“Do you believe in the mystical, the fantastical, the improbable, or the impossible? Do you believe that things others dismiss as dreams and imagination actually exist? Do you believe in fairy tales?”
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern is reader paradise. The main storyline follows Zachary Ezra Rawlins, the son of a fortune-teller who is destined to find his way to the Starless Sea, a labyrinth of history and stories and mystique deep beneath the surface of the Earth. This ‘library’ (for lack of a better word, seeing as a vast and endless and enchanting place such as this cannot be contained by a single word) is home to those who seek, though they may not know what they are looking for. These specific individuals follow the siren song of the Starless Sea to a door. The Sea has multiple Harbors that have multiple doors, either set within buildings or hidden in walls or standing upright in a forest or painted on brick, entirely flat and two-dimensional save for the doorknob, allowing only those who truly believe to enter. Some choose to leave immediately, some choose to continuously visit, and some choose to stay and live the rest of their days surrounded by the comfort of finding and being found. Returning to Zachary, this 24-year-old graduate student is suddenly drawn into a secret battle when he happens across a book in the campus library that is completely out of the ordinary. For one, it contains a memory from Zachary’s own childhood, when he happened upon a painted door years ago but chose not to open it. Rocked by the story, Zachary follows the only clue he has: the insignia of a bee, a key, and a sword, similar to the symbols on that fated door. On his hunt he meets the pink-haired Mirabel, a child born of the Starless Sea and not entirely mortal, and Dorian, a handsome and mysterious man with stories in his mind, storytelling on his tongue, and unclear loyalties. Together, these three set out on a quest, trying to find out what exactly is happening to their Harbor and their doors, the secret societies at work, and where they fit into a story that was set in motion long before their time. Alongside you are given stories from specific books written in the Harbor of the Starless Sea, tales that have happened and are happening and will happen, all separate until the very end, when it becomes increasingly clear that it was always one narrative featuring blind painters, found happiness, and the eternal love story between Time and Fate.
“This is a significant moment, he thinks, hearing the words in his head in his mother’s voice. A moment with meaning. A moment that changes the moments that follow.”
Once again, Morgenstern delivers a spellbinding tale of stories lost and love found. The prose is delicate and magical, an ephemeral description of this fantasy world for those looking to be found. Fated meetings and foretold events take place, as a library slowly crumbles and the tides of the sea rise. A beautiful crew of characters is brought to life, lessons taught through Kat’s wildness, Madame Love Rawlins’ fortune-telling, Mirabel’s ineffability, Dorian’s new-found freedom, and Zachary’s love for stories, in all their forms. As they race to protect what they love, no matter the path foretold, you explore the intricacies of human nature. You learn how a person can turn their back on the upper world, the dedication and devotion that can drive individuals to take disastrous measures to avoid a fated ending, and the power of love, a force that can bind two souls across lifetimes. You experience happiness, pain, and the sheer awe that never truly goes away, no matter how long you stay in the Starless Sea, and you learn about tales and lore, the permanence and impermanence of stories, and the power they hold for as long as they are heard.
“But this is not where their story ends. Their story is only just beginning. And no story ever truly ends as long as it is told.”
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