Which might speak for itself, but Cloud's End is a piece of work that would probably need a discerning reader. In other words, it doesn't seem to be just for anyone.Sean Stewart explores a new world very similar to Le Guin's Earthsea this time around, with islanders for people. The concept, although I've seen before, is still refreshing in many ways, and again the writer manages to show character and emotion better than most I've seen. The story is about a girl, Brook, who was 'twinned' by a creature called Jo. It gets somewhat more complicated as she tries to find a way out of it by going on a journey with her friends, and her lover, Rope.Again, as it seems to be Stewart's style, there can be a bit more sexual stuff here than normal, and a lot of humor that never fails to make me laugh aloud for one second. Nothing that'll split your sides, but that's why you're not reading fantasy anyway, right?It just doesn't seem enough, that's all...this story, I mean. As much as I like the characters there seems to be a lot of things that aren't resolved in the end.Plus, it's not plot driven. Like most of Stewart's stuff, it's character driven. But the problem with this story is there's so many characters, and he uses so many points of views, that it becomes confusing at some points. Plus, because two of the views happen at such different places, the action gets suspended somewhat and you just feel like skipping the whole section on said characters at the time.It's still a good book, but don't expect to be wowed or have a good, fuzzy feeling at the end. In fact, I wanted to throw it against the wall after reading it, but not because I HATED it, there was just something about it (hint: ROPE) that I wanted to peel apart. But that's a personal thing. It's still a gem among the rest of the fantasy out there. If you're sick of all the cookie-cutter books you've been reading so far, drop them all and pick this one up, and several by Sean Stewart as well. You won't regret it.