January 27, 2011

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

Kendra's comments

I knew Jasper Fforde was an extremely gifted fantasy writer when I read several books in the Thursday Next series several months ago.  I just finished listening to the audio version of Shades of Grey, a new series for Fforde, and have only positive feedback to offer about his writing.

I appreciated the witty, fast pace of this novel.  In Fforde’s fantasy world, Eddie Russett is living in a world with a skewed vision of color.  The classes are determined by the color each individual is able to see naturally, without the use of artificial additives.  Eddie can only red, for instance.  Purple is the highest color class of all.  Marriages are designed to create the best color combinations, and the leaders of this world force everyone to operate by a very strict set of rules that provides no opportunities for creativity, individual thought, or innovation. 

This creative novel forces one to think about humanity and the power of individual choice.  Greenwood Public Library owns the audio version of this book and it is available for checkout.  The British reader for this title, John Lee, is very talented and is entertaining to listen to.

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