The Starless Sea

A Novel

By: Erin Morgenstern

Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman, Various

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.

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

Perfection

The Night Circus took my breath away. I have, ever since, simultaneously yearned for and feared a second offering from the author. Could they catch lightning in a bottle twice? What if Jim Dale played too big a part in the magic, and not getting him back lessened the experience? I shouldn’t have worried. Somehow, by some strange alchemy, this book has managed to be even better. It broke my heart. It mended it. Not over the same matters, but multiple times each. I’ve never read anything like this before. and now? I wish it hadn’t ended, but know that it had to.

weird but okay

The sample that Audible has, isn't really what the book is about. It is one story within the book.

Mesmerizing. *Superb* Narration.

I just finished. After a few hours I plan to listen again to the entire 18 hours of adventure, metaphor, fantasy & magic - with reality dancing all around the edges. I don't expect to find *the* meaning or any "meaning;" I just want to spend a little more time in the lush mindscapes she has offered us in The Starless Sea. Maybe my path will be illuminated by the flickering candle of my first visit.

Fairly incredible!

Truly original concept, setting, arc. All of it, original. I could not ever easily anticipate the next step (other than what is intentionally hinted at along the way). I'll be playing with these ideas for a while, seeing if any metaphors come to the surface. Unlike any book I've ever read before. An utterly unique universe, and I just love how Erin Morgenstern weaves a delicious and visually stunning atmosphere with her words without boring me with what would feel like excessive description in the hands of a less skilled storyteller. Readers of the Night Circus should know that this one is FAR more abstract in comparison, but just as magical. Very mind bending where hardly anything really makes sense until it all comes together very near the end. Sometimes in the process, all the smaller story lines inserted into the story can be frustrating when you just want to keep up with the main characters and plot lines. However, I think that was the author's intention. It increases the mystery and frustrates you but keeps you hooked.

With some editing this could have been great.

I really enjoyed the Night Circus, and I like books about magic and books about books, so this seemed like a marriage made in heaven. The narration was terrific. I especially liked Dominic Hoffman's' narration - his voice was just perfect for Zachary and Dorian's story. The only narrator I didn't love was Bahni Turpin, and I didn't like the way her part was written either - trying too hard to be young and "cool" and just came off fake. The idea is an interesting one, and the first half is really good. But then it all bogs down, endlessly. I was begging for a strong editor who could cut out 3 or 4 hours of wandering around through caverns, woods, etc. without any clear idea of why. I made it to the end, hoping it would all tie together. It kind of did, so I'm glad I persevered. But for a book that is all about the need for stories to end, this one needed a better ending and one that came a lot sooner.