Shades of Grey

A Novel

By: Jasper Fforde

Narrated by: John Lee

An astonishing standalone novel from the great literary fantasist and author of the New York Times bestselling Thursday Next series and The Constant Rabbit, Jasper Fforde

As long as anyone can remember, society has been ruled by a Colortocracy. From the underground feedpipes that keep the municipal park green to the healing hues viewed to cure illness to a social hierarchy based upon one's limited color perception, society is dominated by color. In this world, you are what you can see.

Young Eddie Russett has no ambition to be anything other than a loyal drone of the Collective. With his better-than-average red perception, he could well marry Constance Oxblood and inherit the string works; he may even have enough red perception to make prefect.

For Eddie, life looks colorful. Life looks good.

But everything changes when he moves with his father, a respected swatchman, to East Carmine. There, he falls in love with a Grey named Jane who opens his eyes to the painful truth behind his seemingly perfect, rigidly controlled society.

Curiosity--a dangerous trait to display in a society that demands total conformity--gets the better of Eddie, who beings to wonder:
Why are there not enough spoons to go around?
Why is everything--and everyone--barcoded?
What happened to all the people who never returned from High Saffron?
And why, when you begin to question the world around you, do black-and-white certainties reduce themselves to shades of grey?

Part satire, part romance, part revolutionary thriller, this is the new world from the creative and comic genius of Jasper Fforde.

What a delightful book!

I've really never read much fantasy (if you don't count Harry Potter) so I wasn't sure if I could really get into a book like Shades of Grey, but it was terrific.

Eddie Russett lives in a world where everyone is color-blind and people are segregated by the color they can see. Volumes and volumes of rules exist in this dystopian world to keep everyone in line--and to keep the reader laughing. On his way to East Carmine to do a chair census, Eddie and his father, a doctor-type who heals with color swatches, find a dying man misrepresenting his color and mystery begins.

With each chapter Fforde molds his fascinating world and reveals just enough detail to make you want more and more. And John Lee is the perfect narrator, giving voice to all the eccentric characters. I found myself taking a long Sunday drive just to hear more of this great adventure. A new favorite. Highly recommended!

Wonderful work from a fascinating novelist

No, it's not another Next novel, and though the world Fforde created here is more dark, this book was incredibly interesting. It's a bit apocolyptic, a lot quirky, and a completely new society from Fforde. If you loved the sort-of-kind-of-same-as-ours world Thursday Next inhabits, you should enjoy this book full of puns and cleverly named characters. The narrator was lovely too (I'm surprised other reviewers criticized his work to be honest); I also hope it's the start of a series. It's worth the buy, and I'd actually give the novel 4 1/2 stars if I could!

Just as excellent the second time around!

An original and engaging story. The use of language is makes it delightful. John Lee ranks with Simon Prebble and Jim Dale.

4 1/2 stars. Entertaining!

Fforde gradually builds a very intriguing world for us in his unique style. The hero of this book narrates events from the perspective of somebody living in this world-- i.e. Fforde isn't explaining things for us, instead we have to pay attention to figure out how this crazy world works.
The pay-off was absolutely worth it for me. I enjoyed the world and the story (even if I had to re-listen to sections once in awhile.)
My only complaint: this seems to be part 1 of a series. The ending of the book is satisfying (we're not left with a cliff-hanger) but there are obvious important unresolved issues.

Just delightful!

The author uses unique and playful phrases and concepts to create a delightful world. I caught myself giggling aloud repeatedly. I first read this book a decade ago, and couldn't be happier about rereading it today. Thank you Jasper for sharing your creation.