Doerr will always get 5 stars from me for his writing style. His prose is gorgeous. The characters were exceptionally drawn. For me, if a writer can get me in to a character's head and body, I know they're good. The message of the book is a good one that every reader will appreciate. You may get distracted by all the characters and unearthly elements but push through and by opening my heart and mind to a narrative design it made more sense and I allowed myself into Doerr’s past, present, and future, so that, at the end, as I closed the book, I wanted the world that Doerr created. Love, redemption, curiosity, desire, and a bit of the odious blend together to show us all our humanity. There are 5 main characters in this book. You will be hooked to Omeir, Anna, and Konstance's arcs. I found Zeno and Seymour's arcs dragging in the middle there. The story of Aethon is what ties them all together. Parts of this will definitely feel contrived but I really enjoyed the ending. It makes up for the rest to a large extent. It was a bit busy though. So much is going on its easy to get confused, but Doerr does an excellent job of wrapping it up so that I felt good about understanding the story at the end. Overall, this is an enjoyable novel that provides readers with a glimpse into different cultures, historically and in futuristically, and shows how we are connected by mysterious threads.
Thank you to netgalley, the author and the publisher Schribner. This book is expected to be published Sept 28th.

probably one of the coolest ARCs I’ve ever copped 🤍

if you were a fan of all the light we cannot see, you’re going to love this read too. immediately pulled me in and I couldn’t put it down. stayed up last night just to finish it because I needed to know how it ended. not many books can get me to do that on a work night. couldn’t recommend enough. already one I wish I could read for the first time again.

publication date - sept 28 2021

Cloud Cuckoo Land is the much anticipated book by Anthony Doerr. This book is so different from All The Light We Cannot See. Not that authors books need to be the same. The writing is beautiful but this book jumps all over the place and cannot be classified into one category. Cloud Cuckoo Land is Greek Mythology, historical fiction, and Sci-Fi. The book also takes place in 15th century Constantinople, current times, and the future. The story of Aethon touches all three times to pull the book together.

I found this book hard to read since it jumped all over the place. I usually enjoy books that have a current timeline and a historical timeline. Maybe adding the future as well made the book more discombobulated. It was a hard book to pickup and restart. This might be a good book to commit to and finish in a few days so everything can be straight in your mind. However, I did not find this to be a quick read.

I think parts of this book will stick with me. It has some good stories to tell. I am looking forward to when this book is released and what the book bloggers and FB groups have to say about this book because it has left me a bit confused.

I would like to thank #NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. #CloudCuckooLand #AnothonyDoerr

Ok, reading friends, take note - this book is wonderful! I enjoyed every minute of the diverse story lines: medieval Constantinople, 20th-21st century Idaho, a rocket ship taking colonizers away from a environmentally exhausted Earth, and even ancient Greece (kind of), which are all connected through a powerful fairy tale. Each story brought a different layer to the themes of the power of stories, as well as the limits of their power; the human desire to search for more than we have at home; and how that search can bring us home again with a new love for the familiar.
I was a big fan of "All the Light We Cannot See" and this novel, thought wildly different, is just as good. Please read it!

Reading Cloud Cuckoo Land is quite like listening to a sonata in three movements. There are multiple storylines, that though never actually overlap while at least two are linked from a distance, and that adds to the timelessness of the story that Doerr has to tell here.

The overarching theme is human perseverance, the constant aim of doing something, being someone, reaching someplace, winning something, while trying to survive. He shows a complex interplay of circumstances, timelines, situations, personalities, Great Wars, and - yes - a virus (!), while showing a handful of central characters who must do what they believe they have to do, against great odds. Sometimes, what must be done is as simple as simply surviving, as in the story of Anna and Omeir, while sometimes it is as great as moving to a star system millions of miles from Earth to repopulate and sustain humanity itself, as in the story of Konstance. In between, there's the stories of Zero and Seymour, both conflicted in their own way.

The writing is lyrical, and almost equals the fantastical play it strives to emulate. The play itself is used very cleverly, and while it is certainly not required to have read it or even know about it, I was intrigued enough to read up a bit on it somewhere in the midst of reading this novel. Having a handful of characters, including the unfortunate but indefatigable Aetheon, in such a long novel made it possible to dig deep into each character, baring their soul, granted some more fleeting than others, and on some instances one can easily close ones eyes and see them, as they walk by in search of whatever it is they are searching for. The stories are disparate, separated not just by time and circumstances, but also by eras and technological and socio-economic progress, each progressively more advanced and yet more pained than the one that preceded it.

I came away happily impressed by each character, though on hindsight, I wished there could have been some more details around the story of Konstance - easily the most alluring of them all. That may also be because it is the closest literal equivalent to the travels of Aethon (!), but each storyline has its parallels with the story of Aethon, and it speaks to the sheer willpower of the characters that they challenge the reader's beliefs, presumptions, biases, and yet fits into all of them while still able to keep a flicker of hope till the very end.

It almost shows where we as Earthlings are coming from, where we are right now, and (perhaps) where we could be headed, unless we take steps to curtail our excesses and our often-misguided exuberances.

Cloud Cuckoo Land is able to achieve a unique distinction - it is a warning shot, and yet at the same time, a ray of hope. We, each of us, have multitudes within us, and the pairs in the storylines demonstrate those multitudes. We are all Janus, and we're each our own saviors.

A Must Read.

My sincere Thanks for NetGalley, Scribner and Mr. Doerr for providing an e-ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the author's previous book so was hoping for another wonderful story. Mr. Doerr has such a lyrical way of writing that you can't help but fall in love with his words. However, multiple storylines and a plethora of characters created a confusing, at times jarring, transition between stories. I found myself reading those chapters of favorite characters while completely skipping over others. Not quite as good as his last book.

"Cloud Cuckoo Land" was a hard book to get into. Very ambitious, and I love the whimsical idea but the plot was all over the place. I normally have no problem jumping between characters, timelines and such. I think the problem with this book was I didn't have a clear idea what the book was about. I will give it another try later.

DNF.

I chose to read this book as I had wanted to read Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See, which received wonderful reviews, as did this one. As this was my introduction to Doerr, now I’m not so sure I’ll read All the Light We Cannot See. This was a struggle and, at over 600 pages, a long struggle. I stuck with it, thinking that eventually something would click, but it didn’t. The book has so many 4 and 5 star reviews, and Doerr won the Pulitzer Prize, so I may be wrong.

The story is told in past, present and future timelines with multiple points of view, which unfortunately didn’t work for me. While I was interested in each, there are five, plus the mythological story of Aethon woven in between all. The timelines skipped around so much, it was hard to pick-up each again.

Past timeline: Anna is an orphan who lives with her sister in Constantinople in the mid-1400’s. Their lives are heartbreakingly depressing. Omeir is a teamster of ox in the army that will invade Constantinople, and he also leads a heartbreakingly depressing life. Anna, who has learned to read, finds a book with the story of Aethon, who longs to be turned into a bird so that he can fly to a utopian paradise in the sky (Cloud Cuckoo Land). Anna reads the book to her dying sister as Constantinople is beseiged.

Present timeline: Zeno and Seymour, about 500 years later. Seymour is a troubled child who grows into an extremely troubled youth, and places a bomb in a library. Zeno, an 86-year-old WWII veteran, meets up with Seymour that night. Seymour has mental health issues and craves a solitary existence. Zeno, a gay man, lives a solitary existence and craves sharing it with someone.

Future timeline: Konstance is on the ship Argos, taking her to another planet as Earth has been decimated.

The common thread is the story of Aethon, which touches all the characters.

The prose is beautiful, but I couldn’t find a plot. It was just endless and depressing unhappiness and misery.

https://candysplanet.wordpress.com/

I appreciate the opportunity to be given an advance copy of this and I tried but I just can't get into this. It jumped around too much between too many characters and it was hard to follow.

I had SUCH high hopes for this book. I wanted to love it so much, and I just didn't. I should've known when the synopsis didn't grab me from the beginning, but I read it anyway hoping I was wrong. This was actually one of those books I practically had to FORCE myself to finish. For some reason I just couldn't get into it.

Doerr’s acclaimed historical fiction novel, All the Light We Cannot See, has been one of my favorites for years due to its exceptional prose.

This book delivers the wonderful words that I was hoping for, and I loved being lost within the pages.

There is a lot of timelines and characters to keep track of in this one - it spans 6 centuries, has 3 time periods, and multiple different perspectives. I think this may be difficult for some readers who don’t like frequent changes in the storyline.

However, I loved the various view points, and the threads of hope woven within the story. It’s quite beautiful.

Yes, it's convoluted.

When you start reading this amazing book you will have moments of confusion. But recall the times you have gone to the cinema with that obnoxious talky friend who keeps whispering "Who is she?" and "What's going on now?" and "Why did he do that?" and you have to constantly shush him and say, "Just be patient -- it will become clear."

You may need to shush yourself a few times as you settle into this story.

I don't think I've ever read such a well-constructed book. As I neared the middle, I zoomed through those brief chapters looking for the next installment in the lives of Zeno, Anna, Konstance, Omeir and Seymour, from the Middle Ages, the 20th and 21st centuries, and some unspecified future period.

The book is heartbreaking and heartwarming, and if we all took it to heart in its vast historical sweep, we would be better people and better citizens of the world.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for an advance readers copy.

This is a love story about the power of stories - how words can unite us across time and space. It’s been a very long time since I’ve felt myself be so transported by a novel, but I lost myself in these pages. It took me a little while to figure out where this story was going - is this sci fi? Historical fiction? Who are these characters, why do we keep jumping timelines, how do they all fit together? - but once I was able to pick up the central thread, I was enthralled. If you love the power of words, if you believe stories can bring us together, you simply must read this book and fall in love with it like I did.

Happy National Read A Book Day! I can think of no better book review to post today than Cloud Cuckoo Land, a love letter to the power of books and stories. Thank you to Scribner for my NetGalley ARC and Libro.fm for my ALC!

Pub date: September 28th
Rating: ☁️☁️☁️☁️

Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See is a personal favorite, and this book continues his examination of outsiders; main characters Anna, Omeir, Seymour, Zeno, and Konstance all want something more and different from their lives. The three distinct timelines (Constantinople in the fifteenth century, a small town in present-day Idaho, and an interstellar ship decades from now) have more in common than one would think. The title of the book comes from the novel Cloud Cuckoo Land - a device connecting these distinct individuals. I leaned into my confusion when reading this one - I think it's ok to feel like you're not getting 100% understanding of the text and events - all will be revealed in time.

This book clocks in at 640 pages, and I do think it could have been a bit shorter, but I loved the intertwined stories and how everything came together at the end. The last 30% of this book is true beauty, and I'm so glad I invested the time to get to this wonderful conclusion. I especially loved the arc of my favorite character, Konstance, living on the interstellar ship.

I started the book with my text copy, switching to audio about halfway through, and I think this was the right choice. I really enjoyed the audio narration by Marin Ireland, but I think I would have been a bit too confused with audio only. If you're an audio expert, you may be fine, but audio newbies should probably stick to the text or combine text and audio.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner, I received an advanced e-copy to read. This is an honest review.

I've found myself once again fully enveloped in the world of an Anthony Doerr novel. I was so enamored by All The Light We Cannot See that I was at the same time excited and wary to give this book a chance. Cloud Cuckoo Land successfully mixes elements of historical fiction and science fiction, Greek myths and climate change, into a cohesive and engaging story.

Cloud Cuckoo Land connects a group of characters from multiple time periods, places, and circumstances through an old Greek codex of the same name. From 15th century Constantinople, to a town in present day Idaho, to a spacecraft in the near future, Doerr was able to weave together all of these lives so beautifully without any of the stories feeling disjointed from the rest. Every character felt fully formed and I was able to empathize with each of them. There were also some really great and unexpected twists in the books that made it really hard to put down, especially as I neared the end and all of the information started to come together and reveal itself.

All in all, I'd say if you're a fan of Doerr's style or looking for a new book to read that doesn't sit staunchly in one genre or another, this would be an excellent choice.

Overall, I enjoyed this book immensely. Cloud Cuckoo Land has five different story lines, all of which tie together in some way by the end of the book. Konstance and her time on the futuristic interstellar Argos ship. Zeno and Seymour whose lives collide in present day. And finally Anna and Omeir in the past who first find the books that’s ties everyone’s story lines together.

Konstance by far was my favorite character and story line. Doerr did an amazing job connecting you to her and visually telling her story.

I’ve always enjoyed Anthony Doerr’s writing style, and this one did not disappoint.

Cloud Cuckoo Land is the story of how a great story can change peoples lives through the ages. The book is the stories of Anna and Omeir in 15th century Constantinople, Zeno and Seymour in modern times and Konstance in the future. All are connected through an ancient folio by Diogenes called Cloud Cuckoo Land . The ancient story brings them all comfort and joy in various ways. The story of Konstance was the most engaging for me. Trapped on a space ship heading to a planet that she won’t live to get to- her story has a surprising twist. A wonderful love story about reading this is definitely a must read for fall.

The much anticipated novel by the author of All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr, is just weeks away but truth be told, Cloud Cuckoo Land, is vastly different from Doerr's preceding novel. The novel still contains richly drawn characters under difficult circumstances and vivid locales as did All the Light... but in Cloud Cuckoo Land Doerr has combined genres to offer the reader historical, science, and contemporary fiction rolled into one complex, challenging and sometimes confusing 640 page book.
Cloud Cuckoo Land encompasses multiple time periods, locations and characters making the first half of the book a struggle to enjoy and the richness, depth and backstory of the characters Doerr created became overshadowed by the time leaps.
The reader is transported to Lakeport, Idaho 2020 where the lives of an elderly man and a young man become entwined, Constantinople, in the mid 1400's where Anna first becomes acquainted with an ancient text, which will affect everyone in the novel, and Omeir of Bulgaria who is on his way to invade Anna's village and lastly, into the future aboard a spacecraft where Konstance and her fellow travelers struggle for survival.
It's quite a lot to digest, however, all roads lead to the ancient text in a somewhat leap of artistic license.
Overall, Doerr's work is creative, the writing top notch, the characters are well drawn and the locales, well described. I certainly recommend it for its originality and prose however, the novel seemed a bit sluggish at first, continue on, it is the second half of the book which propelled me forward.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this much anticipated novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scrivener for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I, like many who were venturing into literary fiction in 2014 at the tender age of seventeen, was entranced by All the Light We Cannot See. I was in awe of how something so terrible and so heavy could be so resonant and beautiful through Doerr's words. And here we have that again in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Three timelines, a cast of deeply complicated and rich characters, and one story at the root of it all: a fantastical take of a man who wants to be a bird. Each timeline teeters on the edge of horrible disaster: the invasion of Constantinople; a disturbingly violent act at a public library; and humanity on the brink of disaster in space.

The book did not drag for me despite its length -- I was unable to put it down more than once. The fragments of the timelines and the translations in-between made me feel like I was flowing in and out of a the story, gasping for breath between segments of plot and emotion that never let up for the entire 600+ pages. I don't really know how to articulate how the whole thing made me feel, other than I had a very similar experience reading Richard Powers' The Overstory. It was like I was very big and very small at the same time -- feeling like the story was so much bigger than me and that I was never going to understand it all but also that it was about me and my life and my loved ones and the world I live in. I don't know how Doerr does it but I will be thinking about this for a long time.

I am going to go 5 stars here.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr was an interesting read for me. Told over the course of three very distinct timelines, and five points of view, Cloud Cuckoo Land is an absorbing and immersing, mash-up of genre, from historical fiction to a bit of sci-fi story.. I thought the characters were well developed, likable and I wholeheartedly was rooting for them. I loved how Doer connected the timelines and characters. There is no denying he is a master of prose. My only real complaint is I felt parts of the ending were left unexplained, like I missed a part of the story. It does really make you contemplate how the past impacts the present and into the future, what we do today will harm or benefit the future generations.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher @scribnerbooks for an opportunity to read an advanced copy and provide an honest review.