Not a huge spoiler to tell of the plot element of a magical (?) otherworldly subterranean library with an almost infinite number of spaces, doors and passages. It's a shame, because somewhere in here is a compelling tale. Didn't really care what happened, why or what's coming next. Plot and character 'wandering' in combination with the lack of a firm-handed editor just wore me out. The story itself unfolds with a wonderfully fascinating premise only to fade somewhere around the halfway point into road weary tedium. It's a good story that needs slash and burn editing. The Starless Sea is best book God has ever written or it's a dumpster dive. It's always a bit of a challenge to parse reader reviews when there is such a dramatic rating disparity, i.e.

Jorjeana Marie reading Another place, another time Read by Dominic Hoffman, with a full cast:ĭominic Hoffman reading the Zachary Ezra Rawlins storylineĭion Graham reading the Sweet Sorrows storylineīahni Turpin reading excerpts from the Secret Diary of Katrina Hawkinsįiona Hardingham reading The Ballad of Simon and EleanorĪllan Corduner reading Fortunes and Fables 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. 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. 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. 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.īewildered 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. Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. 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.

The starless sea book 2