. * Madame Semele/Ditchwater Sal: A witch, and a member of the Sisterhood to which the Lilim belong. The witch-queen knew Semele as Ditchwater Sal when she was "a young chit of a thing". On their first encounter, Semele drugs the witch-queen's food with a magical substance that causes her to speak only the truth, thus forcing her to blurt out the truth of the fallen star. Semele plots to find the star first and restore her own youth, but the witch-queen curses her so that she will never perceive the star in any way. * The Lilim: Three old women of great power. The eldest of the three is called "The Witch-Queen", though they are also called by this title collectively. They are never named, as they lost their names long ago, but the eldest adopts the alias "Morwanneg" at one point. The Lilim were once the beautiful queens of a magical kingdom of witches; when it was lost beneath the sea, centuries of age caught up with them. They seek the fallen star because, by consuming her heart, they will be granted centuries of youth and beauty. Using magic counteracts the effect; therefore with each spell cast by the witch-queen, she grows older and uglier. In the

, they are named Lamia, Mormo, and Empusa, but none of their backstory is included.

Plot

Every nine years, in the village of Wall in rural England, a market is held the other side of a stone wall (for which the village is named) dividing the realm of

Faerie Fairyland (''Faerie'', Scottish ''Elfame'', c.f. Old Norse ''Álfheimr'') in English and Scottish folklore is the fabulous land or abode of fairies or ''fays''. Old French (Early Modern English ) referred to an illusion or enchantment, the land ...

from our world. In the early

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

, young Dunstan Thorn meets Una, a

fairy A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...

woman enslaved by the witch Semele, at the market. Dunstan purchases a glass snowdrop from her with a kiss; and, later that night, makes love to her in the woods. Months later, Dunstan receives a baby in a basket—his and Una's son, Tristran. Eighteen years later, Tristran is infatuated 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. Victoria agrees to reward him with whatever he desires—including her hand in marriage—if he succeeds. 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 Lord of Stormhold throws his topaz pendant out the window and declares that the first of his three surviving sons—Primus, Tertius, and Septimus—to retrieve 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 in search of the pendant after their father's death. Septimus poisons Tertius at an inn. Meanwhile, the Lilim, a trio of ancient witches, learn of the fallen star and plan to 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; who gives Tristran a silver chain, and a magic 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. Resolving to take her to Victoria anyway, Tristran tethers Yvaine to him with the chain; however, the candle burns out before he can return. Tristran and Yvaine travel on foot; however, Yvaine escapes on a unicorn when Tristran unchains her and leaves in search of food. Meanwhile, the witch-queen encounters Semele; who deceives the witch-queen into disclosing the purpose of her journey. The enraged witch-queen puts a curse on her, which prevents her from seeing, touching or perceiving the star. After discovering that Yvaine is gone, Tristran manages to catch a ride in Primus' carriage. The witch-queen conjures a wayside inn to catch Yvaine, who is drawing near. Yvaine arrives at the inn, followed shortly after by Tristran and Primus. The witch-queen attempts to poison Tristran but the unicorn 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 from the remnants of the magic candle. 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. 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. Though Tristran expresses that he no longer intends to force Yvaine to accompany him, she reveals that—by the custom of her kind—because he has saved her life, she is nonetheless obliged to do so. Upon parting company with the ship, Tristran and Yvaine set off for Wall. They encounter Semele, who, because of the witch-queen's curse, is unable to see Yvaine. Semele agrees to transport Tristran the rest of the way to Wall; and Tristran obtains a promise from Semele that he will arrive at their destination unharmed. This, however, does not prevent Semele using the snowdrop to transform him into a dormouse for the duration of the journey. Yvaine also rides in Semele's caravan, unbeknownst to the witch. Septimus, meanwhile, plots his attack on the witch-queen, but is himself killed by his intended victim. At the market, Tristran leaves Yvaine and crosses back into Wall to meet Victoria. Meanwhile, Yvaine realizes she has fallen in love with Tristran; but learns that if she crosses the wall and leaves Faerie, she will be transformed into a piece of rock. A dismayed Victoria informs Tristran that she is already engaged to Robert Monday. She never believed he would actually go through with his quest; but is nonetheless willing to keep her promise and marry him. Tristran, not wishing to force Victoria into marrying him, reminds her that marriage was not the promise, but rather to give him anything he desired. He says 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 that Tristran reciprocates her love. Meanwhile, Una 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 Monday). Una seeks out Tristran and Yvaine and reveals herself as Tristran's mother and the late Lord of Stormhold's only daughter. 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 afraid, explains that her heart is no longer for the taking as she has given it to Tristran. 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.

Publication history

''Stardust'' was originally conceived by Gaiman and Vess as a "story book with pictures", created by both, to be published by American company

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. During an interview to be included in the audio book, Neil Gaiman explained how one day while driving he had seen a wall on the side of the road and had conceived the idea of Faerie being behind the wall. This sparked an idea in Gaiman's head about an American novelist who moved to England where he would find out about this wall; at this time, the book was to be called ''Wall''. Soon afterwards, Gaiman was nominated for a literary award, which he won, and at a celebratory party for the award he saw a shooting star and immediately came up with the idea of ''Stardust''. Gaiman dragged Vess out of a party that he was at and outlined the plot to him and Vess agreed to do the illustrations. Initially, ''Stardust'' was released in 1997 as a

prestige format American comic book tropes are common elements and literary devices related to American comic books. Continuity Comics continuity almost-always refers to the existence and use of a shared universe, although any comic can have internal continui ...

four-issue comic

mini-series A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

. ''Stardust'' came out once a month in a square-bound, high-gloss booklet with high grade paper, high quality color and no advertisements. Gaiman and Vess originally intended the story to be released complete, as a single book, which would better reproduce the painted illustrations of Vess and be a "story book" for all ages, and a release in this format was made in 1998. There was both a hardback () and a

trade paperback Trade paperback may refer to: * Trade paperback, a higher-quality softcover version of a book * Trade paperback (comics) In comics in the United States, a trade paperback (shortened: TPB or trade) is a collection of stories originally published ...

edition (). It is more accurately titled Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess' ''Stardust (Being A Romance Within The Realms of Faerie)''. The hardback edition is quarter-bound in faux leather with the author's names, title and several stars inlaid in foil. It also has reproductions of the serialized version's covers and many sketches by Vess. The trade paperback has a very different cover design and illustrations by Vess, and has subsequently been reprinted with another different cover design. Gaiman retains the

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

to the text and in 1999 decided, encouraged by publisher Avon, to publish ''Stardust'' as a conventional novel in hardback without illustrations. There was also a subsequent UK hardcover edition, from

Hodder Headline Headline Publishing Group is a British publishing brand and former company. It was founded in 1986 by Tim Hely Hutchinson. In 1993, Headline bought Hodder & Stoughton and the company became Hodder Headline Ltd. In 1999, Hodder Headline was acqui ...

. The book also proved popular with readers of the "romance" genre, although it is generally considered part of the fantasy genre. Thus the paperback publication was originally given three different covers which when placed side by side had one background image and a different primary image including a handsome man holding a woman in a passionate embrace, although this cover concept was never used. In 1999, Charles Vess' Green Man Press produced a portfolio as a benefit for Charles Vess' wife Karen, injured in a car accident, titled ''A Fall of Stardust'', which contained two

chapbook A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch. In early modern Europe a chapbook was a type of printed street literature. Produced cheaply, chapbooks were commonly small, paper-covered bookle ...

s and a series of art plates. The first chapbook, written by Gaiman, comprised "Wall: A Prologue" short story, "Septimus' Triolet" poem, "Song of the Little Hairy Man", and "The Old Warlock's Reverie: A Pantoum" poem. The second chapbook was a short story entitled ''The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse'' by

Susanna Clarke Susanna Mary Clarke (born 1 November 1959) is an English author known for her debut novel ''Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'' (2004), a Hugo Award-winning alternative history. Clarke began ''Jonathan Strange'' in 1993 and worked on it during her ...

. Art plates were illustrated by

William Stout William Stout (born September 18, 1949) is an American fantasy artist and illustrator with a specialization in paleoart, paleontological art. His paintings have been shown in over seventy exhibitions, including twelve one-man shows. He has worke ...

Mike Mignola Mike Mignola (; born September 16, 1960) is an American comics artist and writer best known for creating ''Hellboy'' for Dark Horse Comics, part of a shared universe of titles including ''B.P.R.D.'', '' Abe Sapien'', '' Lobster Johnson'', '' Wit ...

Terri Windling Terri Windling (born December 3, 1958 in Fort Dix, New Jersey) is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. She has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and the Bram Stoke ...

Bryan Talbot Bryan Talbot (born 24 February 1952) is a British comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of ''The Adventures of Luther Arkwright'' and its sequel '' Heart of Empire'', as well as the ''Grandville'' series of books. He collaborated ...

Jill Thompson Jill Thompson (born November 20, 1966) is an American illustrator and writer who has worked for stage, film, and television. Well known for her work on Neil Gaiman's '' The Sandman'' characters and her own '' Scary Godmother'' series, she has wor ...

Paul Chadwick Paul Chadwick (born 1957) is an American comic book creator best known for his series ''Concrete'' about a normal man trapped in a stone body. Biography Born in Seattle, Chadwick grew up in its suburb Medina, where his father, Stephen F. Chadw ...

P. Craig Russell Philip Craig Russell (born October 30, 1951) is an American comics artist, writer, and illustrator. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards. Russell was the first mainstream comic book creator to come out as openly gay. Biography ...

Mark Crilley Mark Crilley (born May 21, 1966) is an American comic creator, artist and children's book author and illustrator. He is the creator of '' Miki Falls'' and '' Brody's Ghost''. He produces instructional videos on drawing on YouTube in various s ...

, Elizabeth Johns,

Michael Zulli Michael Zulli is an American artist known for his work as an animal and wildlife illustrator and as a comic book illustrator. Career Michael Zulli's career in the comics industry began in October 1986 with ''The Puma Blues'', on which he collabor ...

, Robin Mullins, Lisa Snellings, Terry Moore,

Tony DiTerlizzi Tony M. DiTerlizzi (born September 6, 1969) is an American fantasy artist, children's book creator, and motion picture producer. In the gaming industry, he is best known for his work in the collectible card game ''Magic: The Gathering'' and on ...

Linda Medley Linda Medley (born May 17, 1964 in Stockton, California) is an American comic book author and illustrator, known for her '' Castle Waiting'' series of comic books and graphic novels. Biography and early career Born in Stockton, California, Medley ...

Lorenzo Mattotti Lorenzo Mattotti (born 24 January 1954) is an Italian comics artist as well as an illustrator. His illustrations have been published in magazines such as ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'', ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'', ''The New Yorker'', ...

Zander Cannon Alexander Cannon (born November 1, 1972) is an American cartoonist, known for his work on books such as '' Top 10'', '' Smax'' and ''Kaijumax''. Career Cannon's first professional comics work was ''The Chainsaw Vigilante'', a spin-off from ''The ...

Dave McKean David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpt ...

, Jeff Smith,

Trina Robbins Trina Robbins (born Trina Perlson; August 17, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first female artists in that movement. In the 1980s, Robbins beca ...

Steve Leialoha Steve Leialoha (born January 27, 1952) is an Americans, American comics artist whose work first came to prominence in the 1970s. He has worked primarily as an inker, though occasionally as a penciller, for several publishers, including Marvel Comi ...

Gary Gianni Gary Gianni (born 1954) is an American comics artist best known for his eight years illustrating the syndicated newspaper comic ''Prince Valiant''. After Gianni graduated from the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in 1976, he worked for the ''Chicag ...

, Janine Johnston,

Stan Sakai is a Japanese-born American cartoonist and comic book creator. He is best known as the creator of the comic series ''Usagi Yojimbo''. Career He began his career by lettering comic books (notably ''Groo the Wanderer'' by Sergio Aragonés and Mar ...

Michael Kaluta Michael William Kaluta, sometimes credited as Mike Kaluta or Michael Wm. Kaluta (born August 25, 1947), is an American comics artist and writer best known for his acclaimed 1970s adaptation of the pulp magazine hero ''The Shadow'' with writer Den ...

Moebius Moebius, Möbius or Mobius may refer to: People * August Ferdinand Möbius (1790–1868), German mathematician and astronomer * Theodor Möbius (1821–1890), German philologist * Karl Möbius (1825–1908), German zoologist and ecologist * Paul ...

Rebecca Guay Rebecca Guay is an artist known early in her career as an illustrator, commissioned for work on role-playing games, collectible card games, comic books, as well as work on children's literature. Guay subsequently turned primarily toward gal ...

Geof Darrow Geofrey "Geof" Darrow (born October 21, 1955) is an American comic book artist, best known for his work on comic series ''Shaolin Cowboy'', '' Hard Boiled'' and ''The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot'', which was adapted into an animated televisi ...

Brian Froud Brian Froud (born 1947) is an English fantasy illustrator and conceptual designer. He is most widely known for his 1978 book ''Faeries (book), Faeries'' with Alan Lee (illustrator), Alan Lee, and as the conceptual designer of the Jim Henson fil ...

and

. Several plates were coloured by Eric Olive.

Todd Klein Todd Klein (born January 28, 1951) is an American comic book letterer, logo designer, and occasional writer, primarily for DC Comics. Biography Early career Todd Klein broke into comics in the summer of 1977, hired by DC Comics as a staff prod ...

worked with Charles Vess to create the unique logo. Those who order this collection directly from Green Man Press received an additional art plate by

Sergio Aragonés Sergio Aragonés Domenech ( , ; born September 6, 1937) is a Spanish/Mexican cartoonist and writer best known for his contributions to '' Mad'' magazine and creating the comic book ''Groo the Wanderer''. Among his peers and fans, Aragonés is w ...

. In July 2007, a new hardcover edition was published by DC's

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

imprint, containing approximately fifty pages of new material, including new artwork and information on the production of the book. Gaiman had potential ideas for more books following on from Stardust, one called "Hellflier" set about 5 years later, and another called "Wall" set about 150 years later. Musical comedian Tim Minchin expressed interest in the idea of adapting the story into a stage musical during a Facebook Live Q&A for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in October 2017 while discussing ''

Matilda The Musical ''Roald Dahl's Matilda'', simply known as ''Matilda'' or ''Matilda the Musical'', is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and a book by Dennis Kelly, based on the 1988 novel ''Matilda'' by Roald Dahl. The musical's narrative c ...

''.

Cultural references

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 Seelie is a term for fairies in Scottish folklore, appearing in the form of seely wights or The Seelie Court. The Northumbria#Language, Northern and Middle English word (also , , ), and the Scots language, Scots form , mean "happy", "lucky" or "bl ...

. 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.

Awards

The original DC Comics series was nominated for the

Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards The ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG'') magazine administered the annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1982 to circa 2010, with the first awards announced in issue #500 (June 17, 1983). Upon taking over as ''CBG'' editors, Don and Maggie T ...

for Favorite Limited Series for 1998 and 1999."17th Annual Comics Buyers Guide Fan Awards (1999)"
Hahn Library. Accessed 22 Jan. 2020. The collected edition of the series was also nominated for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Reprint Graphic Album for 1999. In 1999, the

Mythopoeic Society The Mythopoeic Society (MythSoc) is a non-profit organization devoted to the study of mythopoeic literature, particularly the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and C. S. Lewis, all members of The Inklings, an informal group of write ...

awarded it the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature. The novel was nominated for the Locus Award that same year. In 2000, it received an

Alex Award The Alex Awards annually recognize "ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18". Essentially, the award is a listing by the American Library Association parallel to its annual Best Books for Young A ...

from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

Adaptations

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

produced a two-part radio adaptation first broadcast 17 December 2016, dramatized and directed by

Dirk Maggs David George Dirk Maggs (born St. Helier, Jersey, February 1955) is a British freelance writer and director. During his career as a Senior Producer in BBC Radio he made radio drama adopting a cinematic-sounding approach, combining filmic story c ...

and featuring

Eleanor Bron Eleanor Bron (born 14 March 1938) is an English stage, film and television actress, and an author. Her film roles include Ahme in the Beatles musical ''Help!'' (1965), the Doctor in ''Alfie'' (1966), Margaret Spencer in '' Bedazzled'' (1967), an ...

, Matthew Beard as Tristan and

Sophie Rundle Sophie Rundle (born 21 April 1988) is an English actress, best known for portraying Ada Thorne in the BBC One historical crime drama television series ''Peaky Blinders'', Ann Walker in BBC One and HBO's period drama '' Gentleman Jack'', Vicky B ...

as Yvaine.

Citations

External links

''Stardust'' on Neilgaiman.com

Neil Gaiman: Adults deserve good fairy tales, too

Stardust
at Worlds Without End
Cover art history
at Upcoming4.me {{DEFAULTSORT:Stardust (Novel) 1999 British novels 1999 fantasy novels Fantasy comics British fantasy novels Vertigo Comics titles Novels by Neil Gaiman High fantasy novels British novels adapted into films Witchcraft in written fiction it:Stardust (romanzo)