Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. This is my honest feedback.

As most readers in the world, I loved All The Light We Cannot See which won so many major prizes. I was delighted to be able to preview Mr. Doerr's latest book. Cloud Cuckoo Land is a huge undertaking that encompasses many lands, many years, many different people. It is unclear where the story is going for quite a while as it jumps from the 15oos to the present to the future. The only link between the times being books and librarians. The book is dedicated to all the librarians in the world. Each part of the book is prefaced by a page of an "ancient" writing (I believe Mr. Doerr actually wrote it) that tells the story of a being who lived 80 years as a man, 1 year as a donkey, 1 year as a sea bass and 1 year as a crow.

This is a tale of wonder, of travel in lands and in space, of what is happening to our planet both to the earth and the people who live on it and in the end, as T.S Elliot says: "and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

It takes some time to get into the book but I suggest to readers to hang in there. If you love books, and once again, Doerr uses children to tell the story of our lives, and you love the honest curiosity of children, you will admire this book. It is huge in scope and leaves you with a big "Wow!"

I loved All of the Light You Cannot See and was a little nervous starting this finding out the book is set in different time periods and has alternating narrators. It took me a minute to find my groove, but I quickly did.

The story tells the story of how a book survives time. As a book lover how could I ask for more?

This is unlike anything I have read before but, I loved the magical tale.

Anthony Doerr dedicates the book to the librarians, then, now, and the years to come.

How does one describe this book - part history, part fantasy, part sci-fi, that takes place over more than a half dozen time frames from the 15th century to the 22nd century, consisting of several storylines, all connected by one story book that survives over seven centuries. I’m rating it 4.5 stars because for the first third of the book I found it difficult to stay engaged, but then the stories really picked up and I couldn’t wait to find out what happens. It’s a slow build, but if you stay with it you’ll be rewarded in the end.

Wow! This is a monster of a book. So many different people and things going on. It was a little hard to get into at first but let me tell you this book is amazing! Everything comes together at the end. Just stick with it. This is a book that you will be thinking about and wanting to talk about for a long time.

I am a fan of Anthony Doerr. His writing is beautiful and he is able to transport his readers across centuries and continents to plunge them right into the story. Cloud Cuckoo Land brings several storylines together, each one its own marvel, and woven together an absolute delight. Despite the length of this book, I did not want it to end. Simply beautiful.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

I LOVED this book. It’s so different from Doer’s other works and yet somehow retains his voice. I enjoyed the way he wove multiple time periods together so seamlessly to show how they impact and influence each other. The characters were so lovable.

As much as I wanted to like this book at a logical level, I didn't find much joy reading it. The storylines didn't weave through each other gracefully—it felt like they kept cutting each other off mid-sentence. Just as one storyline picked up momentum, the thread was dropped and the mental effort felt wasted. The different characters—Omeir, Seymour, Anna, Zeno, and the shepherd from the original Greek text—eventually were joined together at the end. Yet it felt that the pieces fell into place too neatly for the conclusion to feel surprising. The I character I liked the least was Zeno, who languished under his trauma and didn't develop as a character until towards the story's end. Anna was memorable due to her strength of will, and I wish she were given more spotlight.

On the bright side, I did enjoy the prose when it didn't indulge long-winded descriptions of the surroundings. Maybe this is just the way a child's tale is sometimes: the plot unfolds following the path of least resistance and leaves the reader wanting a messier, more engaging series of events.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for the ARC.

I could not get into this book. The story was too far away with too many characters that I couldn't keep straight. I was not able to finish this book.

10 stars! What an amazing tale, Three tales over time periods: 1400s Constantinople, present day Idaho, and in a future time flying through space to a distant planet. Stories of young people all influenced by Doerr’s 4th tale, a fictional ancient manuscript that is passed down through time.

Doerr brilliantly weaves these 4 threads together into a magical whole. What an imagination to have conceived this story and then to render the characters, eras, places w such simple and elegant writing. I wish I could read it for the first time again.

Yes, the book can be confusing at first. Let it go and read on. As for the length, I didnt want it to end! One quibble, I wanted more from the epilogue. When you finish the book, see if you understand what I mean by that.

I love that this book is described as “stewardship—of the book, of the Earth, of the human heart.”

Within its pages we have the story of Anna and Omeir in 15th century Constantinople, Seymour and Zeno in present day Idaho, and Konstance in some future decade traveling to an exoplanet, all woven together by a book’s thread. I think what’s most impressive is that every storyline is captivating. In so many of the multiple viewpoint/timeline books I’ve read, there’s typically one character or time frame I find boring, but that can’t be said for this book.

It took me a good quarter way in before I knew for certain I wouldn’t quit before all 600+ pages were through, and from there I became more and more invested with every page. Stick with it, dear reader!

I feel like I have so much to process yet and so many questions, and yet I’m sated and can tell I will be mulling over this book for quite some time. Don’t let its 640 pages scare you - it’s worth the ride.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for a review.

A wondrous story centering around an ancient manuscript telling the story of Aethon and it's effect on children in different places and centuries. Yes it sound complicated and it is not the easiest book to read but quite marvelous if you can set a chunk of time aside and really dig into it.

This beautiful novel takes a handful of children, outsiders in their own times and places, and weaves them together through a universal tale of ecology, compassion and survival. From the siege of Constantinople in 1453 to a futuristic spaceship hurtling toward a better world we explore the universality of children's hopes and dreams, of the need to conserve and protect our earth and how stories and books can live on through generations and eons to unite us all.

This is a beautifully written, complex series of tales. The characters are so well-crafted that you feel like you are in “ their space.” It has many moments of grace, but also many poignant, painful moments too. This made it a challenging book for me. . .

I want to say this first – I absolutely loved All the Light We Cannot See. It is one of my top favorite books ever. But unfortunately, I am going to have to be completely honest, this is the weirdest book I have ever read and the weirdest book I finished. I was not going to give up on Mr. Doerr. Several times I stopped and went back to read the 5-star reviews just to make sure I was reading the same book. I was so glad when this one was over.
I did not find this as an enjoyable or an easy read, it took me almost a week because I backtracked so many times to see what I was missing. I am at the end and I still have no idea what it was all about. So many characters, so many jumps between time frames, so much going on. Maybe if we could have stayed with Anna and just told her story or Seymour or Konstance, but wow, I was unable to keep track or understand any of it. From the previous reviews I may be in the minority but this one is way out there.
I won’t give up on this author, you can’t write a gorgeous book like the Light without having the gift and I will definitely be reading more from him. But this one did not work for me.
I received an ARC from Scribner along with NetGalley for my honest review. This one comes in with 3 stars.

This book is sure to be a best-seller and a hugely popular choice among book clubs. The characters are unique, and highly memorable. Doerr weaves his story together so beautifully, connecting seemingly different worlds seamlessly. An homage to books, libraries, librarians and storytellers. His best yet!!! Don't miss it!

At first i thought I may have lost my ability to comprehend difficult text. Then after messaging with a friend, I realized that this is just dang hard to read but still really good? It's a lot. It jumps time and place and people yet, I cared. I wanted to know how doerr connected all of them. I think books like this require a high level of trusting the author. Ultimately, I"m glad I did. 

This is historical fiction, futuristic fiction, greek mythology, commentary on environmental issues, all wrapped into one book. 

I can't say if this is for you. I can't say if you loved all the light we cannot see you will love this one. But if you are in the mood to try something different- pick this one up.

In this novel, Anthony Doerr weaves together story lines from the past present and future. An ancient text passes through the hands of time and interweaves a story between 6 main characters. The result is a beautiful story that flows easily through time.

I will first say that Anthony Doerr’s writing is beautiful. He is a true master of the language and this work is another Pulitzer Prize worthy effort.

That being said, the story did not really resonate with me. There were too many characters and by the time that I finally got into it I found it hard to focus. I will say that this book is a slow burn and that the second half is much better than the first. For fans of All the Light We Cannot See, I did not find this book to be similar, other than the beautiful prose.

Another memorable aspect of this book is the concept of the storyline. It is truly unique. Fans of Anthony Doerr should really give this book a shot and just may have to remember to power through the first half.

Special thank you to net galley and Scribner for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book has everything! Historical Fiction, Modern Fiction, and Futuristic Fiction. What a feat to tie them all together! The reading went super quick because i kept wanting to learn more about each section. Very thought-provoking. Highly recommend for bookclubs due to a lot of discussion points. Highly recommend for individual readers because of the new information, and wanting to figure out the commonalities. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner Publishing for the chance to read and review one of my new favorite books, Cloud Cuckoo Land. There is a scene early in the book in which school age children are in awe of a space that honors a book, imagination, dreams... this is how I feel about this book, imagine a book that has a scene that captures the awe and joy of the book itself. The story is about the power of storytelling over time and how stories matter and it is worth the time to dive into the fantastical storytelling that Doerr shares.

This book is amazingly delightful, inventive with storytelling and connecting stories and timelines and themes over time (seriously over time!) in a way that never feels dense, boring, or plodding; instead the writing is light, deft, and engaging. It might take time to see how the themes come together but good storytelling can't be rushed and the joy sometimes needs to be in the reading, not rushing to understand where a book is going and I think that is the goal, successfully achieved, of the writing.

I did not want to stop reading this book and yet it was also a book that invited me as the reader to slow down and enjoy reading. I loved the characters, especially Zeno, and I loved the quirkiness in places of the storytelling and writing.

I know that there will be a lot of anticipation for this book based on the author's previous success and I am glad to say that this book did live up to and exceed expectations, I look forward to how other readers will get to enjoy and engage with this book! I think this book was written for those who love reading, who love to get invested in a book, and who want to somehow read about that feeling; what a gift it is for an author to capture the mythical joy of storytelling and want to give that to readers.

This book is special. Part Greek myth, historical fiction, fantasy, and thriller, Cloud Cuckoo Land was phenomenal. In a sense it reminded me of Cloud Atlas or People of the Book, where characters from various time periods have a single connection that runs through each of their lives. In this case the connection is a work by the greek author Diogenes called Cloud Cuckoo Land. I loved each grouping of figures who are each very well developed. I'm not sure I could pick a favorite. Each character felt so raw and real. I have already preordered this book as I know it is one I will recommend to others and want to read again!

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for granting me a free copy in exchange for my honest review.