Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern is an adventurous and mysterious fantasy that enchanted me completely. I had a lot of questions after finishing the book and was thinking about them for a while. I like stories when you don’t get all the puzzle pieces at the end but invite you to think instead. Starless Sea constantly makes you question what is happening, if it is the reality or if it is just in the head of the main character. 

Plot

The book is about a secret library and a whole city under the ground which has a Harbor and the Starless Sea. Everywhere in the world doors can be found that lead to this place which is managed by guardians, acolytes, and keepers. In the Golden era, Starless Sea was full of life and light, however when Ezra Rawlins discovers it most of the doors are destroyed and only one Keeper, one acolyte, many cats, and Mirabel are the inhabitants. The reason for this is quite complex. Allegra Cavallo the painter has the ability to see the future and she wants to prevent it from happening. She closes the doors to protect magic. Mirabel’s aim who was born down there is the opposite. She wants things to happen, the story to go forward and Ezra will play a very important role in it together with Dorian. 

Shortly, this is the plot, but it is not an easy task to summarize because as I already mentioned the book is quite complex. Many characters and stories are metaphorical, there are several symbols included as well. You will read about bees, hearts, keys, swords, an Owl King, etc. At first you will be confused I’m sure about that. You won’t know what to do with them, what they mean if these are significant details or not. You will get answers but not all of them. Still, I guarantee that this world will captivate you. 

Structure

The idea behind the structure is that there are nested stories in between the main plot. Each short story gives a hint which helps you understand the current events. Also, they can be interpreted independently as they tell fables and myths. I especially enjoyed the story of the moon and the sun. Their fable tells how they disappear from the sky and meet once in a hundred years. They meet in an inn and discuss all that happened during those years and then they get back to their place. I found this idea so lovely and just a few weeks ago it happened that the moon and the sun could be seen at the same time in the sky for 15 minutes. My first thought was that maybe now is their time to meet however childish this may sound. ☺

Main theme

Love is a driving force throughout the book. For example, in the above story, the moon falls in love with the Innkeeper and they try to find a way to bridge the barriers of time. Another one is about Fate and Time being in love but they are separated as the mingling of the two would be too dangerous. They are also fighting for their love. And we have Ezra and Dorian’s romance. They meet because of the Starless Sea and they also need to pass trials to be together. However, these romances are not very elaborate they are just mentioned. Ezra and Dorian are rarely together and their relationship is not very deep which I found a bit disappointing. 

My summary

A lot of other reviewers criticized that there is no real plot in the book. That the characters only wander aimlessly and the story goes nowhere. Even if it’s true I had no problem with this. I don’t always know what is my goal or where I’m going in life. Is this a bad thing? I hope not. Sometimes we are just guided by Fate and listen to our guts without thinking. I rather missed the character development from this book. Ezra started as confused not knowing anything about this place and he finished like this even after many wanderings through this magical world. 

All in all, I found Starless Sea interesting and enjoyable. I liked exploring this world and its many layers that Erin Morgenstern dreamed of. It was good to leave reality and rationality behind for a couple of hours. Also, I liked playing puzzles with all the symbols and metaphors and I was not disappointed by the end either. Erin’s other novel the Night Circus is definitely on my reads to book list now.

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