Often when I read a big new release, I like to go back and discover more of the author’s previously published titles. The Starless Sea is one of the biggest new releases this fall, so I thought it would be fun to pair it with a look back at Erin Morgenstern’s earlier bestseller, The Night Circus.

These books are not my usual fare, but I loved them. I don’t read a lot of fantasy, but Morgenstern’s writing is so vivid and gorgeous, and the worlds she creates are so unique. After reading her bestselling debut The Night Circus in 2014 (it was published in 2011), I eagerly anticipated the release of her second book, which was only just now published in late 2019.

The Starless Sea

The Starless Sea
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Published November 5, 2019, by Doubleday

First off, these are not books for someone who likes a lot of plot and action. In fact, I would have a hard time describing the plot of this book. The official description calls it the story of a man who discovers a mysterious book that leads him to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth. That’s mostly accurate, but what he discovers isn’t so much a library as a magical secret world crafted for and by and about stories, where the rules of time and space and mortality don’t always apply, and things are often not as they seem.

Morgenstern’s writing is lyrical and meandering without being bloated, and every sentence is perfectly crafted. The book is a love letter to stories, myths and fables, symbolism and imagery, time and fate. It’s every bit as gorgeous as The Night Circus, albeit a bit slow. It’s close to 500 pages and took me 2 weeks to read. I will admit that things got a little convoluted and confusing towards the end, but then everything came together for a satisfying, if somewhat open-ended, resolution.

My rating: 5 stars
Average rating on Goodreads at the time of this writing: 4.22

The Night Circus

The Night Circus
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Published September 13th 2011 by Doubleday

If I remember correctly, The Night Circus is a National Novel Writing Month success story. Morgenstern started the book during the popular November event in which writers aim to write 50,000 words in one month.

The Night Circus is about a magical traveling circus, which arrives without warning and is only open at night. This is no ordinary circus. Le Cirque des Rêves is built largely by competing magicians, with increasingly elaborate and mysterious attractions. Again, the plot here is secondary to the lyrical prose and the lavish descriptions. I read it 5 years ago so I don’t remember a lot of details, but I remember being sucked into the imaginative, magical world that Morgenstern created, and I was so happy when her second book was announced. I only hope it doesn’t take her another 8 years to write her third!

My rating: 4 stars
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.04