The Neverending Story is definitely a story I grew up with, just not in book form. I watched the movie a few times as a kid and it traumatized me each time to the point I stopped watching it after our VCR player died and we didn't get the movie on DVD. There were elements of the movie that I loved, but there were some scenes I just found terrifying.
Now in adulthood, I recently re-bought the DVD and I love the movie, but only now did I notice it's actually based on a book. So after borrowing it from the library: Let's have a look! Spoilers ahead!
A boy named Bastian steals a mysterious book from a local bookstore, a book about the world of Fantastica. Its endless lands are dying and being devoured by the Nothing, and it seems only Bastian is able to save them. He embarks on a journey with the books protagonist, Atreyu, to save Fantastica and its inhabitant.
Overall I really liked this book. I had some doubts if it could live up to the movie I appreciate so much (because I had no idea how closely the movie sticks to the book or not) but yes, the source material is indeed very good and surpasses the movie in some ways.
The main aspects about this book I loved so much were the world and its characters. Fantastica feels like a great and fantastical (of course) realm I just loved exploring. It's ever-expansive, it has an endless amount of colorful inhabitants and characters, it has lore and magic, and it's just very well-developed. This is one of the few fantasy realms in books I've recently read that is just almost tangible to me.
The characters are also very good, most notably our leads Bastian and Atreyu. They're good, rounded characters and while neither is perfect the reader loves embarking on their journey with them. They're excellent POV-characters and just feel real. I also really related to Bastian, once he enters Fantastica, becoming pretty much obsessed with being able to stay there. He's the chosen one this time around and he loves his life in Fantastica more than the far less great one on Earth.
But in the end it's important for both him and Fantastica that he returns to his old life, and while Bastian becomes a bit of an asshole in the last third or so of the book over this conflict he never quite goes to the point of no return. He's just a kid with a shitty home and school life who wants to stay in this realm, so his motivations make total sense even if it's not what's best for him and he becomes a bit mean around this part.
I will say that the first half of the book (basically what they adapted into the movie) had me a bit more hooked than the latter half where Bastian is now in Fantastica, but that doesn't mean the second half was bad at all. Simply that I was more drawn in by the first part of the story. I also think I just liked following Atreyu just a tad more as a protagonist than Bastian, and Atreyu is the more major leading character in the first half of the book.
Are there flaws? Yeah, I mean, aside from the second half not being as engaging to me personally I'd say that the impact of Artax's death really didn't hit for me in the book. As a reminder, he's Atreyu's horse who drowns in the Swamp of Sadness. In the movie, this was one of the most upsetting parts for me and I always had to look away (and it made me fear quicksand immensely at the time), and even as an adult I still feel hurt by the movie scene.
But in the book it's just over really, really soon. Artax can talk in the book (unlike the movie) but we're barely given an impression of Artax as a character or his connection to Atreyu before he dies. So I'm definitely not as fond of how his death was handled in the book. In the movie Artax isn't around for a long time, either, nor does he talk, but at the very least his bond with Atreyu felt more tangible and realized, thus making the viewer more upset once he dies.
Overall still a great book, though. I recommend it for fans of the movie, but also for people who just want a good fantasy tale full of imagination and danger. I also love how it empathizes the importance of reading and imagination, something I definitely subscribe to as well. Check it out!
Rating: 4/5
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