Having not been a fan of cloud atlas I was apprehensive of reading this book but was pleasantly surprised. The dream sequences add elements of fantastical magic to the book but ultimately this is a story of an orphan searching for family. The development of the main character and even the secondary characters is really well done. Never knowing where it was going the book takes a powerful, yet common, theme and presents out in a unique and entertaining way. This book has given me enough to want to read more of Mitchell's work and as such am very happy to have read it.