Cloud Cuckoo Land is Fiction at its finest: innovative, emotional and thought provoking. The title is fitting, and I understand its origin now that I read the book. Initially, the odd and ambitious sounding title was a bit off-putting to me and made me hesitate to pick up the book and read. How glad I am that I did, though!

Cloud Cuckoo Land is the title of a story told within the novel. It is a story written when man first started documenting the written word. Cloud Cuckoo Land survived centuries as a documented tale on man’s first version of paper. It crossed oceans and was passed down for generations. Anthony Doerr tells the tale of the different characters and the way the story touched them (all in very different and unique ways) through its existence.

It starts with a character arch set in the 1400’s. Anna, a young girl, lives in The Citadel, which is a city under siege by an invading army. Omeir, a young boy, is part of that army (not of his own choice), and their two paths end up crossing. Both characters are charming in their own ways. I found myself particularly drawn to Omeir and his relationship with his two oxen, Moonlight and Tree.

The story jumps to the early 50’s to a young boy in Idaho, an Italian immigrant, Zeno. We see the young boy grow old and his love of the old languages mature through his lifetime. He lives a hard life, losing his father and joining the army. He winds up back in Idaho and grows old. His path eventually crosses with Seymour, an autistic boy who is lost in the world. He has a unique obsession with earth conservation and plays a larger role in the future than we might imagine when first meeting him.

The last setting takes place in the future, years after Seymour and Zeno have passed away. We learn that humankind has reached a point of demise, much to Seymour’s predictions. Their only hope is a small group of people bound for a new planet to recreate man’s existence. Konstantine is a young girl who lives in the spaceship heading for a life apart from earth. Her family, and the others travelling with them, hold the responsibility of rebuilding a new world in a safer, healthier planet. Konstantine’s life is driven by science and the hope for a new life promised by those around her. Konstantine was born on the ship, and it is all she knows. We follow her in her path to discovering the truth of their existence and future.

Cloud Cuckoo Land brings us close to all the characters in a clever way. Their stories are uniquely depressing, but they all end with a ray of hope. Some rays are smaller than others, but all the character plot lines push the reader to open up the imagination. It is a truly creative and inventive book. I enjoyed it from start to finish.