THE STARLESS SEA
by Erin Morgenstern
In recommending The Starless Sea, I struggled to name the genre of the book. I’ve decided it is fantasy – along the lines of Harry Potter but written for adults. The Starless Sea tells the story of Zachary Ezra Rollins who attends a small Vermont college, majors in Computer Games and keeps mostly to himself. One day, Ezra happens upon an old book in the library which, upon reading, he realizes tells the story of his life exactly up to that moment.
In order to find out more about this mysterious book (and how his life will proceed), Ezra attends a costume ball at a literary society in Manhattan. That leads to an invitation to enter a secret place far beneath the earth’s surface. In this subterranean world, Ezra encounters rooms upon rooms stuffed full of books and stories and cats and owls. Time as he understands it no longer applies in this world. As Zachary tries to make sense of this place, he searches for a young man to whom he was hopelessly drawn the night he entered the new world. He also hopes to find the Starless Sea.
The Starless Sea weaves a vast and intricately complex web of fantastic stories and myths about books written, stories told, paths chosen, and promises made and broken. Besides following the adventures in this epic tale, the author presents an allegory about life and the choices each of us makes: the stories we tell, the routes we choose, the lives we lead. I did not find this an “easy” read. But in the end, my efforts were rewarded by a truly original and entertaining story. (Liz)
