A GUARDIAN BEST FICTION PICK OF 2021 ''Serious novels are rarely this fun'' The Times ''A gift'' Guardian ''Buoyant with humanity'' Daily Mail ''Worth the seven year wait'' Stylist When everything is lost, it''s our stories that survive How do we weather the end of things? Cloud Cuckoo Land brings together an unforgettable cast of dreamers and outsiders from past, present and future to offer a vision of survival against all odds. Constantinople, 1453: An orphaned seamstress and a cursed boy with a love for animals risk everything on opposite sides of a city wall to protect the people they love.Idaho, 2020:An impoverished, idealistic kid seeks revenge on a world that''s crumbling around him. Can he go through with it when a gentle old man stands between him and his plans?Unknown, Sometime in the Future:With her tiny community in peril, Konstance is the last hope for the human race. To find a way forward, she must look to the oldest stories of all for guidance.Bound together by a single ancient text, these tales interweave to form a tapestry of solace and resilience and a celebration of storytelling itself. Like its predecessor All the Light We Cannot See , Anthony Doerr''s new novel is a tale of hope and of profound human connection.