Grad student Zachary Ezra Rawlins is poking around in the library when he comes across a mysterious book. On closer inspection, the book contains a scene from his own childhood, when he came across a lone door and did not open it. Zachary follows the only identifying marks on the book - bee, key, sword - to a masquerade party to a secret club to an ancient library under the earth and the people trying to protect and destroy it.

THE STARLESS SEA is a beautiful, glorious tangle of stories, threads weaving and overlapping and doubling back, layering upon each other to build a fantastic ruin. I didn't always understand what was happening and often had to flip back to previous stories, but I was completely entranced.

As with THE NIGHT CIRCUS, I see precisely why Morgenstern's writing isn't for everyone - the pacing is glacial, often moving backward to fill in details from another perspective rather than advancing the plot. Something about her style forces the reader to slow down and contemplate each sentence. @does.it.have.a.dragon called it "filigreed" and I think that's quite accurate.

I'll also echo @simoneandherbooks' suggestion to go back and read Dorian's initial story about Fate and Time after you finish the book - it's well worth your time to reread the tale with more context.