Cloud Cuckoo Land

Starting a new book, to me, always feels like a bit of a gamble. Will this be worth many hours of my time? Especially if it's a slow-starter. More and more it seems slow-starter books are no longer published these days, given people have so many distractions competing for attention. It doesn't help that this book has at least five different storylines and timelines and is told, much of the time, out of chronological order. Normally, I dislike this kind of "gimmick" or possible-flight-of-fancy by an author. Often multiple stories are frustrating to read because you get to the end of one chapter and just when things are getting good, you are whisked away to a totally different story that may or may not be related....but.... but, but... when done right, a slow-builder that promises much can sometime deliver most. Multiple stories, when told right, can deliver multiple times the load. Cloud Cuckoo Land is ABSOLUTELY a quality read that doesn't fail to deliver and the mythical tale of Aethon's adventures tie it all together beautifully, even as it seems possibly "annoyingly quirky" to begin with.There aren't too many "all in one" works of fiction these days, with a start, a middle and and end. It used be that fiction had this to aim for at least, but nowadays never-ending book-series seem the order of the day. To my mind, the best fiction is a story that builds to a knockout ending that leaves you dazed (and likely confused) by the end. This IS such a tale.I still don't know if it all makes sense (well, I kind of know it doesn't / also of course it does) - but it doesn't matter. I still haven't thought enough about it to figure out if there are some inconsistencies or a coincidence-too-far in places. Part of me is looking forward to thinking on it for a long time to come and part of me doesn't want to over-analyse it. There's a lot to digest here, but sometimes, like a good cake, it's best to gorge and enjoy rather than spend time dissecting the ingredients, trying to find an element that could be eliminated. The little tangy taste you get from an isolated under-ripe raspberry can be just what's needed to raise the flavour of a slightly-too-musky dark chocolate. And maybe you don't like cream, but when it has just the right consistency, with just the right flavours flowing through, the whole is many times more than the sum of its parts.That's not to put-down the individual parts of this book. Each, in turn is magnificently told and a lovely read. But, stitched together with "Diogenes's" thread, the whole is multiple times more special.Thank you for restoring my faith in modern fiction.

Cloud Cuckoo Land is immensely readable, and we as readers are dropped into many worlds; Constantinople in the 15th century, a Spaceship travelling in interstellar space, Lakeport, Oregon in 2020. The various stories are achieved with such precise narrative skill, humour and humanity. I wake early to read more, so much do I want to solve this Rubik Cube puzzle of a novel. One of the most extraordinary and compelling reads I have come across. Buy it. If you like History, Sci-Fi and mysteries, then this is the book for you.

Difficult to get into, but perseverance is rewarded with gripping tales. The chronicle of the C15th siege and fall of Constantinople is fascinating as it drives the lives of Anna and Omeir. The C20th Korean war brings Zeno and Rex together to creative freedom. The C21st climate catastrophe and its campaigns drive Seymour through criminality and reform, and Konstance into an attempt to save humanity by shipping a few survivors into outer space.So maybe a connecting thread is the force of major social movements on individual lives. Doerr does deal well with prejudice, whether towards someone with a cleft palate, or towards homosexuality. Otherwise, the stories are standalone and could have been told as such. Doerr's attempt to link them through common reference to a Greek tale by Diogenes is a complicated unconvincing artifice.

I ordered this book months in advance as I’ve read and enjoyed all of Doerr’s books. Sadly this is not in my opinion his best.I found it very difficult to jump from one story to the next and to remember all that I had just read. Had to keep reading the blurb to remind me who was what etc. would have been easier and more entertaining to have stuck with one story line for example Anna or Seymour.Finally finished. Not for me disappointing

A good book grips the reader from the outset but this one failed abysmally. Gave up, which is something I very rarely do.