Shades of Grey
From the bestselling author of Thursday Next – a brilliant new novel about a world where social order and destiny are dictated by the colors you can see.
Part social satire, part romance, part revolutionary thriller, Shades of Grey tells of a battle against overwhelming odds. In a society where the ability to see the higher end of the color spectrum denotes a better social standing, Eddie Russet belongs to the low-level House of Red and can see his own color – but no other. The sky, the grass, and everything in between are all just shades of grey, and must be colorized by artificial means.
Eddie's world wasn't always like this. There's evidence of a never-discussed disaster and now, many years later, technology is poor, news sporadic, the notion of change abhorrent, and nighttime is terrifying: no one can see in the dark. Everyone abides by a bizarre regime of rules and regulations, a system of merits and demerits, where punishment can result in permanent expulsion.
Eddie, who works for the Color Control Agency, might well have lived out his rose-tinted life without a hitch. But that changes when he becomes smitten with Jane, a Grey Nightseer from the dark, unlit side of the village. She shows Eddie that all is not well with the world he thinks is just and good. Together, they engage in dangerous revolutionary talk.
Stunningly imaginative, very funny, tightly plotted, and with sly satirical digs at our own society, this novel is for those who loved Thursday Next but want to be transported somewhere equally wild, only darker; a world where the black and white of moral standpoints have been reduced to shades of grey.
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Jasper Fforde
Jasper Fforde is a writer whose mind seems to operate at a level where reality and imagination blur into a delightful, ever-expanding landscape of absurdity and wonder. Known for his quirky, genre-bending stories, Fforde is most recognized for his Thursday Next series, where literary characters literally walk off the page and the boundaries between fiction and reality grow increasingly porous. His books are a feast for readers who love puzzles, wit, and a touch of the fantastical.
Shades of Grey
In a future where society is rigidly divided by color perception, Shades of Grey introduces readers to a world where the ability to see different hues is both a gift and a mark of status. In this dystopian society, those who can see more shades of color hold higher power, while those who see only a narrow spectrum are relegated to the bottom. But what happens when one man, Eddie Russett, discovers that his world of carefully constructed rules and norms may be nothing more than a carefully constructed illusion?
Shades of Grey consists of two books and series is set to expand with the upcoming release of one more book. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
