The New York Times bestseller and “a rich brew of dystopic fantasy and deadpan goofiness” (The Washington Post) from the author of the Thursday Next series and Early Riser Welcome to Chromatacia, where the societal hierarchy is strictly regulated by one’s limited color perception. And Eddie Russet wants to move up. But his plans to leverage his better-than-average red perception and marry into a … better-than-average red perception and marry into a powerful family are quickly upended. Juggling inviolable rules, sneaky Yellows, and a risky friendship with an intriguing Grey named Jane who shows Eddie that the apparent peace of his world is as much an illusion as color itself, Eddie finds he must reckon with the cruel regime behind this gaily painted façade.
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I loved it.
I wish Fforde had continued with this series as I felt the world had huge potential. The idea of social position based on which colours you can see is original and I loved the little mentions of the world that came before (spotting the references was a source of pride).
One of the best books I’ve ever read. I immediately began reading it again as soon as I finished. Fforde’s unique insight and humor make you think – and laugh – as you explore a society where the color you see determines your place in society and what happens when that is challenged.
Love this book. Takes a bit to acclimate yourself to the dystopian world he’s built around these characters, understanding “the rules” that guide their lives, but once you “see” that, it is thoroughly enjoyable. I couldn’t put it down. It’s fantasy, mystery, satire, absurdist and probably a few others. Jasper Fforde is a genre unto himself.
I love this book! Best book I’ve read in quite a while! I really hope he writes a sequel!
I love Jasper Fforde’s work, and this is my favorite of his books. Set in a dystopian Victorian/Edwardian-themed world where people are ranked according to how much of what color they can see (no, really!), it’s the story of Eddie Russet, a Red whose misbehavior earns him a trip to East Carmine and gets him mixed up in secrets, lies, and murder. Along with a Grey (unable to see any color well) named Jane (yes, her name is Jane Grey, this is a Jasper Fforde novel) he navigates the murky waters of East Carmine society, searches for the truth of High Saffron, and falls in love.
Be warned: this does not have a happy ending, mainly because Fforde has never written the sequel to resolve the sadness at the end. But if you’re interested in unusual dystopian fiction, quirky humor, and a clever story, I suggest giving this one a try.
Once again an original, devious plot with amazing characters.
The social commentary is spot on; the delay of a sequel is difficult….
Intriguing, original, vaguely alarming; a well-crafted story that kept my interest to the end.
A truly original concept that kept me intrigued throughout the book.
READ IT AND FOLLOW tUESDAY NEXT
LOEARNED SOOOO MUCH RE: CIVIL WAR AND THE HARD SHIPS OF SO MANY FAMILIES FIGHTING EACH OTHER.
how sad the way these people fought for freedom. Families suffered so much’
This is a dystopic novel of science fiction, and not a piece of BDSM-flavored mommy-porn, so the differences are significant. Fforde’s book is far stranger, of a society in which people are judged and ranked by their ability to see colors— most can see only one color, and that one poorly. Those who see no colors are labeled Greys, and are the equivalent of societal Dalits, the Untouchables to whom fall all,the worst jobs.
Color is important not only in terms of rank in society. At the beginning of the novel, the protagonist, Eddie, is traveling with his father to a small village of the fringe of society. His father is a “swatchman”, the equivalent of a doctor, who treats all kinds of physical illnesses and ailments— by showing the patient swatches of color on cards. Different colors treat different symptoms, and they really work (variations of green take the place of opiates!).
The society is rigidly controlled to ensure a minimum of change, but Eddie, the most conservative of young men, finds himself in the middle of controversies and conspiracies for which he is ill prepared, particularly when it comes to interactions with Jane, the young Grey woman assigned as his father’s part-time maid. Jane is different from anyone he’s known before— a woman of strength, belligerence, and anti-social tendencies. Eddie responds, of course, by falling in love. She rejects him, harshly, but he is undeterred, and only grows more enamored, and thus more drawn in to dark undercurrents of life in the village.
My attempting to describe the book without spoilers feels futile— the book is so marvelously strange, and it’s strangeness is so integral to the plot, that any description is going to end up giving things away. Suffice it to say that this first book in Fforde’s Shades of Grey” trilogy is a strange and difficult delight, and I will never see spoons in quite the same way again.
Recommended
One of the best I’ve read this year.
It was a really fun read that kept you guessing
I love Jasper Fforde and this may be one of my favorites. Great escapist fiction.
Although it takes a few pages to understand what is going on in this novel, it’s worth the effort. The premise is unlike anything you have seen before, and yet the romantic and coming-of-age themes are comfortably familiar. The book is full of Fforde’s typical wry humor, but slips in a dystopian twist I have not seen in his work before. I enjoyed this novel quite a bit and wish it were possible to buy the sequels in electronic format.
I love Jasper Fford’s writing and this book is no exception. I took me a few pages to “get” the premise that now, after “Something Happened” society is stratified based on the percentage of color a person can see. everything is based on color. Illness is cured by looking at a specific color for a specific illness. Colors can be intoxicating or addictive. Periodically things are removed from use in society if they are viewed to be disruptive, this happens in the “Great Leap Backwards”. Once you get used to the concept the book is delightfully whimsical while making one think about the “rules” of society. Great book!
It’s like a cross between 1984, The Phantom Tollbooth, and Leave it to Beaver. Great writing!
I loved this book! I wish that the author had written a sequel!