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The Starless Sea cover art

The Starless Sea

Written by: Erin Morgenstern
Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman,full cast
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Publisher's Summary

From the New York Times best-selling 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 by Dominic Hoffman, with a full cast:

Dominic Hoffman reading the Zachary Ezra Rawlins storyline
Dion Graham reading the Sweet Sorrows storyline
Bahni Turpin reading excerpts from the Secret Diary of Katrina Hawkins
Fiona Hardingham reading The Ballad of Simon and Eleanor
Allan Corduner reading Fortunes and Fables
Jorjeana Marie reading Another place, another time

©2019 Erin Morgenstern (P)2019 Random House Audio

What the critics say

"Erin Morgenstern has magic to make...the author returns with a new fantastical fairy-tale for grown-ups.... Comparisons to the likes of Tolkien, Carroll, and C.S. Lewis abound. The Starless Sea poses big questions about stories - the ones we read, the ones we live, and the ones we tell ourselves. And at the heart of her work lies the themes that have provoked those comparisons: redemption, sacrifice, fate, time, reincarnation.... We’re willing to bet the embrace of this deeper, darker, more complex follow-up novel might be close to a sure thing. As Morgenstern posits, The Starless Sea is a door to another world - one just waiting for readers to open it." (Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly)

"Anyone who’s read Erin Morgenstern’s wildly successful fiction debut, The Night Circus, knows how meticulously she crafts her imaginary worlds...the reader [is] immersed in a multitude of stories, the threads of which gradually weave together to a haunting conclusion." (NPR)

"A high-wire feat of metatextual derring-do [and] a stunning array of linked fables, myths and origin stories.... It is exquisitely pleasurable to watch the gears of this epic fantasy turn once they're set in motion. As in The Night Circus, Morgenstern is at her best when she imagines worlds and rooms and parties in vivid detail.... This novel is a love letter to readers as much as an invitation: Come and see how much magic is left in the world. Fans of Neil Gaiman and V. E. Schwab, Kelly Link and Susanna Clarke will want to heed the call. An ambitious and bewitching gem of a book with mystery and passion inscribed on every page." (Kirkus Reviews starred review)

What listeners say about The Starless Sea

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Surreal and dreamy fantasy

I'm really torn between giving this 4 and 5 stars, but eventually decided on 4 stars because I really don't think it's a book for everyone. But, the people who DO like this style will ADORE it. Like her first book, the settings are magical, and imaginative, and dreamily surreal a lot of the time. This novel drifts around a lot more than the Night Circus however, shifting between people and stories and even times and places, and it's quite difficult to figure out what's going on and how they all relate until you get significantly into the book. If that's a problem for you, this book probably is not for you. If you can enjoy dreamy descriptions of gorgeous fantastical settings and be patient to see how they tie together, then yes, grab this book today!

It reminded me strongly of The High House by James Stoddard, and also a bit of Caraval by Stephanie Garber (both of which I'd also recommend if you enjoyed this book). It's hard to even describe the plot without either getting too complicated or giving too much away, but suffice it to say that boy finds a mysterious book with a chapter in it that exactly describes something that happened to him as a child, and becomes obsessed with learning more, which leads him to a masked ball, a mysterious underground (literally) society of story lovers and librarian types, a world where it's hard to tell where the lines between a story and reality blur together, and ultimately of course our protagonist may be the only one who can save the world (or at least fate and time) but only if he can outwit the forces out to oppose this who want the world to never change and always stay the same.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Becomes tedious I couldn’t finish it

It starts out good .. good premise but just becomes an endless slog around and around .. I actually was only 2 hours from finishing but just couldn’t do it .

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars

harsh s in narration

the narrator's s sound is so aggressive we would barely listen to the book

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Brilliant story, and narration. Came here as a big fan of The Night Circus and was long awaiting the authors new book. Could not be more pleased. Excited for the next!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible and Stunning

With every single line of this book I was drawn further and further into its story. By the end I was a wreck and it is one of the most lovely things I’ve ever read/heard (ended up buying the book once i was done the audiobook to read it again). It was gorgeous, from the aesthetic to its story to its characters and the way it was written. If you’re looking for something new to listen to or read, this would be it. It is a new favorite, and I loved it with all my heart. Please don’t miss out, it was perfect

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

where is the plot

beautiful writing but no clear plot or direction. I was left feeling confused about the ending, online forums confirmed that I'm not alone. again, it was beautiful writing but this was not for me.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

This book is…

Something. I loved it! But I had a bit of a hard time keeping up with it, as I had to keep putting it down to get back to life. U can’t let ur attention stray for a moment every single second counts, every word. Stories within a story. Nothing makes sense till all of a sudden it clicks… anyways would recommend

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beauty!

Such a beautiful story! The narration was amazing as well! 10/10 would recommend to everyone!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderfully Amazing

Magic, love, life, time, adventure, wonder, connection, moon, stars, bees, keys, swords, hearts, feathers, crown, owls

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Love it!!

Loved all of it. I hope they make this book & the Night Circus into movies!!!

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