An amazing tale of the ages as fascinating characters interact in various ways with an ancient document. Doerr is a master storyteller and takes us throughout time and space for an unforgettable journey celebrating the importance of words, stories, and books.

4.5 stars. Stories told in several parts can be challenging to become invested in. It took me a little while to really care, but I was glad once I got there. It's really four stories that make up two larger stories, which tell one overarching story. It's really better than I'm making it sound.
Also, the climate aspect of the story doesn't really get political one way or the other, in my opinion. Thought maybe some people might like to know that.

Parts of the book have stayed with me, even after a few weeks. That doesn't always happen. It was worth reading. I'm glad I did.

This book is an impressive work. The characters come over as solid but believable individuals and have a connection that moors them. Very well written.
Many thanks to Scribner and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved Anthony Doerr’s All the Things We Cannot See and had great hopes for this latest novel, Cloud Cuckoo Land. But I couldn’t get into it and made it about 1/3rd of the way before I put it down. The constant changing of time lines had me thrown off and as a mom on the go this is a book I really needed to take the time to sit down and grasp. It’s definitely on my list to revisit.

I was a big fan of Doerr's prior work so I was very excited to receive this ARC. Expansive, ambitious fiction is my favorite genre and this book, with its multiple timelines and rich descriptive passages did not disappoint! It absolutely blew me away. It is definitely a long one, but I loved when the different threads started to come together.

I wish I had read this faster, as it was clear the farther I got into it how connected the stories were. I wonder what I missed in dragging it out over months. He is a great writer - even feeling lost in the story at times, the skill involved in keeping everything moving and connected is clear.

"All times and all stories being one and the same in the end"
I was beyond excited to be able to read this book early considering I adore "All the light we cannot see". I don't even know where to start, I love the fact that it gives you hope for this world, instead of scaring you into thinking about the bad it gives you this hope for a better world no matter what. I love the multiple timelines and characters from them, I fell in love with the wording and the quotes and cannot wait to read them again.

Oooh boy, I'd been looking forward to this novel for SO LONG after loving Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See. And while I try to be careful not to go into any novel expecting it to just fill the shoes of the author's previous works, this one was ultimately a disappointment for me. Doerr is an incredible writer whose sentences and paragraphs are stunners unto themselves, but the interlinking stories/timelines/character arcs here never gelled in a way that made sense, and it ultimately felt a drudge to get through. That said, there are folks who adored this structure, so it may well have been a case of "it's not the book, it's the reader" here; definitely worth considering if you're a Doerr fan and/or like speculative fiction with strange structures!

I am a huge Anthony Doerr fan and this book does not disappoint. My efforts to describe his writing keep falling short because how do you write a strong description of writing that is this good? You'll just have to endure my pedestrian efforts.

Cloud Cuckoo Land is three stories in one. Firstly, life in ancient times full of tyranny, war, oppression and hope. Second, it is the story of modern life filled with difficult parenting, lunatic terrorists and kind librarians. Third it is a tale of a time in the future when we live in space pods, using AI and other technologies to provide knowledge, entertainment and safety but where people still experience the same emotional needs for love and freedom.

Doerr manages to develop these stories in parallel and then to magically weave them together. And when I say magically, that’s exactly what I mean. This book is sheer genius.

Oh my goodness, what an amazing journey through time! We start with Konstance, who is journeying through space to a distant planet. We go back in time to 2020 to Seymour, who is an angry 17 year old, and Zeno, an elderly war veteran. Finally, we go to 1400’s Turkey to Anna and Omeir, two children who flee the attack on Constantinople. All three seemingly unrelated stories are linked by a book - Cloud Cuckoo Land. Doerr weaves these three stories together beautifully. This was a great book for people who love books!

My "Booktalk with Diana Korte" podcast interview with Anthony Doerr and his CLOUD CUCKOO LAND says it all for me. Here it is--https://open.spotify.com/episode/7mOqy6FkCBSteWnimKjAnc

It's pretty much impossible not to compare this book to Anthony Doerr's previous work "All the Light We Cannot See." It's one of my favorite books of all time, so I knew it would be hard to live up to. In Cloud Cuckoo Land, I see the same beautiful prose, scene building and unique characters. However, it took me a really long time to ground myself in the story. The time-hopping was so severe and I was over halfway through the book before I had any idea what the story was about. I would still say that I enjoyed reading it — but the plotline is just so bizarre that I don't think it will make any favorites lists. The surprise at the end really knocked this up from a 3 to a 4-star, though. He still remains a must-read author for me.

Intricate plotting reflects realistic (Idaho, immigrants, Korean War, environmental activism), historical (the fall of the Byzantine empire and the rise of the Ottoman empire), and sci-fi (a space community rocketing through space to a new planet due to environmental disasters on earth) all with the themes of environmental destruction and the possible collapse of civilization. Timelines are tied together by the ancient Greek story of Aethon,who seeks a utopian paradise in the sky. This is definitely more complex than Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See, but timelines are easy to follow, and the time spent with this novel was extremely rewarding. Excellent choice for book clubs!
Thank you to Netgalley and Scribner for the privilege of reading this book.

Darn it. I just didn't love this book. Despite all of the rave reviews, I'm giving it two stars because it was just too much. Too long. Too much back and forth plot details. Too many characters and points of view. It did not entertain. I know I'm in the minority here, but I just cannot go cuckoo over this one. Too dystopian perhaps? I'm generally not a fantasy fiction gal.

At any rate, I'm grateful for the advanced copy of the book from Scribner via the NetGalley app.

It is about the quest for fantasylands or heaven by all of us. This book could be seen as a collection of short stories with each character narrating (Anna, Omeir, Zeno, Seymour, and Konstance) a different time (15th C, the 1950s, Korean War, 2020, and the future) and place (Constantinople, Idaho, and Outer Space) in a connected story. What links all the people, places, and time periods is Antonius Diogenes writes a story (Cloud Cuckoo Land) around the first century C.E. narrated by Aethon. He longs to be turned into a bird so that he can fly to a utopian paradise. The different people, time periods, and places were all a bit overwhelming to me. Then one of the people in Bookclub said to watch for the owl and it would all start connecting. She was right! Another said to watch for the librarians and what they recommend to the characters as well as what the characters find in libraries. This really does make sense! And yet another said to pay attention to the healing power of storytelling, not just for those they read the story to but also the storyteller themselves!

An amazing story of several very well-developed characters through a thousand year period of time. All of the stories center around a book discovered by each of the characters in each is their time periods. Very complicated story that comes together in the end. B

This book was a little hard to follow. It skipped around a lot. It got better the 2nd half. I was excited because I really liked All The Light.

I admit when I first began to read this book I got a little confused. It seemed bit disjointed. But, since I absolutely loved Anthony Doerr’s previous book All the Light We Cannot See, I gave it a second chance and started over. The reader who pays attention at the outset - something I didn’t do the first time around - will be rewarded with an imaginative tale which weaves together characters across time, with an ancient text the common factor. This is a book about a book, with libraries occupying a prominent place in the settings and interconnected stories. None of the characters can be considered privileged or even fortunate, enduring economic, social, physical, or life-threatening hardships. But just as the ancient text endures, so do they.

Cloud Cuckoo Land is not a run-of-the-mill novel. It is a work of creativity and rich descriptions, transporting the reader across time and geography. It is worth the effort required to engage at the beginning.

I was given an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wow wow! This book took me a minute to get my bearings, as there are several different time lines, and I didn’t know that going into it. But I became very invested in all the characters and cared deeply about each of their stories. All of which were connected, in some way, by an ancient text. This book is so imaginative and beautifully written, I loved it.

Wanted to read this book since I loved All the Light We Cannot See. Then a buddy read popped up with #notyomamasbookclub and move this book up to the top of the list. At 640 pages it was definitely an investment in time.

Five characters give their stories to this book, on multiple timelines, with the thread of an ancient story tying them altogether. The story does not follow a linear timeline for each character, hopping around from beginning of their life, to the end, to the middle. The ancient timeline encompasses two characters, Anna and Omeir; modern timeline, Seymour and Zeno; and the future timeline, Konstance.

I am rating this book 5⭐. Let's get that out of the way first. This book was an investment in focus and time. It took me 17 days to read. I will not tell you this was a page turner or that you will like it. This is not a book for everyone. It is a human interest story of characters, with flaws both physical and mental, that struggle through their lives in their time. It is a slowly developing tale of what binds us, no matter the time period, or problem. Thank you to Anthony Doerr for another awesome work.