What an astonishing book! The chapters of interlocking stories are told in different styles, from dystopian science-fiction to Victorian travel journal. David Mitchell does that very well, each style has a completely different feel. A couple are in told in dialect form. Often that irritates me, but not in this case. This was the first book I had read by David Mitchell. It was a remarkable experience, and I'm sure it will not be the last one of his that I read.