This book had an interesting subject and was written well, it was just missing that certain something. I had to make my way through it rather than want to continue reading, just can't say for sure why.

I know I am not the first person who began to read this book thinking it was David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas" (actually, the ebook I get said it was Mitchell's), and while reading have realized it must have been something else. But after clearing the things out I continued to read, and was glad I did, because it a good, interesting and unexpected book I would overwise most probably never have encountered. Not brilliant (hence 4 stars), but really, really good.

This is one of those difficult books to place, a debut novel firmly backed with vast research and interviews, exploring a surprisingly unknown story about World War II, set in a place most people forget exists from time to time. There is an interesting love triangle, including what appears to be Belk's greatest obstacle in the story--his own captain. The problem is, while there were moments that were either fascinating or exciting, it was hard to feel it amounted to much in the end. Perhaps the cast was too narrow, or the time flips between present and past--pardon the pun--defused the tension, but there was some level of heart missing. The story was wonderfully told, but I kept wondering more about who Belk was before the war, what his hopes were for after it.

And maybe that's the key problem I had. I never got a good sense of what he wanted from the world, other than to not be in Alaska and not blow up. In fact, the idea that Belk was sort of third on Lily's rung of people she might love made that angle more of a pipe-dream than a central conflict. Other than the first scenes where Belk didn't know about Saburo or Lily's relationship with Gurley, never did I feel like he had a chance with her, and never did I believe he really loved her...just that he wanted to believe he loved her. I really liked the concept and the prose, I just wanted it wrapped around something just a little more gripping, a little more personal. Still, it's a great accomplishment of a book, very well written and imaginative, and one that will lead me to read more of his.

Really enjoyed this book! The characters were unique (albeit strange) and very well developed. The plot was also very unique and the historical component added greatly to the storyline. I would recommend this book to others!

This book is about Alaska, WWII, Japan bombing us with balloon bombs, an old priest, with pieces and bits of his shaman friend thrown in here and there. The topics were interesting, but I'm not sure why I kept reading it the first half of the book--oh yeah, the topics were interesting, and then the second half picked up. Disappointingly, the ending didn't provide the tie together I was looking for....I would recommend the book.

What I liked about the book was
Learning about balloon bombs sent by the Japanese during WWII. I didn’t like the characters very much or the ending. I think more could have been done with Yupik traditions and less Catholic priest stuff.

My boyfriend and I start reading it. About 30% in:

Me: I don’t understand why there’s such a fuss around this book.
Bf: No? I’m quite liking it.
Me: and the change in styles between the stories?! Can’t see any!
Bf: yes, yes, paragraphs are indeed much longer in the first one.

70% in:

Bf: we’re reading “The Cloud Atlas”, not “Cloud Atlas”.

There you have it, my bf trying to sound “photosynthesis”.

Never a title has granted a book so many sales. Beware, this is not David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas.

3.5 stars
I read this book by accident when I mixed it up with Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. I didn't mind I quite liked it. A historical fiction set in WWII Alaska. I learned something about Yup'ik culture and Japanese military operation to send air balloons carrying bombs across Pacific Ocean to the US.

This book. Not my cup of tea. If you like Snow Falling on Cedars then you will probably like this one. I didn’t like Snow Falling on Cedars so....there you go.

If you ever wondered what was going on in Alaska during World War II, what with Alaska being a relatively unguarded entry point into the U.S., you might like this book. You will learn that Japan was sending bombs towards Alaska via hot air paper balloons. You will be immersed in the fictionalized version of Alaska in the mid-1940s, a sort of wild, wild West, the last outpost for an inexperienced bomb defuser and his sadistic, crazy superior officer. There is a love triangle, a confession, betrayals, all shrouded in mysticism. The writing is beautiful, but there is a lot going on.

This story is beautifully written. This is going to stay with me for a while.

A few years ago, I read a fascinating historical account of Japanese Balloon Bombs, balloons that were launched by Japan against the American West Coast during the final years of World War II. This onslaught was kept secret during the war to prevent a panic, and is even now largely unknown. US authorities assumed these balloons, made of rice paper and carrying incendiary devices designed to start fires when they landed, were being launched from POW camps or from Japanese Submarines. They were actually launched from the coast of Japan itself! 9,000 balloons were launched to be carried by the jet stream to America. Over 300 made it. One balloon traveled as far as Michigan. There were only 6 recorded casualties -- a family on a picnic in Oregon who tried to pick up this strange and beautiful object that fell from the skies. It exploded as it was designed to.

Strange and beautiful objects that kill?

This story is all about contrasts. The balloons floating through puffy bright clouds that bring fire and death. A Catholic priest whose best friend is a Native Alaska shaman. The same priest who was a bomb detonation technician during WWII. A brutalized love story set in the majestic Alaskan wilderness during WWII. Fire and Ice. Passion and chill.

5 stars. Really quite good.

Thankee Wanda - two books in the post today from your good self and will post on to Morecambe once read, to spread the love around.

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