Shades of Grey

A Novel

By: Jasper Fforde

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

An astonishing, hotly anticipated new novel from the great literary fantasist and author of the Thursday Next series and Early Riser, 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.

©2009 Jasper Fforde (P)2009 Penguin

Creatively Original

What did you love best about Shades of Grey?

It's in true Jasper Fforde fashion-completely original, creative, and entertaining.

What other book might you compare Shades of Grey to and why?

If you like this book, you'll enjoy all of Jasper Fforde's books. He has such an original style. A modern Roald Dahl for adults. Love his books.

Have you listened to any of John Lee’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First listen by this narrator and thought it was excellent.

This book is in my top 10 of all time

Such a great concept. A great exploration into caste and aristocratic society made whimsical. This is a masterwork. Ignore the apocryphal man.

a different look at the world

I thoroughly enjoyed both the premise and the book and will be looking forward to a reread and to the sequel. The narration was good and fairly easy to follow, always an issue with a book set in a foreign place and time. The puns and comments on our society are well worth the listen.

Terrific piece of social satire

Outside of the Thursday Next series, Fforde's characters tend to be pretty stock creations. That doesn't keep him from being able to construct a first rate satire of the dystopian trends of our times. A key theme is that human nature will always manage to subvert whatever system is imposed on it, and those most egregiously subverting it will always be the ones most self-righteous about upholding it. You might think of this as 1984 with a sense of humor, but that doesn't give enough credit to Fforde for all the original ideas he packs into this book.

Perfect reader for the story

I love John Lee's reading of Jasper Fforde's words. They are a perfect pairing that I rarely find in my listening.

Bravo!!

Have been searching for something like “Welcome to Nightvale” when I finally came across
.... Jasper Fforde...
What a stimulating listen!!! Such dry wit!! This was such fun, I frequently broke out in spontaneous laughter. Great wordplay. Super narration!!!!!

Strange but Good

Strangely compelling. Even though not much happens the world is so unique it makes you want to push through. This makes me want to read the sequel which I hope would spend less time world building and have more action.

Funny

Imagine P.G. Wodehouse only with more depth and the young people are actually having sex.

Amazeballs

The best book I have read in a decade. It is show intelligence and multi layered, and had left me thinking about life and society in so many different ways and avenues amazing

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!