Shades Of Grey

I thought that I would give a quick mention to Shades of Grey, the latest novel by Jasper Fforde. Shades of Grey marks a new series for Fforde, departing from the book-related worlds that are his Next and Nursery sets, into a world where everything in life depends on what you can see.
The world of his latest book is a Colortocracy, with those that can see purple running the show, and monochromatics occupying the bottom rung of the ladder. As tends to be the case with his books, the setting is very clever and imaginative, and – in case it all sounds inexplicable – is gradually and seemlessly introduced.
The story builds up quite some momentum, and I have to say that once I was a couple of chapters in I was completely hooked on this book, with an overwhelming desire to read it at every available spare moment. The unique characters are very lovable (for want of a better word) and the pace extremely well set.
Eddie Russett is the hero of the piece, and you follow him on his journey as he starts to question some of the things about the strict world around him.
I would very much recommend picking up a copy of this book. Fans of his other series will find it a very different piece, as the style, setting and characterisation are all very different, but I personally think that each is different in a way that is an improvement, so that’s only a good thing.