Cloud Atlas

A phenomenal read. I'm a big fan of stories within stories, and this book's interwoven narrative is great fun to puzzle out. My favorite was certainly an Orison of Sonmi-451. I admit I had trouble at the beginning, and it took my a while to get the feel of what Mitchell was going for, but once I was a couple stories deep, I couldn't put the book down. My only criticism is that the warnings for modern society (especially in the Sonmi chapters which I forgive if only because I love a good robot rebellion), can feel a bit heavy-handed. The wealth of story more than makes up for the occasionally preachy tone.

I'm at a loss to put this in a genre. The Sonmi and Zachary chapters are science fiction, Ewing and Frobisher are historical fiction, the Luisa Rey and Timothy Cavendish are just straight up modern fiction. Something for everyone and I hope the upcoming movie does it justice. Tom Hanks is way too old to play Zachary though meaning they've rewritten that whole storyline. Doesn't fill me with faith.