This is a science fiction novel concerned with Cloudrock, where the penalty for imperfection is death: death by the long fall into the void, through the poisonous mists and gases that rise from the deadlands far below. There are two tribes, Day and Night and the imperfect Shadow who is allowed to live. Garry Kilworth has written many novels of science fiction and fantasy, including The Songbirds of Pain, A Theatre of Timesmiths and Witchwater Country.