Feb 01 2007

The Cloud Atlas

I’ve just finished reading a truly greatÂ work of fictionÂ titled The Cloud Atlas and written by first-time novelistÂ Liam Callanan. As the back-cover blurb states: “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 went to Alaska on an extraordinary top secret mission…and found a world that would haunt him forever.”

It continues: “Drifting through the night, whisper-quiet, they were the most sublime manifestations of a desperate enemy: Japanese balloon-bombs. Sergeant Louis Belk, age eighteen, was one of the men sent to Alaska to find and dispose of these improbable weapons - and then keep them secret from an already anxious public. But the mysteries confronting the young sergeant only increase when he meets his superior officer - a brutal veteran OSS spy hunter who knows all too well what the balloons can do - and a beautiful Yup’ik Eskimo woman who claims she can see the future. Chasing after the ghostly floating weapons, Louis embarks upon an adventure that will lead him into the vast tundra to a discovery and a choice that will change the course of his life.”

I was particularly interested to read The Cloud Atlas, as my 2005 book on the Roswell controversy, Body Snatchers in the Desert, also focused upon the secret world of the Fugo Balloon, surely one of the strangest aerial weapons of the Second World War. And while The Cloud Atlas does not focus upon Roswell, it does weave a tale of epic, strange, and enthralling proportions.

Written in an atmospheric andÂ almost magical style, this is a title that will appeal to anyone with an interest in official secrecy, the mysteries of the human mind, and the secrets of a barren and bizarre world.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 1st, 2007 at 10:43 am and is filed under Books, Reviews, The Redfern Files, UFOlogy. You can follow responses via RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is not allowed.
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