Cloud Atlas is a rather different novel. Part sci-fi, part historical fiction. It should have something to appeal to everyone. The stories are linked in some obvious ways. But largely, this novel is about the power of stories and how we can use narrative to manipulate or change things.
It’s how some people justified slavery for so many years.
The narrative aspects come out mostly in the Sci-Fi sections, and it is there that they have the most impact. There is the story or truth of del Rey and that section too is the most powerful. I found the beginning and ending of the novel the hardest sections to handle. The payoff is largely in the middle.
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