Thomas Van Der Hof

And Clouds Passed Above Thomas Van Der Hof

In a tale of mystery, there's a choice that reaches to a past that's been missing, and a thread that stretches through the years, for a boy who sees a world of faraway tales, and present secrets. Until now as a young man, Jaan finds a task set before him, by the enigmatic figure of his grandfather. On a journey that leads away from his small village on a quiet fiord, to forgotten routes high among mountain passes and their towering cities, across ancient desert lands and the lingering echoes of lost kingdoms, to a city in the clouds and its riddle for a few who are drawn within. And to many other wonderful and desolate places, until his destination is at last reached, on a hidden and secret island, in the completion of his grandfather's request. Reminiscent of a present-day fairytale, And Clouds Passed Above shares thematic similarities with The Alchemist, The Name of the Wind, and Life of Pi. Where each place is part of a choice in how to spend a life, and whether something else may lie beyond. At its heart is also the way the world seems as a child, the way each moment and experience has a feeling and texture, and magic and mystery, wondering if this might stay, each day, waiting to be rediscovered.