This is a beautiful and captivating story and has profound detail and interesting characters. At times it had complexity that kept people interested and waiting more

Took way way way too long to get into this story. 300 pages in, I was finally engaged in the plot and knew the characters. This would have been another smash out of the park with a tighter edit.

I spent quite a bit of time wondering how the pieces of this book came together, but when they did it was quite beautiful. I loved the children listening to and restoring the Greek story. I read all the Greek mythology I could when I was young, in a small town school and library, those were the easiest to get! It was so interesting to see ties from Ancient Greece thru the future. I was beginning to catch on to the plot in the future, but it still surprised me. A very good story.

“A text…a book…is a resting place for the memories of people who have lived before. A way for the memory to stay fixed after the soul has traveled on.”

This quote captures the beauty of the myth and the lives of the characters in these stories. The book is three stories on three different timelines surrounding one myth. Anna, a poor 13-yeard old girl in 15th century Constantinople discovers an Ancient Greek manuscript about a young boy, Aethon. Her path eventually crosses with Omeir, a village boy with a cleft pallet and is an oxen whisperer.

Zeno is an 80-something year old man who volunteers at his local library in Idaho. He has translated the story of Aethon from the Ancient Greek and is helping children rehearse for a play adaption of the story. He crosses paths with Seymour, a troubled teenager with his own challenges.

Konstance is on a spaceship named Aros in the near future. As she and her family search for another planet to live, her father tells her the story of Aethon.

And then there is the myth of Aethon and his desire turn into a bird and fly to a city in the clouds.

Doerr moves with frequency between these timelines in this complex, immersive and clever tale that connects the three stories and timelines with the myth. The story is completely different from Doerr’s previously books and unique as a story itself. I’ve never read anything like it. The closest I can come to it in terms of complexity, creativity and craftsmanship is A.S. Byatt’s Possession. Byatt won a Booker Prize for Possession and Doerr won a Pulitzer Prize for All The Light We Cannot See. I think that speaks to the level of Doerr as an author.

I anticipate re-reading this book every few books and finding things I missed the first time. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys literary fiction, historical fiction, science fiction, or fantasy.

Thank you to Net Galley and Scribner for an ARC of this book in exchange for my review. My opinions are my own.

#NetGalley
#Scribner
#cloudcuckooland
#anthonydoerr
#literaryfiction
#historicalfiction
#sciencefiction
#fantasy
#bookstagram

Okay, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first started reading. However I did have high expectations, I guess it was my fault. I’m also pretty picky about my books and ratings so keep that in mind when reading this review.

To start of, I liked the premise of this book. The idea of is surrounding Greek stories ignited me. But all the points of view made it difficult for me to follow at times. I don’t specifically hate it but I also didn’t love it. It’s like when you have a great outfit on but you know something is missing, something that would tie everything together.

I started reading this book months ago and gave up. I found the disparate stories annoying. A friend recently raved about this book, so I gave it another go. It took halfway through the book for me to start enjoying it. The latter half really brings it all together. If you have the patience for it, then it’s a good book. Thanks to NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Astounding, heartrending, intricate, endlessly engaging…. This books is a joy to read even in it’s saddest most hopeless moments. I didn’t want to to end.

Cloud Cuckoo Land is an epic story with multiple stories, characters and timelines that are seemingly incongruent but for commonality that each story involved an interaction with Cloud Cuckoo Land,
a made up book-within-a-book.

This book contains so many different genres. If you start reading this book and begin to wonder just what the heck is going on? Don't worry, you aren't alone in those thoughts, but keep going the payoff is worth it! The way he brings all of the stories together is just genius.

I loved All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr so when I saw that he had a new book coming out I immediately requested it from NetGalley without even reading the synopsis or checking the page count.....I was in from the get go, sight unseen! I read and listened to this book. Narration was on point! Doerr is a masterful story teller and I will continue to read whatever he puts out. I also loved that Cloud Cuckoo Land was dedicated to “the librarians then, now, and in the years to come."

Oh my, I was so surprised by how much I loved this daunting book. It's huge and full of different characters and different timelines and I LOVED it all. I think this may be a contender for my favorite book of the year and may be one of my favorite books of all time.

I read this both in print and on audio thanks to an ALC from Libro.fm. The writing was beautiful and deep and it translated well to narration. I appreciated that there were different narrators because it is a hard shift from character to character, although maybe one more would have made it even easier to differentiate. I adored that all of the characters were challenged, either neurodivergent, physically handicapped, unaccepted within society, marginalized. Their hopes, their dreams, the views they had on the world were intoxicating. Their epic stories were equally devastating and hopeful and how they weaved together was so perfect I gasped, it's just one of those books that will stick with me for a long time.

I'm not sure I can summarize well in the space I have, but I encourage you to try this one out if you like historical fiction weaved with fantasy and contemporary literature. The story touches on mythology and speculative fiction, both areas I love but you don't often see together. The importance of books, knowledge and libraries as a theme was so on point for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Libro.fm for access to copies. All opinions are my own.

Do yourself a favor and check this one out.

When I finished and closed this book, I said (out loud!), "/That/ was a good book." I wanted to tell everyone about it, but then realized I couldn't! Five main characters in multiple timelines, each covering long periods does not lend itself to a quick synopsis. Also, it took me until the middle of the book before everything clicked into place for me and then I tore through the rest of the story.

So, what I want to tell people is please give it a chance. There's a lot to this book and it's beautifully told, with descriptions that paint pictures clearly in my mind. The slow and confusing (to me!) first half of the book brought the rating from 5 stars down to 4.

My thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the true story of my 𝗖𝗟𝗢𝗨𝗗 𝗖𝗨𝗖𝗞𝗢𝗢 𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗗 experience:

☁️𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘞𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘚𝘦𝘦 was not a favorite of mine so I nearly didn't pick this one up.

☁️I spent days debating whether I wanted to commit to 640 pages but I have total book FOMO and since Read Spin Repeat Book Club picked it as one of our October reads, I caved.

☁️I struggled with the first 25%. Like whined incessantly about how I couldn't get into it and I wasn't making any progress and what was even going on?!

☁️My book club friends said it picked up around 45% and they were right.

☁️By the end, I couldn't put it down. How the stories come together is just brilliant.

☁️A day later, I love it even more than I did when I finished.

☁️After reading Anthony Doerr's commentary on the book and discussing it with the group, I want to go back and read all 640 pages again. It's that amazing.

I can't do the story justice so I'll let the author do it instead:

"𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴-𝘪𝘯-𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘊𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘰𝘰 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘥’𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭: 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘋𝘪𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴 (𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥) 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘥’𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺."

"𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘊𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘰𝘰 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺-𝘴𝘤𝘪-𝘧𝘪-𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺-𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨-𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵-𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭-𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭."

I know. You're probably finding reasons not to give this behemoth about ancient Greek texts with shepherds and five seemingly disparate stories that incorporates way too many genres a chance. But read this book. Stick with it even if you get frustrated. It's worth it.

4.5 stars rounded up.

Thanks to Scribner Books and NetGalley for a copy to review.

Cloud Cuckoo Land was such a wonderful read that kept me immersed until the very end (which is saying something since it's a pretty big book!)
Every time line in this story was so well thought out and thought provoking, and the whole story gave me a sense of wonder and magic.
Definitely recommend this book. We decided to make it our November pick for the Literary Fiction club that we have.

This is a complex and very ambitious novel. It takes place in three distinct time frames, the past circa the 1400's, the present, and decades into the future. Several stories are told, which are set in different places. There are many compelling characters, and this is a very imaginative celebration of the art of stories and storytelling, told with stunning and compelling prose.

I loved this book so much I recommended it to my bookclub. We will be reading it in January, 2022. The alternating timelines were a bit confusing in the beginning; add in the Cloud Cuckoo Land and I wasn't sure of anything. However, as the story progressed I was waiting with anticipation to continue each of the three plots. A very thought provoking read and I can't wait to discuss it with others. A must read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Scribner Books for making my year/the free advance copy of Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. All opinions are my own.

I stan Anthony Doerr. ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE is my favorite book of all time. CLOUD CUCKOO LAND did not end up taking that title, but it was amazing nonetheless. Doerr is a master storyteller and expert at taking seemingly unrelated characters and blending them into a compelling narrative. CCL goes even further than ATLWCS and follows characters across generations and locations. CCL tells the story of three different timelines: 1400s Constantinople, present day Idaho, and the not so distant future in space. All of the characters have compelling storylines in my opinion. This can often be the problem with books that follow different characters but it’s not a problem here.

In this genre-defying book (historical fiction, sci fi, literary, contemporary, mythology) , Doerr presents a unique and creative story. This could be considered meta-fiction (a book within a book), where the book ties the stories together. Most surprisingly for me, this is a coming-of-age story that mainly follows young people (I often struggle with novels that have kids/teenagers as the protagonist - hence my general dislike of YA).

Highly recommend! Five stars!

I fell in love with Anthony Doerr’s writing back in 2015 when I started a book club with my closest girlfriends. All the Light We Cannot see was the first book we read and I loved it. It was so powerful and such a great read. So when my ladies from my virtual book club mentioned doing this as our October pick I said yes. I did not realize I was signing up for a 600+ page book, as ebooks will do that to you, but when all was said and done, I am glad we picked this one.

I know some people like to go in blind to books and you do you boo. But I would suggest reading this book’s blurb before going in. Also, this is not a book to skim or skip around, it’s long but as it moves between different time periods and the lives of five different characters, you want to pay attention, as all are important to the end game of the story.

Like many have already said it can be slow to start, depending on your reading style, but it really picks up around half way and I’m sure you will not be able to put it down.

My brain had it between history, interstellar, and iRobot. It was truly amazing journey to see unfold.

If you enjoyed All the Light We Cannot See I’m believe you would like this one.

4.5 stars from me!

Thank you yo netgalley for the book, in return for an honest review.

I keep thinking back to this book, even weeks after I’ve finished it. Of course, it’s so well written and the characters basically walk right off the page. It really does make you realize how interconnected we all are.

I felt as though a few parts dragged a bit and definitely favored some characters/storylines more than others but I love how it all came together in the end. It’s a win for me.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4064477359

This author truly has the knack for delivering books that simply blows away the readers' imagination. Simply to come up with this kind of imaginary situations and how they are connected across different centuries is just amazing. He has surely mastered the art of storytelling and weaving the futuristic one was done perfectly for readers like me who are not really fans of books set in future. It does start off slow and I definitely felt like stopping but this one needs you to take it slow and still go all the way.

There are multiple storylines within this sprawling novel. In the present day. So what is the message in Cloud Cuckoo Land? Something about the power of storytelling, I gather, though it's all a bit vague. The problem is that there is too much going on here - the narrative, especially at the beginning, is very unfocussed and jumps around so frequently that it becomes frustrating. Patience is eventually rewarded, and there are some wonderfully affecting scenes, such as Zeno's sad acceptance of unrequited love. A twist in one storyline caught me surprise but also left me wondering what the point of it. Overall, this is a beautifully written novel and I would definitely recommend this, but it isn't as moving and life altering as "All the Light You Cannot See". But the story does envelop you and bring you in.

3.5 rounded up

I was not a fan of All the Light We Cannot See and read this specifically to give readers advisory for my patrons. If you enjoyed AtLWCS, then you're likely to enjoy this title. You'll find the same attention to detail beautifully described as the focus and not much plot development. Instead the plot is moved by multiple vignettes through time. It is, in fact, a relay race where a book is the baton. If you're looking for a different world to escape into for some time, then this is it.

That being said, my own personal thoughts on the novel are that it would have been greatly improved if shortened by 30% at least. I like my ratio of plot to description a bit higher. We spent too much time with each character for so little to happen to them.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.