Cloud Atlas

''ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANTLY INVENTIVE WRITERS OF THIS, OR ANY, COUNTRY'' INDEPENDENTShortlisted for the Booker Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Arthur C. Clarke Award, winner of Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year and a BBC Two Between the Covers Book Club pick''Miraculous''SUNDAY TIMES''A masterful feast''EVENING STANDARD''Shamelessly exciting''SPECTATOR''Remarkable''GUARDIAN''Stunning''DAILY MAILA novel of mind-bending imagination and scope from the author of Ghostwritten and Utopia AvenueSouls cross ages like clouds cross skies . . .Six interlocking lives - one amazing adventure. In a narrative that circles the globe and reaches from the 19th century to a post-apocalyptic future, Cloud Atlas erases the boundaries of time, genre and language to offer an enthralling vision of humanity''s will to power, and where it will lead us.*Please note that the end of p. 39 and p. 40 are intentionally blank*PRAISE FOR DAVID MITCHELL''A thrilling and gifted writer''FINANCIAL TIMES''Dizzyingly, dazzlingly good''DAILY MAIL''Mitchell is, clearly, a genius''NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW''An author of extraordinary ambition and skill''INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY''A superb storyteller''THE NEW YORKER