TEST
Any novel by Erin Morgenstern is going to be a puzzle box of emotions, humor, slippery and sweet storytelling; an illusory tale through a dreamscape. The Starless Sea continues in the vein of the atmosphere begun by The Night Circus, though I must report it is – tragically – a step down from that book’s lofty heights. But for those who recall the fictional teller of The Princess Bride – another Morgenstern – this one definitely lives up to the name. Yet eventually all of that sweetness, all of that magic-making, all of that worldbuilding – it leads to no culmination, no point, and all the characters come across as underdeveloped. The Starless Sea is all frosting and a bit of cake, which, for some readers, will feel like paradise.
The Starless Sea combines, alternates and weaves a montage of folktales together with the story of Zachary Ezra Rawlins (who is frequently called by his full name which is, indeed, annoying). Rawlins is a Vermont-based graduate student in 2015 who has taken refuge in the school library for emotional comfort. He comes across books moldering away in the stacks filled with these tales; prisoners and pensioners, mermaids and pirates, fables and love stories, all swirling along, all oddly inexplicable in their location and existence in this library. And then Zachary, who’s been spending his time comfort-reading tales from his own childhood, is shocked that the latest book he picks out – The Little Stranger – contains his own life story, and he embarks instantaneously on a quest to figure why. Upon the book, he finds three symbols – a key, a bee, and a sword – which were exactly the same symbols etched upon a door in his mother’s fortune telling shop.
Using the three symbols as his epigram, Zachary is led to various enchanted (and enchanting) places in New York, all the while getting closer to the crux of the mystery. Ultimately, his quest takes him deep underground, to a magical library called the Collector’s Club – which is tightly controlled, to almost a menacing degree.
Dorian (not his actual name) is barefooted, blunt, immortal and running from trouble; Mirabel is intelligent, pink-haired and the guardian of the Club entire. Together with Zachary, Mirabel quests to rescue Dorian from the grip of the evil Allegra Cavallo. Will they succeed? Or are they involved in a much deeper, bigger story than either of them anticipated.
The Starless Sea is Morgenstern’s love letter to the art of the novel – which may be why it feels more like a worldbuilding exercise than an actual novel featuring characters worth caring about. Some will love that. Others will be frustrated.
Zachary himself is a nerdy, bespectacled everyman with little charisma who spends most of his time wandering around with his jaw on the floor at the sights he’s been presented with. He’s the most classic Author Insert to ever exist. He’s not a bad guy, so it’s not as offensive as it could be – but he’s just so bland. So helplessly bland.
I liked Mirabel the best of all of the supporting cast, though Dorian is rather fun. But it’s hard to really care much about the characters in this story. It’s a tale about craft: in part masturbatory, in part a love letter to the art of writing.
And you know that’s what you’re getting with Morgenstern. At this point, I simply wish her worldbuilding had landed and grown into something more interesting instead of faffing away with playful word games. Ah, well. A little bit of fun atmosphere is better than nothing at all. And this The Starless Sea has in spades. In spite of the shallow characterization and the gradual-unto-glacier pace, the all-frosting-no-cake atmosphere, the quality of the writing is undeniable, the sense of magic real, and altogether it ekes out a low-level recommendation.
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Grade: B-
Book Type: Fantasy
Sensuality: N/A
Review Date: 06/11/19
Publication Date: 11/2019
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
Lisa Fernandes is a writer, reviewer and recapper who lives somewhere on the East Coast. Formerly employed by Firefox.org and Next Projection, she also currently contributes to Women Write About Comics. Read her blog at http://thatbouviergirl.blogspot.com/, follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/thatbouviergirl or contribute to her Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/MissyvsEvilDead or her Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com/missmelbouvier
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First, the book where Zachary finds his own story is called “Sweet Sorrows” (page 20, US Hardcover Edition). Second, you describe Zachary as bland, but I prefer to believe that blandness is to make Zachary’s “Everyman” easier for the reader to connect with. Also, there is a distinct difference between Allegra’s Collector’s Club and the harbor/library Zachary’s door leads to. I will admit, Morgenstern’s writing throws readers numerous twists and turns, but it is worth the patience it takes to read this book. This is not a book you can skim, it is a book meant to be read slowly. Skimming will leave you completely lost and misdirected because it does jump around quite a bit and you will miss the connections between the stories. It reminded me of a “Choose Your Own Adventure” type story, in this case the choices are made for you, but you don’t care because those are the choices you would have made anyway. There is just so much more to this book than a short review can contain. I hope readers give it a chance and take their time with it.
There are actually two books which contain his story, but I agree SS should be mentioned. Noted, and will correct in the first.
I am, however, well aware of why Zachary is so bland, as, because I noted, this is a novel about tropes – frosting with little cake – and the note about the contractor club is accurate but reveals a spoiler, thus I listed Zachary’s impression of the door and what it does initially. That doesn’t mean it’s deeper and more meaningful than a short review might indicate it is, only that it was deeper and more meaningful to you personally.
I’m so sorry to read this review, not because it isn’t well-written or descriptive but because unlike some previous commenters I loved “The Night Circus” and so held great hopes for Morgenstern’s follow-up. I still may read it and am going to hear her tomorrow evening, but I will enter the book with somewhat lower expectations than I otherwise would have had.
I hope it pleasantly surprises you!
LOL, seriously, Estelle: I was just about to write the same thing!! Yeah….Lisa’s description of this book is what I felt about Night Circus. It sold because publishers knew they could market it – and yeah – it’s sounded awesome & went nowhere fast
I kept thinking that I’d give Morgenstern another go – but, looks like she still doesn’t know how to tell a story
BTW really great review Lisa, thanks!
BTW, meant the book itself, as a story, went nowhere fast, lol, it sold like hotcakes otherwise (I know, I was working in a bookstore at the time)…..I meant that the concept was not fully developed by the writer, but publishers knew that didn’t matter a whole lot: they could still sell it!
Thank you for reading!
Yes, it’s a concept that sounds so promising, and I think they marketed it well. Shame it doesn’t deliver.
And I agree this is a great review because I understand what Lisa means completely, and it’s an accurate description of this author’s work IMO.
I’m so glad you liked the review!
That’s funny, this is exactly what I thought about The Night Circus too… Beautiful world, very atmospheric, plot that can be contained in a single paragraph, glacially slow and boring, paper thin Mary Sue characters. I’m a rigid perfectionist and feel bound to finish every book I read, but I was so bored, I never picked it up, and had to resign myself to DNF’ing it half way through. To this day it’s one of less than 10 books I’ve ever DNF’ed in my life.
But I felt very alone in my opinion as even my sister, whose taste in books I usually share, liked it, and it seemed so popular at the time.
Hah! See, I liked Night Circus but this one felt…I guess masturbatory would be the word I’d use. I loved the technique but it felt a little like she was clapping with one hand.