Cloud Cuckoo Land

By: Anthony Doerr

Narrated by: Marin Ireland, Simon Jones

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST‘A dazzling epic of love, war and the joy of books’ Guardian

‘There is magic in this place … You just have to sit and breathe and wait and it will find you’

Fifteenth-century Constantinople. Present day Idaho. The future, and humanity’s last hope.

Across time and space, five young dreamers are bound by a single ancient text. Together, they tell a story of a world in peril; of the power of words, of resilience, and of hope against all odds.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of All the Light We Cannot See returns with a heart-breaking, magnificent epic of human connection and a love letter to storytelling itself.

‘Wonderment and despair, love and destruction and hope – all find their place in its sumptuously plotted pages’ Observer

‘Ingenious, hopeful and totally absorbing’ Financial Times

‘This engagingly written, big-hearted book is a must-read’ Daily Mirror

©2021 Anthony Doerr (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

‘Sets him comfortably alongside Tolkien, Rowling and David Mitchell, and he is a much more elegant writer than two of those … Cloud Cuckoo Land is an impressive achievement and a joy to read. Serious novels are rarely this fun.’ The Times

‘There is a kind of book a seasoned writer produces after a big success: large-hearted, wide in scope and joyous. Following his Pulitzer winner All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr’s Cloud Cuckoo Land is a deep lungful of fresh air – and a gift of a novel’ Guardian

‘A paean to stories as a source of sustenance and solace, and to the sweetness of our shared terrestrial home, Doerr’s narrative is buoyant with humanity and it’s author’s palpable pleasure in invention’ Daily Mail

‘A humane and uplifting book for adults that’s infused with the magic of childhood reading experiences. Cloud Cuckoo Land is ultimately a celebration of books, the power and possibilities of reading’ New York Times

‘Cloud Cuckoo Land is a fascinatingly ambitious tale that’s worth the seven year wait’ Stylist

‘Pulitzer Prize-winner Anthony Doerr’s new novel traverses time and space, unifying his characters through a text written by Diogenes in the first century AD. Cloud Cuckoo Land begins there and sweeps through the millennia in a huge, imaginative arc that celebrates the outsiders, the writers and the keepers of books. An ultimately hopeful and life-affirming novel about the essence of love, literature and art’ Irish Independent

‘This is a dazzling epic of love, war and the joy of books – one for David Mitchell fans’ Guardian

‘Wonderment and despair, love and destruction and hope – all find their place in its sumptuously plotted pages’ Observer

Wow! Brilliant!

The best book I've listened to in a long time and I am certain I will revisit Cloud Cuckoo Land in the future. It has everything - myth, history, philosophy, sci-fi, sexuality, ecology and it's also an exciting story with lots of drama as well as unexpected twists and turns. I was captivated and intrigued from the very first chapter. The breadth and depth of this novel is astounding and yet the various characters are instantly relatable and the reader cares about them and about what happens to them. The threads linking the different narratives across continents and centuries is ingenious! The narration does justice to the beautiful writing. Although I didn't want it to end, the conclusion was very satisfying. I strongly recommend a trip to Cloud Cuckoo Land!

Mesmerising

Beautifully crafted story line and character portrayal and the weaving through each story of Diogenes’ tale

What a wonderful book!

Brilliantly original. Epic in its scope yet the characters remain real, tender and memorable. Highly recommended.

Absolutely sublime

Took a while to get into it but once hooked, I couldn't put it down. Multi-layered.

Stunning.... feel like starting it again right away

Anthony Doerr is a maestro. His word weaving is masterful and the story is captivating. The narration is clear and draws one into the place and time ... highly recommended