Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book, Zachary follows the remaining clues—a bee, a key, and a sword—to a masquerade party in New York, through a secret door, and into a subterranean library buried on the shores of the Starless Sea. What he finds below the surface of the earth is a magical place of pirates, painters, lovers, and liars, and a world that is threatened by those who wish to protect it. This edition of The Starless Sea was featured in the November 2019 Illumicrate 'In Search Of Doors' subscription box.