I saw the film Stardust years ago and liked it (didn't love it), and years later I thought I'd give the book a shot.
Although I did finish the book, I thought it was a slog to get through. It wasn't the fact that it was different than the film, but it had to do with Gaiman's writing style.
I'm definitely not rushing out to read his other novels.
On the other hand, his pacing worked well in the short story "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" he published on his blog:
https://www.neilgaiman.com/Cool_Stuff/Short_Stories/How_To_T...