We have a lot in common, and this book is, in many ways, tailored to my tastes so specifically that I found myself feeling almost embarrassed about it - which almost immediately becomes thematically relevant, as Zachary begins reading a misshelved book in his university's library, called Sweet Sorrows, that includes a passage intimately describing a moment from his actual childhood. Zachary Ezra Rollins is a fortune-teller's son, a lover of books and cocktails, a graduate student studying video games, and gay.

While it doesn't entirely succeed on that front, it did succeed in making me feel like I was a child falling into a story again - which is, as the book establishes early on, very close to the same thing. I felt as if I'd read the book because I'd played the game, interacted intimately with the cover art, steeped myself in a loving tribute to the book's atmosphere.Ĭonversely, The Starless Sea is a book that wants to make you feel like you're playing a game - specifically a game like Myst, with puzzles, history, mystery. Curiously, though, I felt as if I had, and even as if I'd enjoyed it - likely, on reflection, through a combination of the gorgeously evocative cover and the fact that it was accompanied by a browser game developed by Failbetter Games, creators of Fallen London. I came to The Starless Sea not having read The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern's fantastically successful 2012 debut. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title The Starless Sea Author Erin Morgenstern

The starless sea