Any time you have a new book by Erin Morgenstern, it's time to celebrate! A magical journey into a world that lurks secretly beneath us is exciting - but we discover that world is a library. Imagine how many books you've read in your life, all the adventures, all the characters and stories. How would you sort them? Find them? How would you solve a mystery of this place where all those stories come together? "The Starless Sea" is a literary adventure, a love song to books, stories and libraries that will take to places in your imagination you won't want to leave..

I have to admit I was nervous picking this up. Would it hold up to my expectations given how much I love "The Night Circus"? I am happy to report that I absolutely loved this book and it surpassed my expectations. There are only a few authors that I have found that have the ability that Erin Morgenstern has to transport the reader in such a complete way into such lush, magical worlds. An amazing book that I couldn't have enjoyed reading more.

I've been thinking about The Starless Sea since I finished it almost two weeks ago, trying to decide how to rate it. I am a massive fan of Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, and I was pleased that The Starless Sea created a similarly rich world of surreal fantasy, with an overarching theme of literature and storytelling.

Maybe I should say it this way -- Have you ever read a favorite fantasy novel and thought, I would love to spend time in that world just exploring? Walking, meeting characters, peeking in doors, without a specific quest that took my time and made me overlook some of the things that I wanted to check out? That's sort of how I felt about The Starless Sea. Rich, engaging...but honestly, I never really figured out why the major characters were in the world of the story, or what they were supposed to do. I enjoyed almost all of the major threads of the story, but at the same time, I wished that I had a stronger sense of why they were happening. Sometimes that lack of endpoint or purpose bothered me; other times I just enjoyed the ride. I'll be interested in hearing the author's own commentary on the story.

Truly, if you'd just like to be immersed in a beautiful, book-themed fantasy world, jump in and enjoy. If you'd rather have a stronger grasp on the reasons behind the story, The Night Circus might be more to your taste.

An absolutely wonderful follow up to The Night Circus. I have been waiting for Erin Morgenstern to come out with another book and it did not disappoint! Highly recommend.

Really fantastic book, not what I normally read but I couldn't put it down! Really hope this book is a big success and thanks for the opportunity to take an early look at it.

Although I'm not fully done with this book, I just couldn't wait to give it five stars. I've spent countless conversations recommending The Night Circus to friends desperate for that magical feeling they had when they read Harry Potter as children. I was thrilled to see that Erin Morgenstern had another offering for those of us who had been patiently waiting. I've savored pages of this booking, going back to read sentences and paragraphs that were doubly wonderful for both the eloquent wasy in which they were phrased and the feelings they evoked. As a librarian, nothing brings me more joy than a book that celebrates the possibilities in the stacks and the special, bone-deep connection we have with reading. I'd say I can't wait to finish it, but I never want it to end!

Morgenstern excels at creating atmosphere and tone. The setting is unique and mysterious, just like The Night Circus. At times it was difficult to follow with chapters alternating between backstory, characters, and individual stories. Worth sticking with it, but not as absorbing.

"The Starless Sea" is my favorite book I've read this year. I thought "The Night Circus" was the best Morgenstern could offer (how could anything be better?), but this book knocks that one out of the park. It's got adventure, romance, mystery, cats, and stories. It is a story about stories for people who love stories. I can't to read this again.

The son of a fortune teller finds a book and his life is forever changed. This stunning tale of stories within stories within stories redefines epic fantasy.

When Zachary was a boy, he came across a painted door so realistic he was sure it would open if he only tried the knob. He walked away instead. Years later, seeking diversion from his thesis on video games, he finds a curious old book that contains, along with other tales, a description of his encounter with that door, and the promise that his adventures with the inexplicable were only beginning. Using his puzzle-solving skills, Zachary begins to unlock the secrets of a realm where stories reign supreme. Interspersed with his increasingly perilous quest are fables that gradually weave together into a greater tale of love, loss, creation, and death.

Too many twists and turns. Takes way to long to see plot development. Reader has to wade through too much detail to get there! Loved "The Night Circus" but couldn't not say the same for this title.

This is going to be a quick review! I didn't love The Night Circus, but was excited to try Morgenstern's sophomore effort. It wasn't for me. For everything I liked about it, there was something I didn't much care for. I like whimsical writing (and I did my fair share of highlighting) but I did an equal amount of eye-rolling as there were quite a few overwrought metaphors. I liked the plot and side stories at first, but after awhile, I lost interest in both - it was overlong and repetitive. The protagonist was easy to root for, but was the only other character (aside from Kat) that got any sort of development. The book was extremely creative, until it came to a very obvious conclusion.

All that said, the Night Circus is a hugely popular book and this will be too. Fans of The Night Circus will love it. The things I didn't care for about The Starless Sea were the exact things I didn't like about The Night Circus (although I listened to that one, and Jim Dale's narration did help). I'd also recommend it to folks who like Neil Gaiman, especially Neverwhere.

This thing'll circ like hotcakes, but it's not for me. As I'll definitely be recommending it, it's 4 stars on Netgalley. 2 on Goodreads - it was ok.

ARC/Netgalley

I don't think I've ever tried so hard to like a book but I just could not. I adored The Night Circus and I thought I would love this. There are glimpses of a great story in there but nothing comes together. It just rambles on and on and the plot is almost incoherent.

I'm generally not a fan of fantasy but I enjoyed Night Circus so much I was very excited to read the newest by Erin Morgenstern. I would say if you love atmospheric, sweeping , mysterious tales then you will enjoy this. I have to admit it was confusing for me. I felt a bit impatient reading it because I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I will say I look forward to talking to friends after they have read The Starless Sea to hear what they think. I would say if you aren't a fan of fantasy you might not enjoy this. Also, like Night Circus I found the story completely accessible to teens as well as adults.

Some books are for devouring and others for savoring. The books that make you want to do both are more rare. This is one of them. It has been seven long years since Erin Morgenstern published The Night Circus, but let me tell you: it was worth the wait. This is a masterpiece.

Zachary Ezra Rawlins discovers a mysterious book hidden in the library. 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 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.

Although it is only September I feel confident in proclaiming that this is the best book I'll have read in 2019. I read past my bedtime and picked it up again upon waking. When I wasn't reading, I was thinking about the story. It has everything you'd want in a novel: mystery, suspense, quests, romance, thoughtful prose, metaphors, and unique magical places. Morgenstern is a master at weaving short seemingly unconnected stories into a creative and unpredictable yet cohesive tale. It is beautiful, dreamy, mystical, thoughtful, and magical. The sea may be starless, but this novel deserves all of the stars.

This book was just beautiful. Short stories intermixed with the main plotline and they all start to merge and it is just magical. I really enjoyed reading this book. I found fascinating and could not wait to find out what happened next. Lyrical, mystical, fabulous.

I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from Doubleday via Netgalley.

If you love to read--no, truly feel as though you were put on earth to read--Morgenstern has created a fantasy world that you'll deeply wish you could find a portal into, perhaps more than you ever wanted to hop a train to Hogwarts or crawl through a wardrobe to Narnia. If avid readers and librarians were Tolkien's elves, their Further Shore would be the harbor of the Starless Sea, with its innumerable books, cozy reading nooks, gigantic ballroom, and endless possibilities for world-building and perusing.

With sympathetic nerdy characters and engrossing (if sometimes perplexing) interpolated chapters from the three books within the book, the novel spins toward a satisfying ending. Our hero is Zachary Ezra Rawlings, gamer and graduate student in Emerging Media Studies. Our other hero, conceived outside of time in the Harbor so that no rules really apply to her, is Mirabel. Romance abounds: Mirabel and Zachary each have a love interest in the Harbor, and there is also an epic love story along the lines of "Somewhere in Time" or "The Time Traveler's Wife." Zachary also has a feisty buddy named Kat in Emerging Media Studies who turns detective when he goes missing.

As for villains, some guardians of the Harbor have gone rogue in the attempt to keep the riffraff away from the books out of fear of pedestrian traffic and (shudder) hashtags. They are armed with paintbrushes and firearms and they aren't messing around.

If the novel has a weakness, it's that there are so many characters, symbols, and subplots that it's easy to get lost if you stop reading, or even if you don't: I'm still not clear about how some mythical elements relate to the overall story. "The Starless Sea" is a worthy follow-up to the masterful bestseller "The Night Circus" and should delight librarians, gamers, and bibliophiles everywhere.

This book was pure magic! The most beautiful metaphors and language. It was lyrical and totally engrossing. I can't wait to read it again!

I have never read The Night Circus, but after reading The Starless Sea, I will definitely add it to my tbr pile.

It honestly took several chapters for my head to truly wrap around this story and figure out that I was completely hooked. Like nothing I've read before.

Morgenstern is a master at pushing the narrative to new places. Lyrical and exciting. Deep and thought provoking. Everything you want in a great book!

Every once in a while, you read a book that feels like it was written just for you. When I was eight, I genuinely thought that Lucy Maud Montgomery had written Emily of New Moon just for me, it was so completely the book I needed in the moment that I read it. It doesn’t happen very often. There are books we love and books that we connect to but on the rare occasion that a book seems purpose-written for us, it’s magical. That’s how The Starless Sea was for me. The Night Circus remains one of my all time favorite books, so I was equally nervous and vibrating with excitement to receive the ARC for Erin Morgenstern’s new book. How would it compare?

One of Morgenstern’s gifts is her ability to weave seemingly unconnected stories together in complicated, unexpected ways and she excels at that here. Every time I felt like I was just about to loose the thread, when the stories were getting too tangled, a connection was made or a story was wrapped up or redirected, and I was sucked in even deeper to the tapestry of the book.

As with The Night Circus, it’s hard to say definitively who the main character is, but it all starts with a little boy who doesn’t open a magical door and a grad student in a library in Vermont who finds a very old book with no author and himself (literally) written in the pages of the book- setting in motion the hunt for The Starless Sea-a world built of stories. Except there are already people looking for it, and others trying to keep them from looking, and then there are the stories of those who have already found The Starless Sea. Their stories overlap and interlock in a love story about the love of stories. I haven’t longed to jump into a book world this much since the first time I read Harry Potter. It felt like a world built just for me.