Cetatea cucului din nori

Past: Constantinople. Anna takes care of her ailing sister, her only family, inside the walls of Constantinople. On the other side of the walls Omeir, taken from his home and family, is taking part in the city's siege.

Present: Idaho. Old Zeno along with five children rehearse a play in the public library. In the same building, on a different floor, adolescent Seymour plants a bomb for what he thinks is a noble cause.

Future: The spaceship Argos. Fourteen years old Konstance counts the days she has spent locked by herself in a room.

And what brings together time and space and people is a book. A manuscript of a long-forgotten story. The tale of a hero who perseveres through whatever may come.

Cloud Cuckoo Land is a testament to the power of books and stories — one of humanity's greatest inventions. Stories that shape us, help us grow, and give us hope to go forward. I'm in awe thinking of the intimate relationship between humanity and stories, thinking of how mere ideas and ideals helped build civilizations and individuals.

And thinking about how fiction often proves truer than reality.

This novel has been a journey and I enjoyed every step of it. The characters are all very likable and will make you root for them.
And there is something about historical fiction that took a hold of me; the parts of the story set around the siege of Constantinople were the most enjoyable for me.

Though at times the story is tragic it holds onto hope until the end and has an optimistic outlook. I shed some tears while reading it but that might be just me. Humans do have that effect on me. And more than history and war, more than the world we live in and the stories we tell about it, this is what this novel has been about — humanity. And I absolutely loved it.

It has been some time since I took a book off the shelf and in a few sentences, it convinced me to take it home and I am glad I did.