Cloud Atlas The Book Review Novels & Stories

he sighs as he sets the book on the surface of the table, unleashing a small cloud of dust. Together we spend several minutes leafing through the pages, marveling at his mother's incredible mind. "She never got to do half of these things," Atlas mused. "But she couldn't keep from imagining all the things she could do if she had more time." We continue to search together in silence, neither one of us minding the time that passes as we take care of our time looking over the pages. Eventually, we find a page that has been decorated with little stick figures battling sea monsters around a diagram of the chest and its unique titanium design.

“She got lucky.” Atlas snorted so loud I thought he might choke. “Lucky? That girl has been glued to books for weeks. She practically camped in the library. You saw it coming, Enzo.” I slammed a hand on the desk. “I did not see it coming!” “Oh, you saw it,” Atlas pressed, moving closer to my desk like he wanted front-row seats to my misery. “You just didn’t believe she’d actually win. And then she did. Fair and square.”

I whispered. Atlas nodded slowly. The heat in his eyes sharpened, dropping to my mouth. He looked hungry. "And that was it," he murmured, his voice rasping. "I don’t take advantage of girls who are tripping on drugs. But..." His gaze grew heavy. "I’m not above helping you with the heat." "Hallucinating..." I breathed. The word felt like a ghost on my tongue, but it brought a strange peace. "I’m glad you told me that."

I'm the one who should be losing it and he should be glad I haven't woken up the whole neighborhood yet. "Just give me a few days, I can't tell you now!" Atlas said desperately...his voice pleading with me silently. "No, you tell me now!" I pushed but he looked around helplessly which almost made me give in and let him go. "You won't understand and I don't want to scare you" Atlas said as he took a step forward. Scare me? Oh please don't tell me he's a secret psychopathic killer who rapes and kills innocent young women. "What the fuck is it?! Get it out cause I need an explanation here! Actually I think I deserve an explanation at this point!" I said, still standing my ground but holding my

Atlas asked when he saw Alton. Alton looked at me and then at Atlas. "Of course," Alton happily responded. "Come here Mommy, Uncle Alton," Atlas uttered then tapped the space beside him. Alton and I looked at each other before we decided to give in to Atlas's wants. I carefully occupy the space beside Atlas and Alton did the same. Atlas gave his favourite storybook to Alton and after that, Alton started reading the story. When Atlas fell asleep he was about to stand but I stop him.

Weren't there Disney movies about things like this, where the evil CEOs cackled and took over entire cities for gentrification? ....Wait, no, she had forgotten that she wasn't as furious at Atlas anymore, after he had told her in the car that he'd simply done all that for spontaneous rather than premeditated, evil reasons. Damn. He was so confusing, always back and forth between cold and vaguely lukewarm and then cold again.

"Clarence has a factory of nightmares at the base of the Iron Mountains. She is using the darkness to bridge the gap between worlds." "We saw the bodies," Atlas said, his voice regal and cold. He was sitting at the head of the table, his aura so dominant that even the air seemed to bow to him. "She's killing the land to fuel her gate. My brother and I... we will stay here for two more nights. We will clean up the remaining rot and set up wards that her magic cannot penetrate." "And then what?" Cyrus snapped, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. He wouldn't even look at Atlas. "You go back into hiding and leave us to die?"