Multiple narratives are woven together across time through one piece of ancient literature. It was incredible, thought-provoking and a book that will stay with you for a long time to come.

I won’t try to summarise the incredibly complex plot. Doerr has interwoven timelines from across (and beyond) the globe to create a totally immersive elegy to the power of dreaming and storytelling. Each storyline is connected to the other through an ancient (imagined) text written by Diogenes that tells of a shepherd and his adventured to reach Cloud Cuckoo Land, where only birds can dwell. The fable itself is charming with all of the farce and moralising expected from the genre.

The stories of the people who interact with it are mesmerising, from a young girl in Constantinople in 1453, to a troubled idealist in Idaho in 2020 and a girl far away in the future who may be one of the last humans alive. Each speaks to language and story as something that brings us together, that cross the boundaries of time, place and belief. The breadth covered is staggering and Doerr is just as skilled wring of medieval battlefields as he is at the humorous activities of a junior theatre group. It’s gripping from start to finish and constantly moves in surprising directions. Beautifully written and perfectly realised. One of my books of the year.

Another brilliant book from Anthony Doerr where multiple stories intertwine together to create a rich tapestry of different lives. I did find the narrative set in the future the most compelling, but all had distinct voices.

I was excited but also nervous to read this because All The Light We Cannot See is one of my favourite books of all time. It truly blew me away and was the most magical reading experience - I recommend it to everyone!

Though I found that it took me a good portion of the first quarter of this book to get into the story, I was fully immersed and invested once I found my bearings.

This is a sweeping tale covering multiple characters, time and even space. I most looked forward to Konstance’s sections of the book. The idea of the spacecraft and library had me enthralled. However, every thread of this story held its own.

I do think that this book could have, and maybe should have, been shorter and I also found that once Doerr pulled the threads together and story concluded, I was a little underwhelmed and maybe even disappointed.

Still, this was a wonderful read overall and I rated it 4/5 stars!

This is a vast story set across 3 time periods and in 3 separate settings; from a futuristic interstellar journey to 1453 to the present day. They are bound together by an ancient text. I loved the human connections of the characters within this book and the scale in which it was set. i can't wait for another of his books to come out.

I need to read this book again, I loved it! I like a multiple perspective story, where they all link together, regardless of how complicated some threads are.

This book was stunning, and it although it did take me a while to link the stories/perspectives between all the characters, once I did, I wanted more! I especially enjoyed the storyline of Konstance, on an interstellar ship in the future - the virtual library was fabulous!

Like All The Light We Cannot See, Cloud Cuckoo Land has a split narrative but also takes place over different time frames, some storylines hundreds of years apart. Whilst each storyline was enjoyable in its own way, it was a bit laborious and hard to keep track of all the different people and times, and it wasn't till the very end that you realized how they all linked together.
Would I recommend it? Yes, but be prepared and be patient.

This was a book which I found hard to get into initially, and it took two attempts to read it right through; however, I am so glad that I persevered!

The writing is beautiful, as you would expect from Anthony Doerr, but I found the multiple story lines confusing and could see no apparent link. My advice to readers, is to go with it and think 'Pulp Fiction' - all will become clear in the end, despite the time span being covered and multiple locations.

There are a lot of characters to get to know and to track their development - some easier than others. Seymour constantly surprised and shocked me and I cannot decide how I feel about him in the closing stages. I loved the shift from almost traditional tale to futuristic dystopia, depending which character's life is being explored.

Deep within this story are so many messages for humankind and Doerr paints a stark picture of a possible future. Don;t miss this one - persevere: you will be glad that you did!

Multiple generational storylines, spread across almost 1000 years, interlinked by the power of a single story.

This is a really well written, complex tale with some amazing characters and thought provoking plot lines. It really comes down to the power of conviction, of love, and everything that makes us humans.

‘we are all beautiful even as we are all part of the problem, and that to be part of the problem is to be human’

It took a while for me to get some rhythm at the beginning, but all of a sudden I was hooked and the book flowed perfectly. I found myself both loving the storyline I was currently reading and eager to get back to the other storylines at the same time.

i loved All The Light We Cannot See anf had high hopes for this book. i was not disappointed! This is a beautifully written epic journey set over three time periods which are alled linked by a book. The author weaves the story expertly and the characters are finely drawn. A wonderful book - would highly recommend.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Antonius Diogenes, translation by Zeno Ninis. A magical journey that is sure to amaze you, indeed! I loved the worlds held within Cloud Cuckoo Land and the, seemingly, disjointed nature of the characters we follow: Konstance, Zeno, Seymour, Anna, Omeir and even Aethon. Each lives life in a different location and time but all are touched and transformed by the ancient story Cloud Cuckoo Land. This novel details a long and beautiful journey seeing our characters face many perils and heartbreaks which is entirely rewarding in the end when the connections are made clear.

A vastly complex story filled with ideas on happiness, survival, belief, love, loyalty, courage and protection of the environment it covers much worthy ground in a charming and delightful way.

This must have been a massive undertaking to write and is also a massive undertaking to read - although worth the considerable effort. I enjoyed the vastly different timeframes the book is set in and was in awe of the variety of characters. Being able to weave together what is several different genres in one book is a fantastic achievement.

I feel like a complete heathen but I did not get on with this book at all. I tried - I wanted to stop reading but I carried on - I had so enjoyed his previous book and was hoping for another enchanting tale. But I got to a point that I was not reading because it meant reading this book.
It is very disjointed - lots of characters, timeframes, weird Greek bits thrown in, and no apparent plot or thread. The prose did not flow - perhaps a translation issue or just too flowery for my taste. I gave up - perhaps there is a really good bit but I had read a quarter of it and I was not convinced.

Wow, just wow. This is such an amazing read. I was soon lost in this world and totally memorised. This is one of those reads that stays with you long after you have finished. I loved it

Oh How I love this book. I was completely engrossed by it and the people in it. The way it moved about reminded me of Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, It was relatively straight forward to follow all the different time periods and they all fitted together satisfyingly like a jigsaw. I gasped at the end when we found out about how the space ship hadn’t actually left earth.. Thank you for the opportunity to read this. It will stay with me for some time and I have already recomendec it to the owner of our local indie bookshop.

Having loved ‘All the Light We Cannot See’ I was looking forward to reading this.
However I found it difficult to get into, mainly due to the separate narratives. These ranged from the fall of Constantinople in the 15th century, through present day environmental breakdown to a future set in a spaceship.
Each of the narratives has interesting characters and events and the book is well written, but too many storylines, too much going on and just as I got into one story it switched to another particularly at the beginning of the book.
The storylines do link up later (through a tale by Diogenes) but it just didn’t hold my interest.


Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

Overall I loved it. but this is definitely a book that you need to stick at. When I was at the 25% mark I very nearly gave up, the multiple POVs and the shifting time lines within these POVs was draining. Just as I got involved in a story it shifted to another place, another time. At one point I was tempted to just read each story in order, skipping chapters as necessary...

Anyway, I stuck at it and was well rewarded. The book completely absorbed me (although I must be truthful and say that I speed read some of the descriptive passages in the Omeir and Anna chapters). I absolutely loved Konstance's story, it would make a brilliant stand alone novel but having said that it fitted perfectly into the overall plot.

The way the story of Aethon connected all the plots and subplots was truly amazing storytelling, they came together beautifully making sense of the whole book.

Anthony Doerr is such a great storyteller.. I came to this after reading All The Light We Cannot See, and his latest has cemented him as one of my go to authors. Such a beautiful style of writing, bordering on the poetic at times, and a cast of characters so vivid that they worm their way into your brain so you're right along there with them for the ride.

Thank you, 4th Estate, for a copy of Cloud cuckoo land by Anthony Doerr. I hear good things abut his previous novel that I was excited to receive a copy of Cloud Cuckoo Land. But don’t get me wrong but this is not a bad book but for me personally I found this over descriptive and didn’t find the connection between past, present and future that I DNF’d at 40% Three stars from me.

Having read 'All the Light we Cannot See' by Antony Doer, I was really looking forward to this book, however, I was a little disappointed. I found the book very complicated to follow, with 5 or 6 different story lines and it was unclear how these all came together until the end. This left a feeling of a very disjointed book. By the end of the book I was glad I persevered and I may even read it again now I have a clearer understanding of the narrative. The ending in the future storyline was kind of unfinished. I think the author has achieved a very clever and involved narrative jumping around different timelines, although maybe it could have been less complicated.