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

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.

Wish the series would continue

Such an interesting universe. This is supposed to be the first in a series, I'm so disappointed that the series never continued.

Loved it!

Where does Shades of Grey rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Well, I was already a fan of Fforde's Thursday Next books, but this one is at a whole different level. It is one of my top 5 audiobooks I've listened to.

What did you like best about this story?

The story presents a very hierarchical society in a very creative way. I'm a sociologist, and really enjoyed the ways Fforde gets into the dailiness of an imaginary culture, with all the absurdities that seem completely reasonable from within the society. I'm looking forward to the continuation of the story!

great narrator, whimsical dystopia

I enjoyed this silly, whimsical, and enjoyable story. It was well reenacted by the narrator, and I will look for more of his narrations in the future.

quite possibly the greatest audiobook ever

John Lee's performance in this audiobook is extraordinary. The story is of a world of conformity that will terrify half of the listeners, but in some ways appeal to the other half. The humanity of the main characters comes through, even though they are obviously not humans. listen and love, then pester Jasper Fforde for a long overdue sequel

Shockingly Good!

What did you love best about Shades of Grey?

I loved the idea of a

What was one of the most memorable moments of Shades of Grey?

Eddy Russett's realization of their perfect society's lies towards the end.

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

John Lee is an AMAZING orator and I will listen to most books if he is the narrator.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I certainly laughed a lot and was outraged at the caste discrimination of the chormatically lacking of this society.

Any additional comments?

This book was a complete surprise for me. I have listened to another book by Fforde and liked it, but THIS is the series I am interested in the most.

Witty, Compelling -- The Best Ffforde Novel!

This book creates an entire compelling world in such a short amount of time. The story is interesting, the narration is perfect. Fforde is known for kind of meta-fiction, which this isn't, so it's a bit out of character. Nevertheless, I would recommend this book to ANYONE who has ever enjoyed a work of fantasy/sci-fi/dystopia -- it is a truly unique story that is worth your time.