The story within this story was an engaging fantasy, one which left me constantly wondering what would happen next, which was described with convincing detail and internal consistency, and in which the relationship between the two main characters transcended to become something more than the sum of its parts (although the writing style was a little too self-conscious for my taste). I thought the way in which the inner story related to the outer story was a little clumsy, and the message the author was trying to express could have been handled with more finesse.