Publishers Weekly
★ 07/15/2019
Built from fables, myths, and fairy tales, Morgenstern’s long-awaited second fantastical novel (following The Night Circus) delves into a vast subterranean library, the Harbor on the Starless Sea, a giant, maze-like, subterranean library where all languages are comprehensible to everyone, and time moves differently. Its wonders include moving statues, edible stories, and a sea made of honey. Narrative-obsessed grad student Zachary Rawlins happens upon an old, authorless collection in the campus library. Among the tales of an improbable land of books and their devotees is an anecdote from Zachary’s own childhood, a time when he found a magical door but chose to walk away, disbelieving. Desperate to understand and longing for a second chance at adventure, Zachary investigates and finds a literary party thrown by a secret society. He goes through a painted door in Central Park and into the Harbor itself, now long past its heyday and mostly deserted. Aboveground, the secret society is trying to close as many doors as possible, hoping to keep the Starless Sea hidden. Aided by otherworldly Mirabel, whose motives and history are obscure, and alluring Dorian, a former society member who opposes the closing of the doors, Zachary works to understand how the Harbor fell into disrepair and what he can do to protect it. He also learns what it means to be not just a reader but a part of the story, and what happens after that story ends. This love letter to bibliophiles is dreamlike and uncanny, grounded in deeply felt emotion, and absolutely thrilling. Agent: Richard Pine, InkWell Management. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
A best book of the year: The Guardian, Good Housekeeping, Real Simple, and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"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 mythical tale…a story about stories, all essentially relating to Fate and Time. Morgenstern nests a glittering trove of meta-narratives, myths, folkloric fables within a main storyline about a hero’s quest. The Starless Sea is the kind of book that could spawn a Harry Potter-esque cult. I can imagine fan sites devoted to mapping, analyzing and connecting the dots among its fantastical intricacies. I predict readers for whom it will become a holy of holies, one of their most treasured books of all time. It’s that kind of book. ”—Newsday
“A richly imaginative ode to books and storytelling...this fantasy-filled novel entwines a mysterious underground world with the story of a grad student on a quest to understand his past.” —People
"From the author of The Night Circus comes a wildly fanciful lark that has all the hits: mystery, love, libraries, Harry Potter references, and pirates. It's a complex, darkly beautiful story with some of the most inventive storytelling we've read all year.”—Good Housekeeping, Best Book of 2019
"The most joyous reading experience I’ve had in recent memory... It is, not to put too fine a point on it, wonderful... a master-class in plotting and prestidigitation... unabashedly romantic... a warm, honeyed bath of words and ideas."—Robert Wiersema, The Toronto Star
"Assuredly beautiful... The novel reads like panel after panel of mythic illustrations... It demands that its readers interpret it in an older way; the way we read The Faerie Queene... Well-written... The novel’s scope and ambition are undeniable."—Natasha Pulley, The Guardian
"A mystical adventure in an enchanted universe... The novel is not simply a quest narrative–it’s also a meta-examination of stories that demands the reader’s patience–and then rewards it... Morgenstern’s elegant, poetic prose keeps the pages turning as she begins to draw connections within a web of tales that reads like an ode to stories, themselves, and celebrates the distinct pleasure that comes from engaging with a text. For Zachary, that pleasure outweighs any temptation he might have to return to school and his regular life. It leads, instead, to a journey of sacrifice and self-discovery as he unearths his own place in the puzzling book’s narrative. For everyone else, the thrill comes from watching him on the ride." —Annabel Gutterman, Time
"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
"Extravagantly imaginative... Her new book arrives eight years after her high-wire fantasy of a first novel The Night Circus, and it's just as magical but even more daring... The stuff of a bibliophile's dreams... There are nods to Tolkien and Sendak, Susanna Clarke and Lev Grossman, Grimm and Gaiman. The intricate world-building is nothing short of fabulous, the prose lush and filigreed." —Nancy Pate, Minneapolis Star Tribune
"A timeless love story"—The Nerd Daily
"A magnificent quest, a sense of unfolding adventure and danger, gold-wrought fantasy, and endless provocation on what storytelling really means." —Library Journal, starred review
"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
"Morgenstern's new fantasy epic is a puzzlebox of a book, full of meta-narratives and small folkloric tales that will delight readers. . . . Morgenstern uses poetic, honey-like prose to tell a story that plays with the very concept of what we expect and want from our stories. . . . She trusts her readers to follow along and speculate, wonder and make leaps themselves . . . giving the book a mythic quality that will stick with readers long after they put it down. The massive legion of readers who loved Morgenstern's debut will be clamoring to recapture the magic of that reading experience." —Booklist, starred review
"This love letter to bibliophiles is dreamlike and uncanny, grounded in deeply felt emotion, and absolutely thrilling." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A page-turner. . . . It's unlikely [The Night Circus fans] will be disappointed by this sweeping follow-up, which unfolds an epic romance within a secret underground world of lost cities, handsome pirates and endless puzzles to be solved." —Entertainment Weekly
"[A] gorgeously written epic love story, filled with magic and mystery." —Popsugar
"A spellbinding novel. . . . I could not put it down, and when I finished, I turned immediately back to the first page so I wouldn't have to leave this magical world. If you believe in the power of stories to transcend time and space, to marry love and fate, read this book!" —Angie Kim, author of Miracle Creek
Library Journal - Audio
03/01/2020
Deep under the earth are caves, halls, alcoves, harbors, and seas that entwine to form a labyrinth holding books, stories, and sometimes even the readers and recorders of these tales. For the fortunate, or not so fortunate, magical doors wait to reveal this dreamland. Mysterious forces conspire to erase the doors and lock the secret world away forever. Zachary Ezra Rawlins, a college student studying the art of story in video games, walked away from one of these doors. When he finds a library book that appears to detail this episode from his childhood, he embarks upon a fantastic adventure into the world of bees, keys, swords, and hidden clues surrounding the underground book repository. Using a nonlinear plotline, this tale winds in and out of time and dreams and gradually unfolds to uncover a multitude of secrets. Stories compiled in books sometimes reflect supposed reality. To navigate this intricate narrative, listeners must expend both their time and energy. Several narrators are used to help differentiate between stories read from discovered books and Zachary's experiences. While Dominic Hoffman provides stability as he narrates Zachary's point of view, Dion Graham, Fiona Hardingham, Bahni Turpin, Allan Corduner, and Jorjeana Marie deliver stellar performances as they each recite passages from separate books. VERDICT While listeners may become as frustrated as some of the main characters when answers are slow in coming, listeners who persevere will be rewarded with an intriguing and thought-provoking experience.—Lisa Youngblood, Harker Heights P.L., TX
NOVEMBER 2019 - AudioFile
Dion Graham’s rich, velvety timbre guides listeners through the world of SWEET SORROWS, the volume of stories that opens author Erin Morgenstern’s worlds within worlds. Zachary Ezra Rawlins, new media graduate student and son of a fortune-teller, finds himself at the center of events surrounding a mysterious library book that reflects his life within its pages. Dominic Hoffman’s clear, assured performance leads Zachary through myriad doorways of alleged fantastical settings and perceived realities. Overlapping, interwoven tales, delivered by multiple performers, feature pirates, key collectors, story acolytes, and owl kings. Listeners and characters alike transform simultaneously into both observers and participants as Morgenstern’s fantasy unfolds. The combined narrative talents of Bahni Turpin, Fiona Hardingham, Allan Corduner, and Jorjeana Marie are part of Zachary’s journey through near-forgotten realms. J.R.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2019-08-04
A withdrawn graduate student embarks on an epic quest to restore balance to the world in this long-anticipated follow-up to The Night Circus (2011).Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a typical millennial introvert; he likes video games, escapist reading, and drinking sidecars. But when he recognizes himself in the pages of a mysterious book from the university library, he's unnerved—and determined to uncover the truth. What begins as a journey for answers turns into something much bigger, and Zachary must decide whether to trust the handsome stranger he meets at a highflying literary fundraiser in New York or to retreat back to his thesis and forget the whole affair. In a high-wire feat of metatextual derring-do, Morgenstern weaves Zachary's adventure into a stunning array of linked fables, myths, and origin stories. There are pirates and weary travelers, painters who can see the future, lovers torn asunder, a menacing Owl King, and safe harbors for all the stories of the world, far below the Earth on the golden shores of a Starless Sea. Clocking in at more than 500 pages, the novel requires patience as Morgenstern puts all the pieces in place, but 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, right down to the ballroom stairs "festooned with lanterns and garlands of paper dipped in gold" or a cloak carved from ice with "ships and sailors and sea monsters...lost in the drifting snow." 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.