Storyland

This is a very clever read, though it is hard not think that Catherine McKinnon was heavily influenced by David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas in terms of structure with historical and Sci Fi fiction mixed in the pyramid style telling that made Cloud Atlas the great read that it was and still is.

Storyland is not in the same league as Cloud Atlas, but that should not detract from what is a very good book. All stories take place in the Illawarra district of NSW, and all are vaguely connected along the way. All are told in the first person.

The historical story covers the voyage of The Tom Thumb with Mathew Flinders, George Bass and Will Martin, an event that took place and is documented. We have a murder from 1900 and domestic violence as seen by a 10-year-old girl in 1998. The middle Sci Fi element takes us into two futures and takes in a dystopian nightmare of societal collapse in 2033 and that collapse brought back via memory retrieval in 2717.

I listened to an audiobook presentation via my premium Spotify account while out walking. It was a good enough read to have me lose track of time and distance once or twice. No mean feat.
This is either a something for everyone style read or if only interested in a specific genre may not be one's style. It is recommended as such.