I first read Jasper Fforde’s Shades of Grey years ago, and loved it. The much anticipated sequel was finally released at the start of February, and so I re-read Shades of Grey to refresh my memory, and I’m glad I did, because this book continues pretty seamlessly from the first and wouldn’t make much sense as a stand-alone.
Set in some future dystopian version of mainland UK where humans are different in several ways to the mysterious ‘previous’ before the ‘something that happened’ and society is constrained by a hierarchy based on how much and which wavelengths of colour people are able to see and by following the strict and sometimes seemingly nonsensical rules from the ‘Book of Munsell’.
Things take a darker turn in this book when our hero, Eddie Russet and his love interest, Jane Grey discover more hidden secrets and how people who ask too many questions succumb to tragic ‘accidental’ deaths.
Jasper Fforde manages (with great skill) to deftly combine daft humour, fascinating character studies, sweet romance and complex and thought provoking dystopian sci-fi in a fabulous novel which more than rises to the challenge of satisfying the eager fans of the first book. Although I found the ending a little rushed and didn’t answer all my questions, I still thought it was outstandingly good. I’m not sure if there is going to be a third book in the series (and I’m not sure that it needs it – yes I’d like to further explore the reveal at the end, but only if it doesn’t take away from the (almost) complete feel of the story as it is).
Sarah Wray Writer 