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.

What a strangely beautiful book! I was very impressed by All the Light We Cannot See by this author and knew that I wanted to read more of his work. Then I saw the title of this book and wondered what exactly I had signed myself up for. This was definitely a different kind of read which juggles multiple points of view spanning centuries. Once I got into the story, I didn’t want to put this book down and ended up reading more than half of it in a single day.

There is a lot going on in this book. It was wonderfully written and the characters were incredibly well done. I was so invested in the lives of these characters that I was sad when it changed to a new perspective only to start the process all over again. My favorite characters in the book might have been Moonlight and Tree (yes, I loved the oxen) and my heart ached with the things that they went through in this story. We see those oxen from Omeir’s point of view. He is a boy that has been enlisted along with his oxen to be a part of an invading army in the 1400s. We also see Anna at this same point in time. She is an orphan living in Constantinople with other women who embroider the priests’ robes. In the present time, we meet Zeno, an older gentleman, who is helping a group of children with a play at the local library. I really loved going back in time to see all of the key points in his life. Then there is Seymour who hasn’t had it easy and has decided to do a big thing to make a statement. In the future, we meet Konstance who has lived her whole life on a ship headed to a new planet.

Are you confused yet? I was at first. Each of these characters and periods in time is linked by a story of a man named Aethon called Cloud Cuckoo Land. I loved seeing each of the small pieces that connected these stories take shape. There were times that I was really worried about each of these characters and I was amazed by just how real they felt to me. Each of these characters had their own story which became a vital piece in this larger tale.

I would highly recommend this book to others. The story worked for me on every level with its fantastic characters and beautiful writing. I will definitely be reading more of this author’s work in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Scribner via NetGalley.

CLOUD CUCKOO LAND by Anthony Doerr is much more than a simple work of historical, fantasy, or literary fiction. It defies categorization by connecting past, present, and future with stunning descriptive prose and diverse storylines that ultimately merge into a satisfying conclusion. Although the disjointed storylines can be confusing to follow, it’s worth the effort.

As a fan of Pulitzer Prize winning Anthony Doerr’s short stories and novels, I find this to be the next step in his evolution as an author.

I absolutely loved all the light we cannot see so I couldn’t wait to snag an ARC for this one!! :) AD’s writing is beautiful as ever - but it seemed to lack the same emotional punch as the previous novels.

this story is drastically more gut wrenching, stomach twisting, ambitious driven, and if you’re not into crafted storytelling, you’re not going to understand this one. it did take me a long time to get through it - so I understand the lower ratings, but I thought it was so well written - I didn’t even notice if the story was confusing!!

I think fans of literary and historical fiction will enjoy this one the most.

thank you netgalley and the publishing company for the arc!! :)

Anthony Doerr won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2015 for his highly acclaimed WWII novel, All the Light We Cannot See. It was a wonderful book; I was curious to read his new release and see how it compared. Cloud Cuckoo Land is decidedly different. One doesn’t read Doerr’s books purely for their entertainment value, but also for the beauty of his writing. It took me a long time to read this book, because I kept rereading his exquisite sentences. He tends to compose especially long ones, and I admittedly got lost in some of them. 

Cloud Cuckoo Land is a complex novel with five separate plotlines. I loved the stories of Zeno, Seymore, Omeir, and Anna, but I didn’t care for Aethon’s narratives at the beginning of most chapters, although I understand how crucial they are to the overall plot. I’m also not a fan of futuristic books, so Konstance’s story didn’t turn me on. Doerr melds them all together in the end, which is quite a feat. Cloud Cuckoo Land is intelligent, peculiar, and unlike anything I’ve ever read. It is a triumph. 4.5 stars