Bastian embarks on a wild adventure when he enters the magical world of Fantastica, a doomed land filled with dragons, giants, and monsters, and risks his life to save Fantastica by going on a very dangerous quest.
I had big expectations for this book because it is one of my all time favorite movies. It is a magical movie even if a lot of it may be a bit dated and cheesy...I can still watch it and enjoy it. I still get upset when Artax sinks in the Swamp of Sadness, excited when Atreyu is saved by Falkor, and slightly freaked out when Morla pops her head out of her giant shell. I expected all of this within the book. I received it...and then some. I have to say (all jokes aside) that this book went on and on and on. Once I reached the halfway point on the book, the the plot of the first movie had run its course. I was now stumbling upon something entirely different. I did realize that there were aspects of the second movie that showed up from the book but did not do it justice. Actually, the second movie is really bad in comparing it to the second half of this book. I enjoyed the second half of the book but I fear that it may have gone on for at least 50 pages too long. I liked Bastien less and less as the pages went on. I rooted for Atreyu even when Bastien labeled him (wrongfully) and traitor. It makes sense for The Neverending Story to branch off and create numerous characters but I started having trouble remembering everyone. They were all getting their own story and the author cleverly let the reader know that their story continues...but at another time. Still, I did enjoy reading the book since it was my first time finally sitting down to do so after seeing the movie 50 times. Two things I want to mention about differences from the book to the movie. In the book, the world is called Fantastica so I truly don't understand why they would change it to Fantasia. I would have enjoyed the world all the same no matter what they named it so they could have kept the original name. The second thing is that Artax (Atreyu's horse) is a TALKING horse. I really don't think I would have been able to handle his death scene from the movie if he were to talk. Reading that scene in the book was one of the most depressing scenes I've read from a book in a really long time. Seriously...he's a talking horse, he's sinking, and he can't find the will to keep going. This could scar some people. Geez...It scarred me from the movie. Anyway, I would recommend this book to those that like Fantasy books but it really is not for everyone. It clocks in at almost 400 pages but seems to read like it is almost 500 pages.
Also, there are talks of re-doing the movie. I was dead set against this before having read the book. Now that I have read the book, I can see things that were left out that could be done a lot better with the technology we have these days.
