Cloud Cuckoo Land

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr is a historical science fiction novel published in 2021. Doerr is an American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his novel All the Light We Cannot See, and recipient of numerous other literary awards. Cloud Cuckoo Land blends elements of fantasy and science fiction with unconventional organization to create a complex world of plots relating across generations. The title of the work humorously refers to a phrase used in literature and philosophy that critiques utopias and those who believe in them. This guide uses the original Scribner publication of the book by Simon and Schuster.

Plot Summary

The plot follows five main characters through three timelines. The characters are: Anna and Omeir in and around 15th-century Constantinople; Zeno and Seymour whose plots converge in 2020; and Konstance, who lives in the future. All the plots are connected through the Cloud Cuckoo Land folios, a fictitious Ancient Greek story that follows Aethon as he endeavors to find a utopia known as Cloud Cuckoo Land. The 24 folios of Aethon’s story introduce each chapter. These chapters jump from character to character, switching perspectives throughout.

The book begins by introducing the five main characters and Aethon’s story, as fictitiously discovered by the real-life Greek philosopher Diogenes.