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The Cloud Atlas

liam callanan

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Set against the magnificent backdrop of Alaska in the waning days of World War II, The Cloud Atlas is an enthralling debut novel, a story of adventure and awakening—and of a young soldier who came to Alaska on an extraordinary, top-secret mission…and found a world that would haunt him forever.

Drifting through the night, whisper-quiet, they were the most sublime manifestations of a desperate Japanese balloon bombs. Made of rice paper, at once ingenious and deadly, they sailed thousands of miles across the Pacific...and once they started landing, the U.S. scrambled teams to find and defuse them, and then keep them secret from an already anxious public. Eighteen-year-old Louis Belk was one of those men. Dispatched to the Alaskan frontier, young Sergeant Belk was better trained in bomb disposal than in keeping secrets. And the mysteries surrounding his mission only increased when he met his superior officer—a brutal veteran OSS spy hunter who knew all too well what the balloons could do—and Lily, a Yup’ik Eskimo woman who claimed she could see the future.

Louis’s superior ushers him into a world of dark secrets; Lily introduces Louis to an equally disorienting world of spirits—and desire. But the world that finally tests them all is Alaska, whose vastness cloaks mysteries that only become more frightening as they unravel. Chasing after the ghostly floating weapons, Louis embarks upon an adventure that will lead him deep into the tundra. There, on the edge of the endless wilderness, he will make a discovery and a choice that will change the course of his life.

At once a heart-quickening mystery and a unique love story, The Cloud Atlas is also a haunting, lyrical rendering of a little-known chapter in history. Brilliantly imagined, beautifully told, this is storytelling at its very best.

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,2004
Literary awards
edgar award, 
Places
alaska, 

This edition

Format
368 pages, Paperback
Published
October 26, 2004 by Random House Publishing Group
ISBN
9780385336956
ASIN
0385336950
Language
English

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About the author

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liam callanan

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Liam is the author of The Cloud Atlas (Delacorte, 2004; Dial, 2005), All Saints (Delacorte, 2007; Dial, 2008), Listen (Four Way, 2015) and the upcoming Paris by the Book (Dutton, 2018). He serves in the English department of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and was previously its chair, as well as coordinator of its Ph.D. program in creative writing. He has regularly contributed to local and national public radio, and is possibly the only person now living (but consult your own Venn diagram) who has written for all of the following: the Wall Street Journal (on zeppelins, jetpacks, and touring Paris and Greece with children's books), The Awl, Medium, Commonweal, Esquire.com (on swimming and flying), Slate, the New York Times Book Review, the Times op-ed page, the Washington Post Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes FYI, Good Housekeeping, Parents, Milwaukee Magazine and elsewhere.

His short fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in a variety of literary journals, including Gulf Coast, the New Haven Review, Tinge (where his story was named one of the Millions Writers Award Notable Stories of 2011 by storySouth), the Writers Chronicle, Blackbird, Crab Orchard Review, Southern Indiana Review, Caketrain, failbetter and Phoebe. Liam is also the creator and co-executive producer of the Poetry Everywhere animated film series.

And yep, he knows all about the other novel that goes by the name Cloud Atlas. To hear him tell it, it's been a fun ride: http://bit.ly/on-another-cloud

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
30(30%)
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100 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Faceless_Friend
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I was looking for Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell and the place I got my ebook gave me this book, only the epub had Mitchell's cover on it. I soldiered on bravely, for 150 pages, not comprehending why it felt like such a different book then I was expecting, till I finally figured it out. (I was saying to myself: whyyyy am I reading a boy's book, it doesn't make any sense....!!!)
Wrong cover, wrong book
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Tiny_Ducc
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This book was not at all what I expected. I was a very strange mix of Indian mythology, history of the Japanese ballon attacks on the the United Sates during WWII all told as a reflection by a Priest as his Shaman friend is dying in hospice. I enjoyed the historical parts of the book and the mythological parts but it took it wasn't a strong mix. With the exception of the Lieutenant who was crazy, the characters were interesting.

I really wanted more on the history of the balloon flights into the United Stated.

The book is intriguing, but it also so out of print.
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aori12
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I could wish to like this story more than I do. Liam Callanan is a beautiful lyrical writer, and he has discovered an unexpected setting and story in his tale of a young soldier's life in Alaska during World War II. Within the historically accurate drama of Japanese bombs sent across the ocean in hot air balloons, Sergeant Belk's life is tangled with that of a brutal superior officer, the Eskimo woman they both love, and his top secret mission to search the tundra, find, and diffuse the bombs that make their silent way to American soil.

It is hard not to admire a tale that weaves wartime heroism with Eskimo mysticism played out by rich fully-drawn characters in a fresh and novel narrative setting. I do admire the tale, and its teller, but I must regretfully also tell you that despite all of its fine qualities, this story never hooked me.

I don't fault Callanan. That would be a gross injustice. In fact, I'll be keeping an eye out for more of his work. His writing is wonderful.

If you have a place in your heart for Alaska's wild frontiers and hardy people, you should read this book. If you are drawn to World War II stories of all kinds, Callanan has spun one out of untrod cloth, and you have a treat in store.

It wasn't a treat for me, but that could be for the sheerly superficial reason that I am not a hardy enough outdoor girl to be caught up in the sere frigid setting of Callanan's imagination.
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NagasakiRus
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I'm still trying to figure out what I think of this book.

I found the first 2/3 to be somewhat slow. It wasn't difficult to set it aside to tend to other things, like some books are. The last third was much more riveting, faster paced, and I was surprised to find myself crying at one point.

The topic was interesting and one I'd never heard of before - hot air balloon bombs from Japan. I think there was something a little off about all the characters that made it difficult for me to connect.

There was some beautiful writing. Clearly well-researched. But something didn't hit it for me.
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BiscoitoArabio
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Not to be confused with time-bending "Cloud Atlas" of Tom Hanks moving fame (though that one's also on my "to read" list), THE Cloud Atlas is the account of Father Belks, who spent time in WWII in Alaska as a soldier and remained to serve the church. Magical realism? Brutality. An account of Yup'ik culture for which I don't (yet) have reference.

I'd read more by this author.
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Omegaax
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Sadly, not a book I enjoyed. Like many others, I purchased the book thinking it was the other Cloud Atlas. I decided to read it because I enjoy Alaska or frontier stories as well as the early 1900's, but it just did not deliver for me.

I don't recommend.
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kirtax2000
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I enjoyed reading this. I was captivated by the descriptions of Alaska as well as the air balloons. I was never toughgt about this piece of history and found my self searching for more information regarding these balloons. the only disappointment I had in reading this was the ending. I felt the author rushed this, and was racing for the finish line. however the story stayed me. So I had to give it 4 stars.
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supermario4ever
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Sí, yo también he sido uno de esos despistados que empezó a leer este libro pensando que se trataba de "Cloud Atlas" de David Mitchell. No era lo que esperaba pero me sorprendió para (muy) bien! Está escrito de manera preciosa y la historia es, sí, una más sobre la WWII pero original y entretenida. Nice one!
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