The Starless Sea: A Novel

Lisa P. Benwitz

Don't expect "The Night Circus," but you will never read another book like this one

""The Night Circus" is one of my favorite books of all time - completely perfect in my eyes. This is NOT "The Night Circus," and if you go in expecting it to be perfect, you will be disappointed. It is NOT perfect. However, it was perfect for me. If you are fascinated with stories, with myth and folklore, with magic and mystery, with puzzles and surprises and the best kind of confusion at the beginning, then you may love it as well. There are stories within stories within stories, and the way they come together, I found to be brilliant. If you sit around and ponder the meaning and power of story, of beginnings and endings, of reality within the myths and folklore of different cultures, you will love this book. It is a fairytale of the very best sort, with homages to most of my favorite books. I intend to go back and read it soon when I have the luxury to read it slowly and taste each word on my tongue and examine the structure and symbolism more closely now that I know the outcome. Did this book have flaws? It did. I do agree with other reviewers that certain elements of the story could have been expanded upon and the book would have been even better for it - the owls, for example. But ultimately, for me, the conflict and price of protecting something magical to the point where no new beginnings are possible, and what others would sacrifice to find that new beginning were absolutely mind-boggling and horrifying and beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time. I can honestly say I have *never* read a book like this - and unique stories that pull me in until everything around me disappears are my favorite stories. This one accomplished this on the very first page. Therefore, despite its minor flaws, it's a 5 in my book. ["

Show more

November 20, 2019 Verified Purchase

Josh Mauthe

Absolutely beautiful and enthralling, even if it doesn't always work

"It's been a while since I vacillated as much on how to review a book as I am with Erin Morgenstern's The Starless Sea, her follow-up to the much-beloved (myself included) The Night Circus. I spent so much of The Starless Sea absolutely in love with the world that Morgenstern created here - a series of nesting stories that combine in unexpected ways, revolving around a college student who discovers a volume of disjointed tales and realizes that he appears to be in one of them - and that maybe all of them connect to each other? From there, The Starless Sea keeps evolving and changing in front of you, becoming a fairy tale - no, a tale of a magical world - no, an allegory with shifting meanings - no, a beautiful piece of magical realism - no, maybe a love story - and just keeps changing, all while revolving around a love of books, stories, storytelling, and imagination that's undeniably intoxicating. But the problem with a story like this is that, as Morgenstern continually lets it become something new and evolve, it starts to feel like some of the pieces just don't work as well as others, including a villain role that feels a little shoehorned in (and abruptly discarded), layers of reality that seem to be known by the characters but thrust upon us without warning, and a final act that moves beyond cryptic into actively befuddling. Mind you, it's hard to do an ending about an intangible, magical world beyond human understanding; by the very definition of it all, it would be a cheat to make that too clear, but there's a difference between feeling like the meaning is just out of reach (think Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell) and just being a bit confusing, and The Starless Sea ultimately falls a little too far into the latter. And yet, did I spend almost every page enthralled by the beautiful visions Morgenstern was creating? I did. Did I love every moment and every detail of this world? Undeniably. Does it all work? No, definitely not...but none of that means it's any less magical or beautiful, either. ["

Show more

September 12, 2024 Verified Purchase

Carol

One of the best books I’ve read in a very long time!

"The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern is such a joy to read! Her storying telling is completely enveloping. I’m trying hard not to burn through the book too quickly. I savor it and take time to reflect after each couple of chapters. Thank you for writing this lovely book. ["

Show more

February 24, 2026 Verified Purchase

bill greene

"A boy at the beginning of a story has no way of knowing that the story has begun"

"Overall: I have very mixed thoughts on this book. I felt completely absorbed in it and absolutely loved the writing. The author writes like a painting, everything is so descriptive and lyrical it is hard to not be enthralled. That being said, I wanted more plot and more character depth and found both to be lacking. Still, an enjoyable read but would give this a 3.5/5 or a 6.5/10 overall. Summary: “A boy at the beginning of a story has no way of knowing that the story has begun.” Zachary Ezra Rollins is a fortune-teller's son, gay, a bibliophile and lover of cocktails, and a graduate student studying video games when he comes across a book called Sweet Sorrows. The book includes a passage intimately describing a moment from his actual childhood that Zachary becomes obsessed with it and reads it compulsively. He becomes obsessed with the need to reach the Starless Sea, a mysterious otherworld that he failed to enter as a child when he turned away from a painted door. The story follows Zachary’s adventures of getting to and once he is in the Starless Sea. The Good: “It doesn't look like anything special, like it contains an entire world, though the same could be said of any book.” The writing in this book is exquisite. The different fairytales and fables that intersperse the novel are lovely and this book really lives up to the power of storytelling. I felt completely engrossed in the writing and found myself rereading sections just to experience the beautiful writing again. This book succeeds in capturing you, transporting you to another world, and holding you in. I also loved the mystery and how most things come together by the end. For all those reasons, I loved it. The Bad: Very fragmented and disjointed throughout the whole book. I think the author may have tried a bit too hard to make this unique and I felt it suffered as a result. There are a dozen or so narratives all interspersed into one book and every chapter is different so you never know where it may lead. My other major issue with this book were the characters, and Zachary especially. Zachary Ezra Rawlins (and his entire name is used in the beginning of every chapter about him just in case we forget who he is… which you can’t!) is the star of “The Starless Sea” but only because he is fated to be. I did not feel that I grew to know or love him, and was surprised by this given the amazing writing. I did not feel connected to Zachary or really any other character and this may have been a result of too many narratives competing with one another. Favorite Quotes: “Strange, isn’t it? To love a book. When the words on the pages become so precious that they feel like part of your own history because they are. It’s nice to finally have someone read stories I know so intimately.” “Everyone is a part of a story, what they want is to be part of something worth recording” “Not all stories speak to all listeners, but all listeners can find a story that does, somewhere, sometime. In one form or another.” Everyone wants the stars. Everyone wishes to grasp that which exists out of reach. To hold the extraordinary in their hands and keep the remarkable in their pockets.” “We are all stardust and stories.” “Be brave,” she says. “Be bold. Be loud. Never change for anyone but yourself. Any soul worth their star-stuff will take the whole package as is and however it grows. Don’t waste your time on anyone who doesn’t believe you when you tell them how you feel.” “But the world is strange and endings are not truly endings no matter how the stars might wish it so.” “This is not where our story ends, he writes. This is only where it changes.” ["

Show more

January 2, 2020 Verified Purchase

Charissa Dawn

This book is Beautiful and Brilliant

"The Starless Sea is the second novel by Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus. I confess that The Night Circus is quite possibly my favorite novel of all time, so there’s a chance I may not be entirely unbiased when it comes to Morgenstern, but I did attempt to remain objective when I began reading. I fell in love with this story almost immediately. First of all, this is a book about books and stories and a beautiful one at that. It’s clear early on that Morgenstern was likely inspired at least some degree by Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Shadow of the Wind – she even referenced the novel early on. Another reason I almost immediately fell in love with this story was the author’s style. I’ve been trying to determine the best way to describe it all week, but I just cannot put it into words. This novel has a similar voice and style to The Night Circus. It’s magical, and almost ethereal to some degree, and it elicits this emotion inside me that I also cannot describe, but it just captivates me. Even after I put the book down, it was constantly on my mind and my fingers just itched to pick it back up and return to the world Morgenstern had created. Within the pages of The Starless Sea Morgenstern creates a world that I desperately wish I could explore. It’s wonderful and magical and I found myself trying to read it slower than usual so that I could savor every word. If you enjoyed The Night Circus, then I highly recommend The Starless Sea. I have heard many differing opinions on this book, but I really don’t believe fans of Morgenstern’s writing will be disappointed. ["

Show more

February 23, 2021 Verified Purchase