Cloud Atlas (D. Mitchell) is a collection of narratives from characters in the past, the present and the future. The characters, as well as their stories, are all connected (no spoilers), which would have made for a very interesting book, if they had been less artificial and random. Each story is written in very different styles, with archaic English for the 19th century notary and futuristic language for the robot that developed emotions. Again, interesting concept, but a bit lost on me, since the rather flimsy storyline gets even more obscured. Not recommended.