From the New York Times 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 ...
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From the New York Times 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.
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Add this copy of Starless Sea to cart. $17.97, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Anchor Books.
Add this copy of Starless Sea to cart. $17.97, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Anchor Books.
Add this copy of Starless Sea to cart. $17.97, like new condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Anchor Books.
Add this copy of Starless Sea to cart. $17.97, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Anchor Books.
Add this copy of Starless Sea to cart. $17.97, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Anchor Books.
Add this copy of Starless Sea to cart. $17.97, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Anchor Books.
Add this copy of Starless Sea to cart. $17.97, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Anchor Books.
Add this copy of Starless Sea to cart. $17.97, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Anchor Books.
Add this copy of Starless Sea to cart. $17.97, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Anchor Books.
Add this copy of Starless Sea to cart. $17.98, very good condition, Sold by Half Price Books Inc rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Anchor Books.
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The story centers around an enormous, underground, labyrinthine library which apparently contains all the books, and the stories in the world. The starless sea (also underground - thus no stars) is mentioned periodically, but does not have a major role, so I don't know why the book name. Also, I can't tell if this book is a standalone or one of a series, and frankly, I don't much care - I had to force myself to finish it, gritting my teeth through to the end (if it wasn't part of a book club, I wouldn't have bothered)
The main character seems to be Zachary Ezra Rawlings (whose whole name is repeated ad infinitum), a 20-something grad student from VT who's gotten involved in games about which he knows nothing, but it takes over his life. Other rather main characters include Dorian (Zachary's putative lover); and Mirabel/Max/serving girl - whose actions appear to drive the action. More minor characters include Allegra (the villain). the Keeper/pirate, (one of whose roles seems to be gate keeper); Kat (Zachary's college friend); Madame Rawlings (Zachary's fortune telling mother); the lovers, Simon & Eleanor/Lenore/the girl (who insists neither are her name); the sun, the moon, the inn keeper; and the Kitchen (yeah, it's a character), and Winston Churchill may have a walk-on role. As noted, many of the characters have multiple names, and their backgrounds often don't have either a beginning or an end, (or both) which is frustrating. If it sounds confusing, it is.
Erin loves words, and she uses way too many of them - this book could be 100 pages shorter and still make about as much sense as it does now. The author has a thing about bees, owls, feathers, statuary, swords, hearts, stags, books, honey, and, especially, doors - the last feature prominently throughout. And the amount of time the characters spend wandering around the various sections of the library gets to be a drag (see 100 pages shorter, above). She has a taste for sadism (which I found off-putting); was influenced by Charles Dodgson; and she meanders through this book with disjointed bits of the story in separate chapters (if they can be called chapters - in some cases, vignettes would be more apt). She also committed the cardinal authorial sin, by using coincidence to get herself out of boxes she's written herself into.
She writes beautifully, no doubt: it is the most beautifully written stupid book I've ever read.
