From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world—a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea.Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, … lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues—a bee, a key, and a sword—that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth. What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians—it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose—in both the mysterious book and in his own life.
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This book is breathtaking. An utter masterpiece unlike anything I’ve ever read. While it wasn’t The Night Circus (and of course, it never could be), it was stunning and wholly original in its own right. I had thought I would burn through this book in hours – had even reserved an entire Sunday simply for reading it – but this is not a book you can hurry. It demands to be savored, like a collection of honey cakes or perfectly told fairy-tales. I’ve never experienced a book in such a visceral way before, waiting until the right moment to pick it up again and getting totally and fully lost in its pages. This book meanders and builds, slowly, like a midnight tide, until you suddenly find yourself at the end of story that has captured you more completely that you ever thought possible. It demands a reread (or three) to understand it the way it deserves, but even so, that first read is astounding. Erin Morgenstern is a storyteller unlike any other, and she manages to write fables and myths and romances and adventures that feel like they have appeared on the page just for you – like they speak from your own heart. It’s impossible to describe this book in any real way, but you must read it: take a deep breath and dive in.
This book is either totally brilliant or just plain bizarre, depending on where you’re coming from and what kind of books you like. Most of the reviews from book critics are of the first school. I’m of the second.
Actually, I take that back. I do see the brilliance of THE STARLESS SEA. The prose is simple but magnificent, the descriptions absolutely gorgeous. This is a book whose pages are filled with one phantasmagorical twist after another. The author’s imagination is beyond beyond beyond, and the plotting is deep and dramatic. I am truly in awe of Ms. Morgenstern for all that. It’s certainly why I give this book 4 stars, though I did spend much of my reading time thinking, What the hell is going on here?
The premise is that a young college student in Vermont opens a strange, undocumented book at the library and reads his own story inside, starting with a seminal event in his childhood, a door that may or may not have existed but that he chose not to open. As the story progresses, he opens and passes through many doors, each leading to something intellectually rewarding and physically challenging. Most of the places he visits have to do with books. There is definitely an Alice in Wonderland feel here. There is also the sense of a video game, wherein one response calls up another.
Did I understand this whole book? Nope. Reading THE STARLESS SEA is like reading a string of intricately entwined fairy tales. This book is long, and I listened to it (all 18 hours and 37 minutes). There were many different readers, which helped. Still, I struggled at the fifteen-hour point to remember a brief story that was told at the three-hour point. A book might have given me the option of flipping back and forth to reread an earlier passage.
That said, I did listen from start to finish. And I did enjoy it. There was something soothing in the voices, something hypnotic in the writing. Some of the reviews suggest that THE STARLESS SEA is a book you need to read more than once. I simply don’t have the time to do that.
That said, I’m tempted to go back to Ms. Morgenstern’s only other book, THE NIGHT CIRCUS, which was written and published nearly a decade ago. I tried it then but didn’t stick with it. Bearing in mind that some of the reviewers felt that one, while fantasy-based as well, was more accessible, I may give it another shot.
Brilliant. Magical. Powerful. Mesmerizing. Spellbinding. Weird in the most awesome and delightful way, in a way that makes me want to laugh out loud and cry at the same time.
Okay, I’m going to try to calm down and actually try to say in a coherent way what this book is about and why I love it so much. First, a little context. THE NIGHT CIRCUS is one of my favorite books of all time, a book I’m so obsessed about that I got an e-book and audiobook immediately upon finishing the print book so that I could carry it around with me always and be able to access a bit of its magic whenever I needed it (which is often). I’ve been impatiently waiting for her second novel (although not as many as most, as I discovered her debut a few years after its first publication), and I’m not at all surprised that THE STARLESS SEA is just as magical and immersive.
It’s about Zachary Ezra Rawlins, son of a fortune teller and video game design graduate student in Vermont, who discovers a mysterious, mis-shelved library book that contains a story about himself as a little boy. In trying to figure out the mystery of how this book came to be, he journeys through a fantastical, mythical subterranean library in search of the Starless Sea, a dreamlike world with lovesick pirates, painters, dollhouses, cats (Persian, tabby, LOVE these cats!), keys, and, most of all, people who love stories. I could not put it down, as there were so many characters I loved, whose fates I needed to know, and when I finished, I turned immediately back to the first page so I wouldn’t have to leave this magical world.
It’s hard to say what it’s about because it’s about so many things. But more than anything, it’s about stories. It’s about the power of telling stories, of reading stories, taking part in stories, and protecting them at all costs. It’s about how stories can transcend time and space. Reading this novel reminded me so much of reading so many of my favorites–The Princess Bride, Harry Potter (especially the Deathly Hallows), Alice in Wonderland, a little Donna Tartt (Secret History), so many fairy tales.
I also loved the structure. Every other chapter is Zachary’s story, his trying to solve the mystery of the mysterious mis-shelved book, which takes him to a secret society’s literary ball where he uncovers clues and meets Mirabel and Dorian, who take him to the hidden subterranean world. In the other chapters, we get mini-tales from that mis-shelved book and follow the mythical characters (pirates, innkeepers, the sun, the moon, Love, Fate, the Owl King, etc.) in those stories. What’s genius about Erin Morgenstern is that she somehow manages to develop all these separate threads throughout the novel and then brings them together by the end, with all their fates intertwining and fitting together like a puzzle. I’m really not quite sure how she managed this feat, but it’s just genius and I’m in awe.
I could go on and on, but I’ll end it here. Read it. It’s amazing!
This book is really descriptive and imaginative. The author can describe all the mystical events in precise detail to where you can see the image perfectly in your head. The reason for 4/5 stars is because the beginning and middle are pretty confusing and the plot of the book doesn’t really come clear until the last 100 pages.
There is no denying the magical and intricate quality of Erin Morgenstern’s writing style. Her imagination is unique and beautiful to read. That said though, while the first third of the book was delicious, the last 2/3 became repetitive and the plot stalled almost killing the magic. I said ALMOST…
Starless Sea took me through too many ‘doors’ and the floor shifted far too often, while hapless but loveable MC, Zachary Ezra Rawlins, wondered for the hundredth time ‘Is this really happening or am I just tired?’
In spite of this I still would recommend reading this book if you adore magical stories. Caveat: Read at your leisure without a deadline. The Starless Sea should be enjoyed slowly and with a strong cup of tea and cupcakes OR a glass of champagne. You mustn’t be rushed. Unfortunately, I was rushed so I had to eventually skip the side stories (as magical as they were) and follow the main narrative in one go.
I guess you could say I was ambivalent about Starless Sea but I rate it 4 stars because Morgenstern’s writing is magnificent, even if the plot stalled.
Complex, riveting, wonderful.
Rich in detail and imagination, the world building in this book left me breathless with admiration.
Stories within stories, stories without end, in a fable-rich world like no other I’ve read. A sometimes bizarre mixture of real (what is real and what is illusion) and fantastical.
I’ll be thinking about this book and the characters and places for some time to come.
Can I give this a million stars? After falling head over heels for The Night Circus, I couldn’t wait for Erin’s follow up. It did not disappoint. It’s a very different book from her previous – which is awesome. I love the intersection of fairy tales, literature and video games. Beware, it can take a bit of time to get into the story but stick with it. It’s very much worth the time to immerse yourself.
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern is a fantasy epic and a magical, timeless love affair in an underworld setting made up of pirates, lovers, liars and ships that sail on a starless sea. The author demonstrated her love of fantasy and ability to write beautiful prose. For me personally, it was a storyline I could not get into. I found it to be choppy and at times hard for me to follow.
Oh, this is a good one folks! There’s a place in the story where it’s asked “do you believe in the mystical, the fantastical, the improbable, or the impossible? Do you believe that thing others dismiss as dreams and imagination actually exist?” If you do, this is the book for you!
I read a book so I can be drawn into that world created in the story by the author. I was drawn into this one immediately. I would put it down to do something else but before too long I had picked it up again. It is enchanting! If I came upon a door, a door that would lead me to the Starless Sea, I would open it and enter!
Erin Morgenstern takes us on a mystical journey of words,imaginations and mazes. The writer tells us Change is what a story is,Each of us has his own path Symbols are for interpretation , not definition When the main character finds himself in the novel he is reading the adventure begins . You will find yourself full of curiosity and delight A wonderful read.
“Far beneath the surface of the earth, hidden from the sun and the moon, upon the shores of the Starless Sea, there is a labyrinthine collection of tunnels and rooms filled with stories.”
Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont, studying video games for his Emerging Media Studies degree. It is J-term, the time in January between semesters and Zachary spends his days reading. Each day begins with a trip to the library to find that day’s books. On this particular day, Zachary finds a peculiar book with a blank spine and cover, no author and the title Sweet Sorrows. He is immediately captivated by the stories in the book and cannot wait to go back to his dorm and continue reading. His excitement turns to shock when he realizes that the third chapter is about him and a day in his childhood when he found a painted door in an alleyway.
And so begins Erin Morgenstern’s spellbinding tale about strange characters, archives of stories and those who record and protect those stories. The book alternates between Zachary’s quest to determine whether the Starless Sea really exists and stories from Sweet Sorrows. At the beginning of the book, the stories seem disjointed but Morgenstern weaves together the many tales in an amazing and beautiful way. The characters are richly written from Mirabel, a pink-haired and powerful woman to Dorian, the handsome and enigmatic stranger who whispers stories in Zachary’s ears. Zachary learns that someone is trying to destroy all doors to the harbor on the Starless Sea while others fight to keep it alive.
The language is the book is beautiful. At one point, Mirabel says, “The weather. It’s like a poem. Where each word is more than one thing at once and everything’s a metaphor. The meaning condensed into rhythm and sound and the spaces between sentences. It’s all intense and sharp, like the cold and the wind.” This is a book written for book-lovers who, like the characters, get so engrossed in stories that they are welcome to any and all possibilities. The Starless Sea is a book that should be read multiple times to gain a different perspective and catch things you may have missed before. This book will grab you and hold onto you until the very end, leading the reader to a magical, fantasy literary world. The Starless Sea is a must read.
One of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read with a fantastic world, mystery, and a few sweet romantic side stories. Book hangover for days.
2.5 I was so pleasantly surprised by the unique and eccentric Night Circus that I had been wanting to read Morgenstern’s second novel for a long time. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t come close to the world that Night Circus created. It follows a very bland main character who is a video game design major college student. The book was written for college students. It made me feel old. It was so much more immature than her first novel. I feel like Night Circus had a very broad audience, but I do not think this book will. The fairy tale stories throughout the book are lots of fun and very clever, but I couldn’t get over the overly snarky dialogue and uninteresting young characters. Not sure I will seek out any more books from Morgenstern, unfortunately. But we will always have Night Circus which is indeed superb.
absolutely amazing. one of my favorites for sure
Zachary Ezra Rawlins doesn’t realize how much his normal life is about to change when he stumbles across a strange and appealing book, the cover bearing a key, a bee, and a sword but no author. He is quickly drawn into the stories and is startled when he discovers he is a character in one of the tales. In a search for answers, Zachary begins to find out as much as he can about the book and the symbols and soon finds himself trusting complete strangers and going through doors to mysterious places that can’t possibly exist.
Reading this book was very much like eating an extremely decadent dessert. Upon the first taste you have an overwhelming desire to consume it as fast as possible but find that it’s so rich and complex with so many detailed layers you must instead partake of it slowly and deliberately, absorbing every taste you can. It’s very cleverly written, weaving together very different stories that are somehow all the same, creating a perfect masterpiece. This is the ultimate story and no other work of fiction can compare. I’ve only just finished the book and I already want to read it again and again and again, watching the details unfold all over. This is the book I always needed.
A little hard to follow but stick with it.
Wow. Even after sitting and digesting this book I’m not sure how to adequately express my feelings towards it. The Starless Sea is like a story within a story, within a story. The premise was so unique, I think the experience of it was one you just have to experience for yourself to fully grasp. I did walk away not fully understanding the plot/storyline but unlike with other books I’ve read, that seemed to be part of the magic with it.
The storytelling of this book really drew me in and held my attention. It’s written from many POV but the author did a great job of separating out the POVs, so that there wasn’t confusion about what was happening or where you were in the story.
: This audiobook contained sooo many POV that I was really thankful that they were a huge cast of narrators to help differentiate which part of the book I was listening to. All of them were easy to listen to and really helped to bring this book to life.
This book was spellbinding in every sense of the word. With a magical underground world of secret stories, it really spoke to those who love books and magic, and deeply wish that there was such a place to lose oneself in. What struck me the most was the gorgeous way Erin builds her worlds, especially in The Starless Sea. The details are stunning, yet unique, and she is one of those authors with a keen sense of addressing all the sense. Her description of smells brings the world to life in a way that made me feel I could have been in one of these magical lands. Another aspect I loved about this book was the ways the stories within in it intertwined and wove together. At first the reader is presented with different stories that follow different timelines, but the further one gets in the book, it is revealed that these stories are not as separate as they first appear. But I won’t say more in order to not ruin any of the delightful surprises and discoveries. If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my secret book room.
My favorite book of all time
I loved this book—very reminiscent of Phillip Pullman in creating new worlds that intersect with ours. Highly recommend this!