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The Starless Sea: A Novel

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Description

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. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; Reprint edition (August 4, 2020)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Paperback ‏ : ‎ 592 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 110197138X


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 83


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 1.03 x 7.9 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #15,177 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #145 in Historical Fantasy (Books) #848 in Romantic Fantasy (Books) #1,275 in Fantasy Romance (Books)


#145 in Historical Fantasy (Books):


#848 in Romantic Fantasy (Books):


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Top Amazon Reviews


  • Magical, immersive, and dense
I absolutely loved this book. It was descriptive, magical, immersive, interesting, mysterious....and at times even a bit rambling and dense as well. I felt a part of the story - I wanted to BE in that place. Sail the Starless Sea, roam the halls, see the Heart, roll the dice and drink the liquid. It has been a long time since I felt so absorbed in a book. I even felt some inspiration to write while reading, something I haven't felt in a long time. It is a very creative book and gets your imagination flowing. Erin Morgenstern is a fantastic author and she has really crafted a fascinating and unique novel. Granted, it is a LONG book. At times it is a bit repetitive and similar things are described in similar ways on many an occasion. But this doesn't ruin the book for me. It maintains the same descriptive writing throughout, which keeps it even keeled for me. It also makes it easier to picture some of the scenes in my mind. It also takes a while to read and required multiple sittings from me since there was a lot to absorb from each reading. And to address some of the other reviews here.... Yes, I also loved The Night Circus. It is one of my favorite books. No, this book isn't exactly like The Night Circus. Too many people are focused on this fact. It is a different book entirely. A different story entirely. Magic in its own way. Go in without the expectations that it is a second Night Circus and I think you will find the book immensely enjoyable. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2020 by Sonya Weasner

  • Worth the wait!
I am a huge fan of The NIght Circus and I have been eagerly waiting for Ms. Morgenstern to write a second book. Having now read The Starless Sea, I can understand why it took her eight years to craft this amazing and imaginative story. For the first half of this book I was planning to say that The Starless Sea was superior to The Night Circus. But the story bogged down for me and I had trouble fully understanding what was going on. I still don’t understand part of what was going on, but the ending was nice and not as confusing. As noted by other reviewers, this may be a book that you have to read a couple of times to grasp all the plot lines. This is such a fantastical story that a brief summary is challenging. Graduate student Zachary Ezra Rawlins, is an avid gamer and reader. And the son of a fortune teller. He finds a mysterious book of fairy tales in the university library. At least he thought he was reading fairy tales until one of the chapters describes an event that happened to him as a young boy when he found a hidden door but did not go through it. Intrigued and disturbed, he tries to figure out more about this book. This leads him to a literary masquerade ball in NYC and a meeting with a mysterious woman named Mirabel. There are also symbolic clues of swords, bees, keys, door knobs, and other things. This leads him to a romance, a secret society that may be up to no good, and finally to an elevator ride below the earth to a hidden library and the people who protect it. But nothing and no one is as it seems. Or maybe it is. And time does not work in the way it does above ground. While Zachary is experiencing this magical world, his almost-friend Kat is searching for him because he has been missing for some time. And that’s not the half of it! I continue to be blown away by Ms. Morgenstern’s phenomenal imagination. She creates and beautifully describes whole gorgeous worlds. One thing that I appreciate is that the author is able to balance her writing to give enough of a description of a place or thing while still leaving room for the reader to form their own images. Ms. Morgenstern also pays homage to other books (particularly Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the Narnia series), authors, readers, and players of fantasy world role-play computer games. I gave this four stars because I was getting irritated and impatient with the book about three-quarters of the way through. In some parts it was too confusing to hold my interest. In fairness, I always struggle to understand books that involve alternate experiences of the passage of time. It’s over my head. Also, I think that this is a book that is best read in large chunks. That would give the reader a great immersion experience as well as it may be easier to keep track of what is going on. My schedule refused to cooperate with large chunks of reading time. None of this means that this book is not worth reading. It is still a really good piece of fantasy. I also think that you can see that Ms. Morgenstern has matured as a writer with prose that perfectly fit the story being told. I will certainly read her third book, even if I have to wait another eight years! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2019 by SassyPants

  • 5.0 / 5.0
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern is an epic magical realism story of discovery and choices. I cannot explain how magical, mysterious, and mischievous this story, or rather threaded collection of stories, is. The characters are each crafted masterfully, the settings enchanting, and the plot is so poignant to the edge of being timeless. I was inspired over and over shine by the themes of this book. The way Morgenstern blends the realistic and fantastical is seamless and evocative. Of all the books I have read this year (2023) this is in my top 5. If you like a story about games and books and stories we tell and live, this one is for you. Until Next Time, MC ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2023 by Thicc & Ired

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