Books and Libraries take center stage in this epic narrative which crosses time and space over the course of 600 pages. The title comes from a lost ancient Greek novel written by Antonius Diogenes, about a shepherd who turns into an ass, then a fish, then a crow, to try to find the hidden paradise of Cloud Cuckoo Land. The author tells us that this fictitious novel is based on a true 1800 year old work by Diogenes called “Wonders Beyond Thule” of which only a few papyrus fragments remain.

Cloud Cuckoo Land brings together five characters from a span of 5 centuries. Anna, a restless orphan stuck in an embroidery shop in Constantinople in the 1450s befriends an elderly scholar and learns ancient Greek. At night she sneaks out of the shop and into an ancient monastery where she discovers the Cloud Cuckoo Land codex. Omeir, a young farmer with a love of animals but an unfortunate split lip is enlisted as an ox driver in the Sultan’s army in the siege of Constantinople.

Zeno, an orphaned child is befriended by librarians in Lakeport Idaho. During the Korean War he becomes a prisoner of war, and befriends Rex, a spirited English scholar who shares his love of ancient texts and tried to teach him Greek. After the war, Zeno comes to Cloud Cuckoo Land through Rex’s book of “Lost Texts”, where Cloud Cuckoo Land is featured prominently.

Seymour is a troubled child living with a single mom Bunny on the edge of poverty. Apparently on the autistic spectrum, he starts to wear “ear defenders” which block out the chaos of the world around him and help him function. His childhood hero is “Trustyfriend” a Great Grey Owl, who presides over the woods behind his home on the edge of Lakeport. As developers encroach on the town, Trustyfriend’s woods are razed for condos and one day Seymour discovers Trustyfriend’s wing at the side of the road. This traumatic event catapults Seymour into a future of radical environmentalism.

Konstance is sealed away the Argos, an interplanetary space ship destined for a planet 592 years away. On her 10th birthday she learns that she will never make it to their destination, and that the mission of all on the Argo is to preserve the life and culture of Earth for future generations. Passengers of the Argos pass time in the “Library”, an AI world which captures all of the cultural artifacts on earth, and controlled by a computer “Sybil”. In the library Konstance is drawn to the “Atlas;” an AI map of world where she can physically explore the land she never knew. When a mysterious virus breaks out on the ship, Konstance seeks clues in the Atlas where she finds hidden code where images of the true devastated Earth environment seep through.

It was a bit of a struggle to get through the beginning of the novel, with its 5 disparate characters and odd quotes from the ancient Greek novel. But unlike a typical narrative diagram, this one is like a spiral, with the circle becoming ever closer as the novels proceeds. In the second half the resolution feels inevitable, and I barreled through to quickly to the end.

The novel speaks to the power of story telling, and the important but difficult task of preserving stories. Environmentalism also weaves its way through the book in interesting ways, such that the importance of preserving stories is analogous to the importance of listening to and preserving the natural world around you. There is much to think about and I’m looking forward to our book group discussion.

I rate this book 4.5👍 out of 5👍.