Stardust

Stardust is a 1999 fantasy novel by the British writer Neil Gaiman, usually published with illustrations by Charles Vess. It has a different tone and style from most of Gaiman's prose fiction, being consciously written in the tradition of pre-Tolkien English fantasy and following in the footsteps of authors such as Lord Dunsany and Hope Mirrlees.

The story is concerned with the adventures of a young man from the village of Wall, which borders the magical land of Faerie. The narrative opens in late April 1839, in a period setting that Gaiman establishes by reference to contemporary events, including the first photograph of the moon and the serialisation of a Dickens novel, and the breach in the wall is the single point of crossing between the two worlds.

A film based on the novel was released in 2007 to generally positive reviews, and Gaiman has occasionally referred to writing a sequel or at least another book set in the village. The book is often described as a fairy tale for adults, which reflects both its deliberate archaism and the fact that its plot, a quest undertaken for the sake of a promise, is drawn from the older English tradition rather than from the modern genre.