Waiting on Wednesday: The Starless Sea

The Starless Sea

Written by Erin Morgenstern

512 pages

Published by Doubleday Books

Publication date: 5th November 2019

Summary (from Goodreads):

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 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.

Why I can’t wait to read this:

First of all, like most people waiting for this book, it will be the love of The Night Circus. I know that many had problems with it and I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it is a beautiful book that fully transported me. On that basis alone, I will give anything written by Erin Morgenstern a read!
Secondly, there is just so much in this summary to get our teeth into! I’m not a massive fan of the cover, although it will probably be nicer in reality than on a computer screen, but the content of the book sounds fantastic.
The title caught my attention immediately, as I love anything with ‘stars’ in it. Then, the first line of the blurb had me entranced – ‘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.‘ Everything about this just sounds amazing!
It starts with a mysterious book – always an intriguing starting point for a story! I like how it sounds as if the lines between reality and fiction will be blurred.
There is a magical world full of stories, accessed through clues and masquerade balls. It all sounds delightfully bizarre!