Breathtaking in scope, Cloud Atlas is one of those rare novels that both captivates the imagination and challenges the mind of its readers. Consisting of six intricately interwoven stories told from the viewpoint of their protagonists that span across space and time, Cloud Atlas introduces us to a varied list of fascinating characters, all connected in ways that they could not have initially foreseen. Adam Ewing, the unwilling traveler crossing the Pacific in the mid 18th century; Robert Frobisher, a disowned and penniless composer attempting to make his way in 1931 Belgium; Luisa Rey, a young idealistic journalist living in Buenas Yerbas, California, in 1975; Timothy Cavendish, the 65-year-old vanity press publisher on the run from his gangster creditors in present-day England; Sonmi~451, a genetically engineered clone slave sentenced to death for rebellion; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander living in a primitive post-apocalyptic future. Linked in ways they cannot imagine, the narrators of Cloud Atlas find their destinies are changed in ways both subtle and profound. Cloud Atlas offer a breathtaking meditation on humanity's dangerous inclination toward power, and what future may lie ahead as a result.
Winner of numerous literary awards including the prestigious British Book Awards Literary Fiction Award, Cloud Atlas is an intriguingly unique novel that you're unlikely to forget for quite some time.
"I really enjoyed the layers and the convincing quality of each voice in this. Some were just great fun. I got a little tired of the changes, eventually. And once it started to return to the outer layer it all had a kind of inevitability that made me wish it was finished. "
— Pierce (4 out of 5 stars)
“One of those how-the-holy-hell-did-he-do-it? modern classics that no doubt is—and should be—read by any student of contemporary literature.”
— Dave Eggers, New York Times bestselling author“[Mitchell’s] language crackles with texture and bite.”
— Time“[Mitchell’s] most audacious work…A wild, wonderful ride.”
— Newsweek“Mitchell is, clearly, a genius. He writes as though at the helm of some perpetual dream machine, can evidently do anything, and his ambition is written in magma across this novel’s every page.”
— New York Times Book Review“One of the biggest joys in Cloud Atlas is watching Mitchell sashay from genre to genre without a hitch in his dance step.”
— Boston Globe“Cloud Atlas ought to make [Mitchell] famous on both sides of the Atlantic as a writer whose fearlessness is matched by his talent.”
— Washington Post Book World“Revolutionary…Cloud Atlas brilliantly puzzles out the way things might not have been.”
— Newsday“Astonishing…The way Mitchell inhabits the different voices is close to miraculous.”
— Sunday Times (London)“[Cloud Atlas] glows with a fizzy, dizzy energy, pregnant with possibility, and whispering in your ear: Listen closely to a story, any story, and you’ll hear another story inside it, eager to meet the world.”
— Village Voice“Audacious, sprawling, preposterously ambitious…Next time someone suggests that The Novel is endangered, hit him with this one. Hard.”
— San Diego Union-Tribune“A remarkable book…It knits together science fiction, political thriller, and historical pastiche with musical virtuosity and linguistic exuberance.”
— Evening Standard (London)“[Mitchell’s] exuberant, Nabokovian delight in word play; his provocative grapplings with the great unknowables; and most of all his masterful storytelling: All coalesce to make Cloud Atlas an exciting, almost overwhelming masterpiece.”
— Washington Times“Stunning…Mitchell has a gift with language. [His] exploration of power and greed is riveting.”
— Rocky Mountain News“[Like] Haruki Murakami, Mitchell mixes highbrow concerns with pulp content for maximum reading pleasure.”
— Details“Cloud Atlas is such an astounding feat that it’s tempting to think there must be several David Mitchells, each of whom wrote one part of this book.”
— BookPage“Sheer storytelling brilliance. Mitchell really is his generation’s Pynchon.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)[David] Mitchell is, clearly, a genius. He writes as though at the helm of some perpetual dream machine, can evidently do anything, and his ambition is written in magma across this novel’s every page.
— The New York Times Book ReviewOne of those how-the-holy-hell-did-he-do-it? modern classics that no doubt is—and should be—read by any student of contemporary literature.
— Dave EggersWildly entertaining . . . a head rush, both action-packed and chillingly ruminative.
— PeopleThe novel as series of nested dolls or Chinese boxes, a puzzle-book, and yet—not just dazzling, amusing, or clever but heartbreaking and passionate, too. I’ve never read anything quite like it, and I’m grateful to have lived, for a while, in all its many worlds.
— Michael ChabonCloud Atlas ought to make [Mitchell] famous on both sides of the Atlantic as a writer whose fearlessness is matched by his talent.
— The Washington Post Book WorldThrilling . . . One of the biggest joys in Cloud Atlas is watching Mitchell sashay from genre to genre without a hitch in his dance step.
— Boston Sunday GlobeGrand and elaborate . . . [Mitchell] creates a world and language at once foreign and strange, yet strikingly familiar and intimate.
— Los Angeles Times" Fascinating structure that demanded lots of flipping back and forth in the book to keep the sequences and stories straight. Enjoyed each story segment, but found it hard to see the forest for the trees. Anxious to see the movie to help sort it all out. "
— Kiki, 2/12/2014" Very interesting narrative structure. I love books that keep you on your toes and make you think as you go. I suggest reading this one. "
— Daniel, 1/23/2014" Very good book but hard to get through. Stories cut off just as they get interesting. "
— Matthew, 1/12/2014" A little hard to follow at first, Then you get used to the style and it becomes easier to understand and follow. Different than anything I have ever read. "
— Sue, 12/28/2013" What an unique novel! I had some trepidation after the first chapter, but am glad I pushed on. Mitchell tells six different stories, across six different time periods, in six different genres that loosely tie together. Quite an impressive undertaking and well-executed. "
— Anne, 12/17/2013" Cloud Atlas A difficult story to follow and not sure if I fully understand it. Many characters, and time periods, not sure how they tie together, maybe I missed it while listened, should watch the movie. "
— Karen, 12/2/2013" One of the dullest,most confusing and disappointing books I've ever read. "
— Calum, 10/27/2013" Is that all there is? Really? I kept reading to the very end, thinking that there would be some awesome twist, but sadly there wasn't. "
— Jen, 10/21/2013" Been looking for an intelligent author not afraid to broach big ideas with insight and a tight plot line as Doctorow was able to do in Book of Daniel. Mithcell is it. "
— Maria, 6/24/2013" Man, I would say it was initially difficult to read but once I finish it. It's great! Left you thinking & and loving some of the quotes. "
— Adar, 6/4/2013" This will no doubt go down in history as a classic along with Ulysses. However, I found the book tedious. I want to be gripped and entertained quickly and if a book catches my attention I will persevere but this isn't that book "
— Jonathan, 3/19/2013David Mitchell is the award-winning and bestselling author of The Bone Clocks and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, named a best book of the year by Time, Washington Post, Financial Times, New Yorker, Globe and Mail, and the New York Times. He has been nominated for the Man Booker Prize five times and hailed as “the novelist who’s shown us fiction’s future” (Washington Post), as well as named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time in 2007. He lives in Ireland with his wife and two children.
Scott Brick, an acclaimed voice artist, screenwriter, and actor, has performed on film, television, and radio. He attended UCLA and spent ten years in a traveling Shakespeare company. Passionate about the spoken word, he has narrated a wide variety of audiobooks. winning won more than fifty AudioFile Earphones Awards and several of the prestigious Audie Awards. He was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine and the Voice of Choice for 2016 by Booklist magazine.
Cassandra Campbell has won multiple Audie Awards, Earphones Awards, and the prestigious Odyssey Award for narration. She was been named a “Best Voice” by AudioFile magazine and in 2018 was inducted in Audible’s inaugural Narrator Hall of Fame.
Kim Mai Guest is an award-winning voice actor for audiobooks and video games. She can also be heard on television shows, such as G.I. Joe: Renegades, Batman: the Brave and the Bold, and Avatar, and in movies such asChill Out Scooby Doo and Dead Space: Aftermath. Her video game work includes Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, and The Lord of the Rings.
Kirby Heyborne is a musician, actor, and professional narrator. Noted for his work in teen and juvenile audio, he has garnered over twenty Earphones Awards. His audiobook credits include Jesse Kellerman’s The Genius, Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother, and George R. R. Martin’s Selections from Dreamsongs.
John Lee is the winner of numerous Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. He has twice won acclaim as AudioFile’s Best Voice in Fiction & Classics. He also narrates video games, does voice-over work, and writes plays. He is an accomplished stage actor and has written and coproduced the feature films Breathing Hard and Forfeit. He played Alydon in the 1963–64 Doctor Who serial The Daleks.
Simon Vance (a.k.a. Robert Whitfield) is an award-winning actor and narrator. He has earned more than fifty Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration thirteen times. He was named Booklist’s very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and has been named an AudioFile Golden Voice as well as an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009. He has narrated more than eight hundred audiobooks over almost thirty years, beginning when he was a radio newsreader for the BBC in London. He is also an actor who has appeared on both stage and television.
Hillary Huber, a Los Angeles–based voice talent with hundreds of commercials and promos under her belt, was bitten by the audiobook bug in 2005. She now records books on a regular basis and has been nominated for several Audie Awards and won numerous Earphones Awards.