Erin Morgenstern builds a strange fantasy setting in The Starless Sea, her ambitious followup to her bestselling 2011 debut, The Night Circus. It’s the story of Zachary Ezra Rawlins, a grad student who’s equally at home in the worlds of video games and books, a lover of storytelling in its many forms. When Zachary gains entry to an ancient subterranean library, he discovers a hidden world that is as inviting as it is dangerous.
Interwoven through Zachary’s narrative are strands of myths and fairy tales that feel like clues…
