Three authors that are new to me in the top three this year; that’s pretty exciting, although not first novelists. Only my #1 selection got 5 stars though. The two listed here only got 4 1/2 stars. I had a tough year for books. This pair is intriguing though, as they are both multi-generational epics, that reach back in history and look forward into the future.
#3) Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr – I’m reading a run of lengthy novels that span multiple eras, this one being over 600 pages, and a significant improvement over the last. Anthony Doerr has created a science fiction epic that reached back to fifteenth century Constantinople, through present-day Idaho, to an interstellar starship decades from now to celebrate books, and libraries. The characters Doerr creates are so unique, and so enchanting, that whether they be an orphan girl/turned thief, an animal-loving outcast spurned because of his cleft palate, a Korean war veteran who missed his chance for love, a lonely, misguided boy turned domestic terrorist, or a young girl who will spend her life on a starship headed to a destination that will not be reached until long after her death, they come alive and resonate in your heart; each one bringing tears to your eyes as they reach the end of their journeys. This one is worth the time and effort and it takes you on a journey much like the ancient codex for which the novel is named.
#2) The Overstory by Richard Powers – Richard Powers won the National Book Award for this epic tale that blends activism and protest with environmentalism, ecology, and the mysterious life of trees. How often have I thought about the wisdom of trees, to exist for so long, and to cover so much of the earth. What I had never thought about was the interconnectedness of these mysterious life forms; both with each other, and with the other lives that swirl around them. Powers writes a compelling story that admittedly, takes a little time to get off the ground as he introduces about ten characters whose paths we will follow throughout this 500 page book. Once I realized that this was not going to be just a series of unrelated vignettes, but a tale of lives entwined with these majestic beings, both beautifully written and massive in scope I was fully captured. An epic tale rooted in science, lofty in thought, but firmly exploring humanity at its best and worse.