CLOUD CUCKOO LAND

Marin Ireland and Simon Jones sparkle as they narrate this immersive time-traveling novel. They vividly deliver the stories that weave through this audiobook. A gifted mimic, Ireland performs subtle and effective emulations of Australian, Italian, and English accents. When she slows down to enunciate the classical Greek sprinkled throughout the text, her reading shimmers with meaning. Both Ireland and Jones are masters of pacing and cadence, which matters in an interwoven narrative that shifts in time from the fall of Constantinople (1450s) to present-day small-town Idaho and to a future set on a spacecraft. From accounts of myths to misbegotten environmental terrorism, Doerr’s novel pulls out all the stops, and the narrators create an enduring listening experience. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2021 Best Audiobook © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2021]