Ratings: 4.5/5⭐
Genre: Fiction; Fantasy
Number of Pages: 494
Format: Hardcover
Publication Date: 15th December 2019
Publisher: Harvill Secker
THE STARLESS SEA- ERIN MORGENSTERN
The Starless Sea is the second novel by Erin Morgenstern which was nominated for Goodreads Choice Awards for Fantasy.
“Sometimes, someone finds a door and opens it and peers inside only to close it again. Some will find a door and open it and pass through to see where it leads.”
Summary of The Starless Sea
Zachary Ezra Rawlins, a second-year student of Emerging Media, in New England, is fond of reading novels. He visits the campus library to find a mysterious book amongst the stacks of uncountable books. It doesn’t have the name of its author or publisher but wrapped in red leather all it said on the cover was “Sweet Sorrows”.
The book looked intriguing so he picked it up and soon is beguiled by tales of lovelorn prisoners, lost cities, and nameless acolytes until he comes across a chapter that is a story of his own childhood days when he sees a door painted on a wall but doesn’t open it. It leaves him bewildered and he becomes really skeptical about it.
He discovers the symbols concealed by the library barcode- a bee, a key, and a sword, which takes him to a masquerade party by some literary organization where he meets Mirabel and Dorian. They are taken to one of the “Harbours” on The Starless Sea, which is kind of a labyrinthine collection of tunnels and rooms filled with infinite stories and books. Zachary falls into an intoxicating world soaked in romance and mystery. As Dorian, Mirabel, and Zachary dig deeper into the space, its stories, and its mysteries, looking for lost answers and themselves, with the help of Fate and Time, they unwind stories of love, heartbreak, and magic all floating above The Starless Sea!
“There are so many pieces to a person. So many small stories and so few opportunities to read them.”
Personal Reviews on The Starless Sea
“How are you feeling?” Zachary asks.
“Like I am losing my mind, but in a slow, achingly beautiful sort of way.”
I felt kind of the same when I was reading The Starless Sea. The way it leads you to the mystical lands and makes you fall in love with those places is insane! I liked The Starless Sea for what it is- a fantasy. The prose, the metaphors, and the short stories, alongside the main plot, are commendable. However, it is a slow read and deserves to be cherished bit by bit.
I can’t say that it’s a very lucid read, which is why not everyone will like it. Plus, it’s a BIG book with 494 pages so needs a lot of patience to read all of it in one go (which you should else you might not connect the dots). The best part is the end is a cliffhanger which makes me yearn for a sequel but even if we don’t get one it’s fine because it’s still a really good book as a stand-alone. Since it’s the Lockdown phase and you can’t really move out of your house, you can always pick up this fantasy read and drift away to an imaginary world!
“Not all stories speak to all listeners, but all listeners can find a story that does, somewhere, sometime. In one form or another.”