Shades of Grey

Shades of Grey
Jasper Fforde
Viking Press, 2009, 390 pages, Science Fiction.

Jasper Fforde does not lack for imagination. In his latest “colorful” creation, he has envisioned a world where people see only in shades of grey. If you’re lucky you might be able to see one color and the entire societal hierarchy is based on what color you can see and how well you can perceive it.

Eddie Russet is hopefully on his way up in the world. He is on a “half-promise” to the daughter of the prestigious Oxblood family. But when he gets in trouble at school and is sent to the Outer Fringes to perform a chair census, he meets rebellious Jane along the way, a working-class Grey with the cutest nose he’s ever seen.

In the Outer Fringes things are not so closely controlled by the Colortocracy as they are closer to the capital, and Eddie soon finds himself questioning the way things are done, but questioning things can get you into very deep trouble and trouble is exactly where Eddie is headed.

This is a superbly imagined story so rich in detail that the plot does get a little lost at times. That being said, I laughed out loud so much, it was worth the confusion.

AJ