Ah, Cloud Atlas. One of my most favorite books EVER (if you look closely at my profile pic you can see it's at the top of the book pile). I agree with Nancy it's a good idea to stick with Mitchell; in addition to Ghostwritten, I'd suggest The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (for the historical fiction angle), and also Black Swan Green, which is a coming-of-age story involving a teenage stammerer growing up in early 1980s Britain. It may sound like it's not your cup of tea from that description, but one of the characters from Cloud Atlas makes an unexpected and delightful cameo appearance in this book.

As for other authors and novels that are similar to Cloud Atlas, that is a tall order. I often suggest Haruki Murakami to David Mitchell fans – like Mitchell, Murakami has a experimental, playful side to his writing that I think would appeal to Cloud Atlas fans. His books are usually set in contemporary Japan, but a very surrealist version of that place, where odd things can and often do happen to the main characters, who often find themselves suddenly on a quest or engrossed in solving a mystery that they literally stumble into. Since you mentioned you read a lot of mysteries, you might want to start with A Wild Sheep Chase, a very oddball mystery involving a flock of mythological sheep. But also check out Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (which many Murakami fans consider his best work).

Another book that I think you might enjoy is Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan. The historical sections of Cloud Atlas (especially the first and last ones) reminded me a lot of this book, not only for the similar setting (19th -century South Pacific Islands) but for their dark humor and the way both authors address the impact of British colonization on the natives of New Zealand, Australia, and other islands in the vicinty. Plus Flanagan's book is a literary tour-de-force on a par with Cloud Atlas. (Yes I know tour-de-force is a huge book reviewing cliché. But in this case, it is an accurate statement).

Since you mentioned liking the futuristic sections in Cloud Atlas (I'm assuming you're referring to “An Orison of Somni-451” & “Sloosha's Crossin'”), I would like to point you to a few earlier Questionland requests for good dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels. I think you'll find quite a few good suggestions in the responses to this post and this one. And this one.

However, if none of these suggestions work for you, don't forget that you can always Ask a Librarian and get a hand-crafted, personalized reading list from some amazing SPL librarians! Tell 'em Questionland sent you.

Happy reading,

Abby