The Starless Sea: A Novel

Erin Morgenstern

Nov 2019 · Sold by Anchor

About this ebook

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the 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, 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.

Ratings and reviews

I wanted to like this book. I kept waiting for it to redeem itself, but that never happened. The entire book was a jumbled mess. What she was trying to accomplish is obvious, but she tried way too hard and completely failed. Huge let down after reading Night Circus and being so excited for her second book.

After the whimsical but still somewhat linear nature of Night Circus this was a hot mess. I really wanted it to make sense and go somewhere but it never really does. It's still an interesting read but if you're hoping for a crafted world or coherent characters then you're out of luck.

Morganstern crafts heavily atmospheric stories set in impossible places using illustrative prose. The Starless Sea will have you turning back to reference earlier sections and starting it over as soon as you finish.

About the author

ERIN MORGENSTERN is the author of The Night Circus, a number-one national bestseller that has been sold around the world and translated into thirty-seven languages. She has a degree in theater from Smith College and lives in Massachusetts.