Loved All the Light We Cannot See. Cloud Cuckoo Land ... not so much. The plot reaches for heights it cannot grasp, and comes off contrived. Still, it keeps the reader engaged if for no other reason than to see where it is going to end up. Several characters are also engaging, Omeir and Anna in particular. If you have some time on your hands and are looking for something a bit off the wall, this may fill the bill for you. If you are looking for a book you will finish with a sigh of satisfaction, you might want to move on.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a book entitled 'Cloud Cuckoo Land'. It's such a frivolous name but 'All the Light We Cannot See', Anthony Doerr's previous book, got such resounding acclaim who could pass up the opportunity to review this one. Then I noticed it's 640 pgs and nearly swooned. My love of thick books is well documented. The writing is so impressive that I literally got a third of the way through and went immediately to preorder a copy.

'Cloud Cuckoo Land' is a moving series of stories about the resilience of children, the harsh realities that face every generation (war, trauma, disease, abuse, death) and hope that can overcome hardships. We follow the thread of one story/play throughout all these characters lives. It proves what we readers already know, that the magic of a good story/book is sometimes the best medicine. I don't know whether to call this historical fiction, Sci fi/fantasy or a contemporary masterpiece because it is all of these. It was quite simply an excellent piece of literature and very worthy of buying in my opinion. I can't recommend it enough. The only things I can caution you about are the multiple narrators and nonlinear timeline. However, the chapters are pleasantly short and well titled, so I didn't find it confusing at all. Trigger warning for animal cruelty during a time of war. Anthony Doerr's writing is superb, beautiful and at times heart-rending. This a book with a powerful message that will stay with you.

Never have I read a book that has managed to take my emotions through so many different levels. What begins as sadness and hopelessness moves to joy and hope. We see how the connection to an ancient text transcends the past, present, and, future. It takes us down a path and through a forest and deposits us in a sea of stars. I cannot wait to read it again and to catch what I missed during my first read!!!

This book may end up being my favorite of the year. I was hesitant to pick it up because I LOVED "All the Light We Cannot See" and was worried that this new book would not meet my expectations. While it is a very different book and I can't say that everyone that loved "All the Light..." will love this one too, it was perfect for me. I really enjoy reading books that have multiple story lines in different time periods with story threads that come together by the end. Plus, the way Anthony Doerr writes is amazing -- so much talent. I will be recommending and gushing about this book for a very long time.

The writing in this book is really beautiful. Never have I been so aware of how using lists in writing can play with time and build tension. However, there is SO MUCH sadness at the beginning of the novel, and timing-wise it isn't a great fit for me at this moment. I look forward to returning to it in the future!

Doerr's latest novel is not only ambitious but pleasurable. If I were teaching a YA lit class, I'd probably pick this novel because I think high school students would enjoy it a great deal. This novel takes place over many centuries in many countries and is connected by the title of our novel. To some degree, it's a bit of a mystery how it all connects, and we read along assuming we will see the connections more clearly through the chapters, which we do. Much of the book revolves around showing appreciation for librarians.

At times, I found myself speed-reading over sections because I was more interested in some characters more than others. Maybe I was just impatient. I was most interested in Seymour and Zeno, even though Zeno's visit to reconnect with the POW friend was a bit of a let down. Seymour and his mother were more interesting, mainly because they were the most contemporary characters and their experiences seemed the most relatable.

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.

Anthony Doerr is one of our best contemporary writers. All the Light We Cannot See is one of my favorite modern day works, and I’ve waited seven years in anticipation of his next novel. Doerr’s creativity shines through in Cloud Cuckoo Land, which is more complex than ATLWCS. In this novel, Doerr employs a fictional ancient Greek text to connect five people across three different time periods. At times, it can be a lot to take in, but Doerr writes it very well.

Ultimately, I grew to love all of the characters and their stories, and I became deeply invested in everyone’s outcome. The last third of the book is stupendous, as Doerr melds the timelines and plotlines to connect the characters to each other. All of the characters know and come to love the ancient Greek text in some way. Doerr dedicates this book to “the librarians then, now, and in the years to come,” and his dedication rings true throughout the novel in the ways he regards the stewardship of knowledge through books over time and the important role librarians play in that process.

This novel is long – 640 pages – and each story is its own genre: historical fiction, contemporary fiction, and science fiction. The novel is complex, nuanced, and very different from ATLWCS. Particularly in the middle third of the novel, you have to let go, keep reading, and trust that Doerr will get you where you need to go (he does). I don’t mind any of that – in fact, I think it’s all the signs of a great writer – but some people will not enjoy it. Those of you who do enjoy this type of novel: preorder this one now. I cannot wait to reread my physical copy when it appears on my doorstep in next month.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ebook ARC of this novel.
Publication date: September 28, 2021

This book was so engaging, beautiful, disturbing, and wonderful. I would have expected nothing less from the author of All the Light We Cannot See, and I can see that I was right to believe this.

The story is centered around a manuscript by Diogenes that is previously unknown, and the various characters interact with it throughout history, from the siege of Constantinople, to the near future when earth has become uninhabitable. Much like Doerr’s previous works, this book weaves different stories together and creates a beautiful tapestry of meaning surrounding this interesting and unconventional writing. The allegory of the story itself is not lost of me, and the idea of leaving earth to return to the stars is something we see very clearly in our daily life right now with various billionaires trying to reach space. Is this story that far from the truth?

The main stories that are interwoven are the story of Omeir, a young Turkish boy who is born with a cleft palate and is raised as a farmer. His story very delicately becomes interwoven with the story of Anna, who lives in Constantinople and comes to guard the book, Cloud Cuckoo Land. We are also introduced to Zeno, raised in Idaho, who becomes a prisoner of war in Korea and becomes familiarized with the book as well throughout his life.

There are so many different nuances to this book that I hesitate to tell all of them, because I think you should definitely read it for yourself and find out how they all become related. A masterpiece once again.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received this from Netgalley.com.

Disappointing read. Set in multiple timelines, I found the storylines and characters confusing and hard to follow.

2 ☆

Anthony Doerr dazzles with his command of language, plot, and character. Cloud Cuckoo Land begins with a bomb in a backpack in a library with the wonderful Zeno and several children acting out a play upstairs with no idea how their lives are about to change. As the story zinged from Idaho to space to Constantinople, I couldn't stop thinking about those kids and that bomb. Doerr made me care from page one and that in itself is a feat, but that's not the thing I loved most about Cloud Cuckoo Land. The relatability of its people, the universality of their dreams and longings - this is the real gold of this lovely epic.

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc. What a privilege to read.

Thank you, Anthony Doerr, for your inspiring and staggering talent.

Set in 15th century Constantinople, current times in Idaho, and a spaceship in the distant future Cloud Cockoo Land is an epic tale made up of the stories of multiple characters. The book’s cast of characters all have their own storylines. They are all equally engaging, from the young boy and girl caught on opposite sides of the Fall of Constantinople, to the librarian in more current times who deals with a young man who brings a bomb to the library, where a group of children are preparing for a play, and the girl in the future on a voyage through space in a ship that is hit with a plague. All of their diverse stories are beautifully tied together by a single manuscript from ancient Greece written by Antonious Diogenes. Cloud Cuckoo Land is a masterpiece of immersive fiction with depth, heart, and emotion. It is a story about how books touch our lives, and how important it is to keep books alive. How books can touch us all throughout space and time.

This is a book of fantasy involving five children spread over different time periods, but with a story in a book that binds them together. The book moves smoothly back and forth between time periods making it easy to follow the different story lines. Of interest to me was the inclusion of a piece of the Cloud Cuckoo Land story before each major shift. Overall, a very enjoyable book.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog.

I liked All the Light We Can Not See, but this book just was not for me. I can appreciate it, and I would not be surprised if it also wins awards and accolades. I did not care for the back and forth and all the background that did not matter.

Cloud Cuckoo Land gives new meaning to the term epic saga! It's been ages since I've read a book that was so inventive, intricate and insightful. The writing is of course top notch, filled with those turns of phrase that make you want to stop and take notes even when you know that there's no way you can take a break from a story that is so intriguing it's hard to put down.

It takes a bit of work to get started in this story. The characters, times, and backgrounds are so disparate that it's hard to imagine just how the author will bring them together, or if he will at all. A bit of patience in the beginning will be well rewarded by what turns out to be a plot that is smoothly seamless and utterly gratifying. A testament to the value of libraries and the importance of stories, Cloud Cuckoo Land is an excellent read and an enthusiastic recommend.

Oh my goodness!!! I don't know how he thought up this story! It is great. When I started reading I thought what is this. I am so glad I finished it. I had all kinds of emotions while reading. It makes you think about ways to save the earth! He is such a good writer! Now is one of my to go to authors!!!

With NetGalley I have been introduced to new authors which is a wonderful thing.. Anthony Doerr is an author I have heard good things about. So I figured why not read Cloud Cuckoo Land even though it is out of my usual reading real,. The characters were very imaginative, and compelling. There were several stories, withing stories. Crossing time lines, centuries and going to different places. Zeno young boy that lives in Idaho and later is an old man named Konstance is written in the future. Zeno is a very brave and caring character. Then there is a character named Seymour whose story might break your heart. He and the older Zeno meet in the same time period.
I tried to step out of my reading realm and I just couldn't really get into this book fully. There was a lot of fantasy, sci'fi which I myself is not a fan of. There was a lot of different stories going on and once which left me totally confused. Maybe it is just me. If you are a lover of fantasy, sci'fi than Cloud Cuckoo Land is for you. This would not defer me from reading any other books by Anthony Doerr in the future. Thank you Net Galley , Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy. I only wished I could have enjoyed it more.

Beautifully written with themes of hope, resilience, and love of a good story, Cloud Cuckoo Land is a literary triumph. The braided story with past, present, and future timelines is complex, but Doerr is such a masterful writer that the reader is not confused and remains entranced with each character and situation. The ending was perfect and the only flaw was that it came too soon.

Maybe it’s just because I am a fervid reader who has happily and rapaciously been devouring books ever since I could recognize two words together on a page. Maybe it’s because I am a professional librarian. Whatever the reasons or my possible biases, I find Anthony Doerr’s “Cloud Cuckoo Land,” to be a work of absolute beauty. His prose feels like poetry, and the tale it constructs is a wonderfully memorable one. It’s that of a fictional Greek comedy that manages to touch the lives of several individuals over the span of several hundred years, from the fall of Byzantine Constantinople to a fast-gentrifying lakeside town in Idaho, to a colony ship hurtling through space. Across these disparate locations and periods and in the midst of very different challenges, the core characters find themselves comforted, inspired, infused with purpose, and more. The power of a single book is on gorgeously full display here, not merely in Cloud Cuckoo Land’s narrative, but also in the way that it swept me as a reader away deep into its pages enveloped me in an interconnected tale that resonated down to my very core.

For all those who adored “All the Light That We Cannot See,” the wait for Doerr’s next read was definitely well worth it. And for those who are encountering this author for the first time, I enthusiastically recommend this to you with every fiber of my bibliophile being.

"All my life, he thinks, my best companions cannot speak the same language as me."

Cloud Cuckoo Land is the second novel I've read by Anthony Doerr, the first being his acclaimed novel, All the Light We Cannot See. I recall liking the book well enough, but also remembering it to be too long and at times overindulgent.

So with his new novel being longer, I was feeling pretty cautious, especially with the knowledge that this was to follow the lives of 5 different characters. Suffice it to say, by the end of this 600+ page novel, I was pretty moved by the story Anthony Doerr created and would put this way above All the Light We Cannot See.

To summarize, Cloud Cuckoo Land follows 5 characters whose lives are tied together by the "novel" Cloud Cuckoo Land by the early writer, Antonio Diogenes. We have Zeno and Seymour whose stories take place primarily in Lakeport, Idaho. There's Omeir and Anna in the area of Constantinople in the 1400s. Lastly, there is Konstance onboard The Argos in Mission Year 64 and 65. We really do follow them throughout their lives, and by the end it does feel like you've been with them for a lifetime; understanding their feelings and struggles on a very personal level. It's a lot to take in but I'm happy to say it all wraps up in a very generous, heartfelt way.

I'm not going to spoil anything as I think the journey is worth the price of admission, but as per usual I'll be going over some general grievances I had, especially early on.

This novel is broken up into 26 parts (Prologue and Epilogue included), with each Part introducing a chapter of Diogenes' story. In the first two-thirds, we are constantly switching back and forth between characters and periods of time. Until we're down to that last third, it's unclear why this had to be the way to tell the story. It's very jarring to be pulled out of something that has you by its grip only to be sent elsewhere. And while the shift does work by the end, when everything is falling into place, it feels mostly clunky at the beginning.

Some Parts, and this is going off of Kindle, last all of 5-10 pages before moving on to the next. While I understand the intent with including the sections of the Diogenes' story to tie in, it wasn't that enjoyable to read as you're just getting into the proverbial meat and potatoes before your plate gets taken away.

The overindulgence comes into play when some of the Parts start in one time period, switching between the two characters who inhabit that time, before switching to a new time period and a different character, then back to the characters at the start of the Part. It's at these points where nothing really ties any of these characters together and you wonder why the switch is happening so drastically and where the connection is. It's like whiplash.

Of course, the ultimate connection ends up being how Cloud Cuckoo Land affects the lives of our characters. If you have a love of books and the written word, you'll obviously fall head over heels for this novel. Anthony Doerr has a love for books that's very clear and concise and very moving. It's a beautiful thing to read a novel about a novel that has lasting effects.

I'm happy to have had the chance to try Anthony Doerr again and I applaud his willingness to try something as ambitious as Cloud Cuckoo Land. While I had mixed feelings at the beginning, I was very pleased to find myself misty eyed by the end and feeling like I made a few friends along the way.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel! I definitely need a physical of this.

Simply marvelous. This book was a slow start for me, but once the stories started ramping up, I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. If you like deep, emotional works of fiction that span generations and continents, there’s a good chance you’ll love this book. Bonus points for lovers of the Greek classics, although if you don’t read the classics don’t let that stop you from trying this book. I’ll be thinking about Cloud Cuckoo Land and its characters for a long time.