Call number
Series
Genres
Publication
Penguin (Hardcover), 2009
Description
Welcome to Chromatacia, where for as long as anyone can remember society has been ruled by a Colortocracy. Social hierachy is based upon one's limited color perception. society is dominated by color. In this world, you are what you can see, and Eddie Russett, a better-than-average red perception wants to move up.
Media reviews
In structure, Shades of Grey moves like most other books in the sci-fi/fantasy genre, but in tone, it has more in common with comic novels such as Catch-22.
Fforde is an author of immense imagination. Not satisfied with just a few layers of Dickensian jokes and revisions of the physical universe, he creates an archeological treasure trove for readers.
Kirkus
All this is serenely silly, but to dispel a black mood and chase away the blues, this witty novel offers an eye-popping spectrum of remedies.
Booklist
It's all brilliantly original, lf his complex world building sometimes slows the plot and the balance of silly and serious is uneasy, we're still completely won over.
Publishers Weekly
Eddie navigates a vividly imagined landscape whose every facet is steeped in the author's remarkably detailed color scheme. Sometimes, though, it's hard to see the story for the chromotechnics.
Library Journal
Fforde has built a complex, engaging, and unique world full of surprises, serious ideas, and serious fun that will appeal to those beyond the author's readers and sf fans.
Awards
Warwick Prize for Writing (Longlist — 2011)
Prix Julia Verlanger (2012)
Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire (Winner — 2012)
Locus Recommended Reading (2010)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2009-12-29 (Viking USA)
2010-01-14 (Hodder & Stoughton General)
Physical description
9.3 inches
ISBN
0670019631 / 9780670019632
Similar in this library
User reviews
LibraryThing member ronincats
In many ways, this is a tour-de-force. Given the age of the protagonist, it would qualify as a YA dystopia, but the book will reward adult readers as well. The world-building is superb and very original. The characters are well-developed and well-differentiated. The humor here is much more subtle
That said, I had two problems in my reading. The first is the constant allusion to the current situation of the protagonist during the narration of the events leading up to it. It kept shaking me out of the story. YMMV, of course.
The second is the very structure of this new world and its basis in color perception. It is SO different and novel that it was hard to wrap my brain around it and accept it as it is revealed in the story. I could not read this straight through and be immersed in the story. I had to read a few chapters and then let it settle in before reading on.
I still do not understand what is going on on an intuitive basis. The book reveals the rules and the social order gradually through the narration and action, which is fine and appropriate, but I keep feeling in the dark about what is going on why at certain junctures in the book. Of course, so is our protagonist, but his puzzles are different from the ones I'm struggling with, which are entirely familiar and accepted by him. In one sense, I am struggling to figure out his world view, while throughout the book, this very world view is being challenged bit by bit.
So, a challenging book, but very worthwhile.
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than in the other two series by Fforde, and more biting and satirical as well. That said, I had two problems in my reading. The first is the constant allusion to the current situation of the protagonist during the narration of the events leading up to it. It kept shaking me out of the story. YMMV, of course.
The second is the very structure of this new world and its basis in color perception. It is SO different and novel that it was hard to wrap my brain around it and accept it as it is revealed in the story. I could not read this straight through and be immersed in the story. I had to read a few chapters and then let it settle in before reading on.
I still do not understand what is going on on an intuitive basis. The book reveals the rules and the social order gradually through the narration and action, which is fine and appropriate, but I keep feeling in the dark about what is going on why at certain junctures in the book. Of course, so is our protagonist, but his puzzles are different from the ones I'm struggling with, which are entirely familiar and accepted by him. In one sense, I am struggling to figure out his world view, while throughout the book, this very world view is being challenged bit by bit.
So, a challenging book, but very worthwhile.
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LibraryThing member bell7
Imagine a world where everyone behaved well: there are no prisons, no wars or uprisings, everyone follows the Rules. A utopia? Maybe not. As twenty-year-old Eddie Russett is about to find out, a world in which everyone unquestioningly follows Rules that cover everything from the most mundane
Having read all of the Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde, I put a hold on this book as soon as I knew that it was coming out. Fforde's writing can't be easily categorized: it's part science fiction, part dystopia, and all humorous even while making a serious point about unquestioning obedience. The details of the dystopia overwhelmed me at first, as there are so many details that I had to keep a handle on, such as the meanings of merits, positive feedback, and trying to grasp how people who only saw one or two colors saw the world. Fforde creates a good sense of tension at the beginning, hinting that all was not right in the death of Robin Ochre, a "swatchman" (essentially a doctor) out on the Outer Fringes whom Eddie's father is replacing. The middle dragged a bit, however, as naive Eddie muddles about trying to figure out what the reader already has - that all is not right in his world - and deciding whether or not to trust Jane. Though Eddie is the narrator, Jane really steals the show with her adamant refusal to treat people with respect merely because of the color they see. I look forward to seeing what happens to these characters in subsequent titles.
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("Flowers are not to be picked. They are to be enjoyed by everyone.") to absurd (spoons may no longer be manufactured), a world that follows a strict color hierarchy based on which color(s) the inhabitants can see from Purple at the best to Grey at the worst, holds some secrets. And having curiosity about such secrets may just get him killed - as he tells us from the first page, the activities of the past four days flash before his eyes while he is being digested by a carnivorous yataveo tree.Having read all of the Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde, I put a hold on this book as soon as I knew that it was coming out. Fforde's writing can't be easily categorized: it's part science fiction, part dystopia, and all humorous even while making a serious point about unquestioning obedience. The details of the dystopia overwhelmed me at first, as there are so many details that I had to keep a handle on, such as the meanings of merits, positive feedback, and trying to grasp how people who only saw one or two colors saw the world. Fforde creates a good sense of tension at the beginning, hinting that all was not right in the death of Robin Ochre, a "swatchman" (essentially a doctor) out on the Outer Fringes whom Eddie's father is replacing. The middle dragged a bit, however, as naive Eddie muddles about trying to figure out what the reader already has - that all is not right in his world - and deciding whether or not to trust Jane. Though Eddie is the narrator, Jane really steals the show with her adamant refusal to treat people with respect merely because of the color they see. I look forward to seeing what happens to these characters in subsequent titles.
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LibraryThing member Berly
Can I just say that I love this man's twisted mind? Where does he come up with this stuff? For those of you who love the Thursday Next series, you will not be disappointed by the first of this planned trilogy.
Eddie Russet lives in a dystopian world in the future. Some cataclysmic event has happened
Eddie's life might have continued on its socially proscribed path, if he and his father had not been transferred to a new town on the outskirts of civilization. There, he meets Jane, a lower class girl who only sees in grey. She provokes Eddie to question the status quo and his ordered world quickly descends into chaos.
Fforde moves the plot along quickly and uses this strange world order to examine several issues of our world in a new light: racism, prearranged marriage, government interference, social hierarchies, etc. This is a tightly crafted mystery, social commentary, spoof and romance. While there are lots of deep thoughts to contemplate, this book is quite humourus and never dull. It did take me about 30 pages to get my head wrapped around this new color-coded world, but then I loved looking at the world through Fforde's new prism. Five stars.
Eddie Russet lives in a dystopian world in the future. Some cataclysmic event has happened
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in the past and the world has lost a lot of important technology. Class status is now determined by your ability to perceive color; most humans can now see only one color or at best two and have no ability to see in the dark. The world is ruled by arcane and tragically wrong rules. For instance, it is no longer permissible to manufacture spoons. (?!)Eddie's life might have continued on its socially proscribed path, if he and his father had not been transferred to a new town on the outskirts of civilization. There, he meets Jane, a lower class girl who only sees in grey. She provokes Eddie to question the status quo and his ordered world quickly descends into chaos.
Fforde moves the plot along quickly and uses this strange world order to examine several issues of our world in a new light: racism, prearranged marriage, government interference, social hierarchies, etc. This is a tightly crafted mystery, social commentary, spoof and romance. While there are lots of deep thoughts to contemplate, this book is quite humourus and never dull. It did take me about 30 pages to get my head wrapped around this new color-coded world, but then I loved looking at the world through Fforde's new prism. Five stars.
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LibraryThing member fyrefly98
Summary: In Fforde's dystopian future, centuries after the mysterious Something That Happened, society is very rigidly stratified by color. But not the color of your skin or the color of your clothes, but rather the color that you can see, and how well you can see it - as decreed by the Rules, the
Review: The inside of Jasper Fforde's mind must be a fascinating place... the worlds that pour out of it onto the page certainly are. The world of the Colortocracy is every bit as detailed and every bit as imaginative as his literary-centric Thursday Next world, if not more so, but it revolves around a completely different premise and offers totally new worlds to explore.
While the upside reading a book with such a unique and detailed world is clear - imagination-firing and fascinating are two adjectives that come to mind - there are some downsides to it as well. Most dystopian novels follow roughly similar rules regarding the stratification of the haves and have-nots, and although the general stratification schema of Fforde's Colortocracy feels familiar to readers of dystopian fiction, not much else does. Fforde's worldbuilding is so unique, so complex, and doled out in such tiny chunks, without any noticeable exposition, that it took at least half of the book just to get the readers established in the world. The result is that the pacing feels a little off; for the first half of the book I was reading closely, trying to assimilate each new tidbit about how the world worked that Fforde let drop, but it seemed like nothing much was actually happening, and I would have been hard-pressed to point to where the plot was going.
The good news, however, is that all of the long set-up totally pays off in the end. Once Fforde's sure you've got your feet on the ground, the plot takes off like nobody's business, and it turns out that a surprising number of those seemingly insignificant details that populate the first half of the book aren't so insignificant after all. (Even the details that aren't significant plot-wise are wonderfully clever, and subtly done - for example, "brown" is casually used as a swearword, presumably due to its implication of indiscriminate color mixing - and I felt inordinately clever every time I picked up on one of the clues or references.) There are some plot twists and reveals that were truly surprising but still organic to what had come before, and once I was engaged in the story there was no getting me out... and I find that I'm still thinking about the world, and the story, and the characters, even after enough time that such things would normally have long since fled my mind.
Two quibbles, though. First, as a biologist, I couldn't help thinking about the physiological basis of how the different color visions would work. Even ignoring the idea of univisual pigments that everyone can see, the notion of unichromatic vision doesn't make sense to me, given what I know about the way human cone cells work. But, as with so much science fiction, I will let that slide and suspend my disbelief in the service of an interesting story.
My second quibble: 2014?!? The sequel's not coming out until 2014?!? That's a travesty. The ending is so good, and just enough of a cliffhanger that I want more, and I want it now. 4 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: I was initially unconvinced, but this book eventually sucked me in and made me a convert. If you like either dystopian fiction or Fforde's brand of inventive, slightly off-the-wall worldbuilding, then Shades of Grey is worth your time - and your close attention.
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Word of Munsell. With the exception of rare and expensive univisually-pigmented items, most people can only see items of a single chroma. Eddie Russett is a Red, the lowest Chroma on the heirarchy - although not as low as the Greys, who cannot see any natural color at all. He and his father have been sent to the town of East Carmine on the fringes of civilized society: his father as a replacement Chromatician (doctor), and Eddie to conduct a chair census as a lesson in humility following a school prank. On their way, they stumble over a strange anomaly: the death of a man who was pretending to be a color that he wasn't - a serious crime - and the sudden appearance of Jane, a rebellious and opinionated Grey. Eddie's highest ambition had been to return home and marry his fickle but wealthy semi-fiancée, Constance Oxblood, but he finds himself impossibly taken with Jane, and increasingly convinced that there is something strange going on in East Carmine... and possibly in the Collective as a whole.Review: The inside of Jasper Fforde's mind must be a fascinating place... the worlds that pour out of it onto the page certainly are. The world of the Colortocracy is every bit as detailed and every bit as imaginative as his literary-centric Thursday Next world, if not more so, but it revolves around a completely different premise and offers totally new worlds to explore.
While the upside reading a book with such a unique and detailed world is clear - imagination-firing and fascinating are two adjectives that come to mind - there are some downsides to it as well. Most dystopian novels follow roughly similar rules regarding the stratification of the haves and have-nots, and although the general stratification schema of Fforde's Colortocracy feels familiar to readers of dystopian fiction, not much else does. Fforde's worldbuilding is so unique, so complex, and doled out in such tiny chunks, without any noticeable exposition, that it took at least half of the book just to get the readers established in the world. The result is that the pacing feels a little off; for the first half of the book I was reading closely, trying to assimilate each new tidbit about how the world worked that Fforde let drop, but it seemed like nothing much was actually happening, and I would have been hard-pressed to point to where the plot was going.
The good news, however, is that all of the long set-up totally pays off in the end. Once Fforde's sure you've got your feet on the ground, the plot takes off like nobody's business, and it turns out that a surprising number of those seemingly insignificant details that populate the first half of the book aren't so insignificant after all. (Even the details that aren't significant plot-wise are wonderfully clever, and subtly done - for example, "brown" is casually used as a swearword, presumably due to its implication of indiscriminate color mixing - and I felt inordinately clever every time I picked up on one of the clues or references.) There are some plot twists and reveals that were truly surprising but still organic to what had come before, and once I was engaged in the story there was no getting me out... and I find that I'm still thinking about the world, and the story, and the characters, even after enough time that such things would normally have long since fled my mind.
Two quibbles, though. First, as a biologist, I couldn't help thinking about the physiological basis of how the different color visions would work. Even ignoring the idea of univisual pigments that everyone can see, the notion of unichromatic vision doesn't make sense to me, given what I know about the way human cone cells work. But, as with so much science fiction, I will let that slide and suspend my disbelief in the service of an interesting story.
My second quibble: 2014?!? The sequel's not coming out until 2014?!? That's a travesty. The ending is so good, and just enough of a cliffhanger that I want more, and I want it now. 4 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: I was initially unconvinced, but this book eventually sucked me in and made me a convert. If you like either dystopian fiction or Fforde's brand of inventive, slightly off-the-wall worldbuilding, then Shades of Grey is worth your time - and your close attention.
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LibraryThing member EJAYS17
The year in fantasy started for me when I walked into the bookstore and saw Jasper Fforde’s Shades of Grey sitting proudly on the new arrivals shelf.
The largely white cover looks a little bland when compared to the riotously colourful jackets for the most recent editions of Fforde’s Thursday
Shades of Grey is a complete fresh start for Fforde, it is set in an entirely new world and has no characters from either the Thursday Next series or Nursery Crimes. There are however some of the quirky elements readers have come to expect from Jasper Fforde. Seemingly mundane and easily obtainable objects and substances are in short supply (jam, especially loganberry and spoons), made up fauna and flora abound (rhinosaurs and the yateveo, a particularly vicious and voracious flesh eating plant) and strange hybrid sports are popular (unicycle polo and hockeyball, although to be honest I couldn’t tell the difference between hockeyball and field hockey, including the violence.)
The setting is a post apocalyptic Britain some 500 years after Something that Happened. The residents are kept in a largely oppressed state due to a large number of bureaucratic, ridiculous and ever changing rules. People are classed according to how much of a particular colour they can see, with Greys being the lowest on the totem pole and fit for only menial labour. There are hints of Orwell’s 1984 and Big Brother, the strictly enforced colour vision system and the practice of ‘rebooting’ those who don’t fit in has echoes of Aldous Huxley. Somehow amongst all this unpleasantness Fforde still finds humour, in tone Shades of Grey is far more satirical than any of his previous work and there is an edge that has not been present before. He also takes careful aim and fires off barbs at elements of our own society such as: eBay, Facebook and texting.
The hero of this piece is Eddie Russett, an inoffensive young man with a better than average Red perception who has dreams of marrying the beautiful and powerful Constance Oxblood, heiress to a string empire and maybe even becoming a Prefect. Eddie’s life is changed forever when he’s sent to the rather sinister outer town of East Carmine and meets the strong willed Jane, a Grey with the cutest retrousse nose he has ever seen. Eddie’s search to find the answers to questions he should not have asked is gripping and compulsively readable.
If you’ve read and enjoyed Jasper Fforde before then Shades of Grey will not disappoint. If you haven’t encountered this marvelously talented writer before then you should also read Shades of Grey, you will not regret the experience. A word of warning, this is the first book in a trilogy, it’s mostly self contained, but you will want to read on for the further adventures of Eddie Russett and the ‘colour world’ that he inhabits.
The largely white cover looks a little bland when compared to the riotously colourful jackets for the most recent editions of Fforde’s Thursday
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Next series. On a second look Shades of Grey’s cover has a few splashes of colour; red, yellow, green and blue, the rest of the images have numbers in them, like an old paint by numbers picture and that is a tantalising hint as to what lays within.Shades of Grey is a complete fresh start for Fforde, it is set in an entirely new world and has no characters from either the Thursday Next series or Nursery Crimes. There are however some of the quirky elements readers have come to expect from Jasper Fforde. Seemingly mundane and easily obtainable objects and substances are in short supply (jam, especially loganberry and spoons), made up fauna and flora abound (rhinosaurs and the yateveo, a particularly vicious and voracious flesh eating plant) and strange hybrid sports are popular (unicycle polo and hockeyball, although to be honest I couldn’t tell the difference between hockeyball and field hockey, including the violence.)
The setting is a post apocalyptic Britain some 500 years after Something that Happened. The residents are kept in a largely oppressed state due to a large number of bureaucratic, ridiculous and ever changing rules. People are classed according to how much of a particular colour they can see, with Greys being the lowest on the totem pole and fit for only menial labour. There are hints of Orwell’s 1984 and Big Brother, the strictly enforced colour vision system and the practice of ‘rebooting’ those who don’t fit in has echoes of Aldous Huxley. Somehow amongst all this unpleasantness Fforde still finds humour, in tone Shades of Grey is far more satirical than any of his previous work and there is an edge that has not been present before. He also takes careful aim and fires off barbs at elements of our own society such as: eBay, Facebook and texting.
The hero of this piece is Eddie Russett, an inoffensive young man with a better than average Red perception who has dreams of marrying the beautiful and powerful Constance Oxblood, heiress to a string empire and maybe even becoming a Prefect. Eddie’s life is changed forever when he’s sent to the rather sinister outer town of East Carmine and meets the strong willed Jane, a Grey with the cutest retrousse nose he has ever seen. Eddie’s search to find the answers to questions he should not have asked is gripping and compulsively readable.
If you’ve read and enjoyed Jasper Fforde before then Shades of Grey will not disappoint. If you haven’t encountered this marvelously talented writer before then you should also read Shades of Grey, you will not regret the experience. A word of warning, this is the first book in a trilogy, it’s mostly self contained, but you will want to read on for the further adventures of Eddie Russett and the ‘colour world’ that he inhabits.
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LibraryThing member GingerbreadMan
Several hundred years ago, Something Happened. Since then, humankind is living in strict accordance to Our Munsell’s extremely complicated and detailed rules (stating among a million other things that it’s forbidden to manufacture spoons, that it’s illegal to travel backwards on a unicycle
Young Eddie Russet, of a strong perception Red family, is sent on a humility mission to the Outer Fringes: a pointless chair census. But what awaits him there is not just the difficulty of being in exile and still trying to court his half-promise sweetheart Constance. In meeting the grumpy anarchist Jane, Eddie is about to learn the price of uneventfulness, and what awaits you when you start asking questions and poking holes in the Rules.
I’m a sucker for world building, and world building is everything here. The post-apocalyptic Collective is an übercomplicated society (it’s indeed the point), and while I am really enjoying that a lot of the book is about explaining it, I can also see how this can be a turn-off for a lot of people. If you need a fast-paced, plot-driven story, you would probably feel bogged down here.
That’s not to say there isn’t a rich plot. There is a LOT going on: love stories, mysteries, conspiracies, gags and coming of age. Fforde mostly does a good job here too, even though more than one character is on the very one-dimensional side. It’s really only in the end, when he comes to the genre’s inevitable “the main character understands there’s more to life than the repressive society he lives in” point, when it gets a little too predictable for me. But then Fforde mends it with some unexpectedly dark twists right at the end.
A rather good-humored dystopia this, mostly fun but not completely without teeth. Absolutely worth the read.
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and that technology is to become gradually uninvented in “leapbacks”). Society is organized around color perception (from the lowly Grey, seeing no color at all, to the Purple-seeing elite) and much time is devoted to keeping one’s hue strong and clean – or carefully climbing the spectrum through the right marriages. Stasis is the ideal, and the nicest thing you could wish for someone is an “uneventful life”.Young Eddie Russet, of a strong perception Red family, is sent on a humility mission to the Outer Fringes: a pointless chair census. But what awaits him there is not just the difficulty of being in exile and still trying to court his half-promise sweetheart Constance. In meeting the grumpy anarchist Jane, Eddie is about to learn the price of uneventfulness, and what awaits you when you start asking questions and poking holes in the Rules.
I’m a sucker for world building, and world building is everything here. The post-apocalyptic Collective is an übercomplicated society (it’s indeed the point), and while I am really enjoying that a lot of the book is about explaining it, I can also see how this can be a turn-off for a lot of people. If you need a fast-paced, plot-driven story, you would probably feel bogged down here.
That’s not to say there isn’t a rich plot. There is a LOT going on: love stories, mysteries, conspiracies, gags and coming of age. Fforde mostly does a good job here too, even though more than one character is on the very one-dimensional side. It’s really only in the end, when he comes to the genre’s inevitable “the main character understands there’s more to life than the repressive society he lives in” point, when it gets a little too predictable for me. But then Fforde mends it with some unexpectedly dark twists right at the end.
A rather good-humored dystopia this, mostly fun but not completely without teeth. Absolutely worth the read.
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LibraryThing member karieh
I love Jasper Fforde’s books. I’ve been looking forward to “Shades of Grey” for months now – and the day I bought it was made even more special in that I was lucky enough to attend a reading and book signing of his. And? He’s smart and funny – just like his books.
The thing about a
Sometimes there will be a Toast Marketing Board, and sometime nursery rhyme characters will be police detectives. And sometime spoons will be one of the most valuable commodities in the world.
Sounds quirky, yes. But in an incredibly smart way…where the reader (ok, me) enjoys the 20% of literary/cultural references that are throughout the book but doesn’t feel stupid in missing the rest. These worlds end up making a fabulous kind of sense…and one that takes the reader to a much deeper level than expected.
“I didn’t set out to discover a truth. I was actually sent to the Outer Fringes to conduct a chair census and learn some humility. But the truth inevitably found me, as important truths often do, like a lost thought in need of a mind.”
Eddie Russett, the main character in “Shades of Grey” is our guide to this world, the world that remains after “Something That Happened”. Something that led to a social hierarchy that is based upon how much and what kind of color one can see. That led to a world where fear of lightning and giant swans is universal. Where there is a set of Rules that dictate what one wears, who one marries and what one does for a job.
“…since one’s career path was never decided by ability or intellect, it didn’t much matter anyway. Lessons were generally restricted to reading, writing, French, music, geography, sums, cooking and Rule-followment, which meant sitting in a circle and agreeing on how important the rules were. Most pupils referred to the subject as “nodding.”
Eddie obeys without question…and then he meets Jane Grey. The game changer. The one who gives Eddie his red pill/blue bill moment. After which things will never be the same.
This book follows the general path of many post-apocalyptic novels. The reader is given a guide to this new world, a world that has been set up to correct that which was wrong in the old world; a world that may appear idyllic on the surface. And there is some element, some hidden truths that the force in power never wants revealed and will usually resort to evil means to maintain the façade.
But this book is different. This book takes a look at the previous world, our world, in a way that is not only insightful, but that is funny. To take a quote from the author on his website, “Irrespective of how bad life can be, there is always humour. Always.”
True to form, it’s not always the kind of humour one might expect. “I suggested a better way to queue once,” I said in a lame attempt to show Travis he wasn’t the only one with radical tendencies, “a single line feeding multiple servers at lunch.”
“How did that go down?”
“Not very well. I was fined thirty merits for ‘insulting the simple purity of the queue.’”
And a book that can deal with a post-apocalyptic society AND sneak in a quote from “Point Break”? I love it.
I don’t know what the “Something That Happened” was. I suspect I might not find out until the last book of this series. But I’m fine with that. I will gleefully enjoy the ride until we get there. And my disbelief? I’m sure I will dust it off the shelf someday.
The thing about a
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Jasper Fforde novel is that you don’t need to just suspend your disbelief…you need deny that your disbelief ever existed. Fold it up, tape it shut and put it someplace for safekeeping while you enter a world that is like our but different in ways you can’t imagine and would never expect.Sometimes there will be a Toast Marketing Board, and sometime nursery rhyme characters will be police detectives. And sometime spoons will be one of the most valuable commodities in the world.
Sounds quirky, yes. But in an incredibly smart way…where the reader (ok, me) enjoys the 20% of literary/cultural references that are throughout the book but doesn’t feel stupid in missing the rest. These worlds end up making a fabulous kind of sense…and one that takes the reader to a much deeper level than expected.
“I didn’t set out to discover a truth. I was actually sent to the Outer Fringes to conduct a chair census and learn some humility. But the truth inevitably found me, as important truths often do, like a lost thought in need of a mind.”
Eddie Russett, the main character in “Shades of Grey” is our guide to this world, the world that remains after “Something That Happened”. Something that led to a social hierarchy that is based upon how much and what kind of color one can see. That led to a world where fear of lightning and giant swans is universal. Where there is a set of Rules that dictate what one wears, who one marries and what one does for a job.
“…since one’s career path was never decided by ability or intellect, it didn’t much matter anyway. Lessons were generally restricted to reading, writing, French, music, geography, sums, cooking and Rule-followment, which meant sitting in a circle and agreeing on how important the rules were. Most pupils referred to the subject as “nodding.”
Eddie obeys without question…and then he meets Jane Grey. The game changer. The one who gives Eddie his red pill/blue bill moment. After which things will never be the same.
This book follows the general path of many post-apocalyptic novels. The reader is given a guide to this new world, a world that has been set up to correct that which was wrong in the old world; a world that may appear idyllic on the surface. And there is some element, some hidden truths that the force in power never wants revealed and will usually resort to evil means to maintain the façade.
But this book is different. This book takes a look at the previous world, our world, in a way that is not only insightful, but that is funny. To take a quote from the author on his website, “Irrespective of how bad life can be, there is always humour. Always.”
True to form, it’s not always the kind of humour one might expect. “I suggested a better way to queue once,” I said in a lame attempt to show Travis he wasn’t the only one with radical tendencies, “a single line feeding multiple servers at lunch.”
“How did that go down?”
“Not very well. I was fined thirty merits for ‘insulting the simple purity of the queue.’”
And a book that can deal with a post-apocalyptic society AND sneak in a quote from “Point Break”? I love it.
I don’t know what the “Something That Happened” was. I suspect I might not find out until the last book of this series. But I’m fine with that. I will gleefully enjoy the ride until we get there. And my disbelief? I’m sure I will dust it off the shelf someday.
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LibraryThing member clfisha
Dystopia for fans of world building
In a society where the colour you can see denotes your social standing we meet young Eddie Russet, a low-level 'red' who for anything else it's just a shade of grey, but he has strong ambitions (an advantageous marriage, a high colour score on his coming of age
FForde has many many great ideas, a great turn of phrase and a good sense of humour. He knows how to tantalise a reader with just enough information for enjoyment but still have leave questions to ensure you to keep reading. However for all his tricks this book is just about world building, just a set-up the rest of the series and it’s going to depend on what you want for a book and your patience level.
Personally as more of story fan I need much, much more and as I read became increasingly disappointed. There is nothing here apart from strong imagination and good writing: no deep plot or characters, nothing to engage and no pay off. Ok so the plot does kick in towards the end and when it does the book (and the characters) come alive but the ending ends up being a deeply unsatisfying trailer for book 2.
It really doesn’t help the plot is a homage to other dystopian tales (1984) and is pretty dull just by itself i.e. guy falls for a girl and miraculously realises he is living in a dystopian society (well duh). It doesn't naturally lead to the most exciting protagonist and I have say Ffordes naive, young every-man is a perfect example of what can go wrong, bland isn't the word.
So in all honesty I don’t recommended it until book two is out and getting good reviews as otherwise it's practically just a long prologue. Having said that Fforde fanatics and lovers of clever setups will probably lap this one up.
In a society where the colour you can see denotes your social standing we meet young Eddie Russet, a low-level 'red' who for anything else it's just a shade of grey, but he has strong ambitions (an advantageous marriage, a high colour score on his coming of age
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day) and if he can pull it off he will be set for life. Trouble is he has to travel to the outskirts for a lesson in humility and that’s going to change his life.FForde has many many great ideas, a great turn of phrase and a good sense of humour. He knows how to tantalise a reader with just enough information for enjoyment but still have leave questions to ensure you to keep reading. However for all his tricks this book is just about world building, just a set-up the rest of the series and it’s going to depend on what you want for a book and your patience level.
Personally as more of story fan I need much, much more and as I read became increasingly disappointed. There is nothing here apart from strong imagination and good writing: no deep plot or characters, nothing to engage and no pay off. Ok so the plot does kick in towards the end and when it does the book (and the characters) come alive but the ending ends up being a deeply unsatisfying trailer for book 2.
It really doesn’t help the plot is a homage to other dystopian tales (1984) and is pretty dull just by itself i.e. guy falls for a girl and miraculously realises he is living in a dystopian society (well duh). It doesn't naturally lead to the most exciting protagonist and I have say Ffordes naive, young every-man is a perfect example of what can go wrong, bland isn't the word.
So in all honesty I don’t recommended it until book two is out and getting good reviews as otherwise it's practically just a long prologue. Having said that Fforde fanatics and lovers of clever setups will probably lap this one up.
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LibraryThing member jjlangel
Fforde created a fascinating world and told a story about the most boring character in it. Terribly disappointing.
LibraryThing member veevoxvoom
Summary: Eddie Russet lives in a colortocracy, a futuristic world where a mostly colorblind society is stratified by color perception — you are what you see. Eddie is a Red, but when he meets the irritable Jane, a lowly Grey, he is pulled into subversive thoughts and worse.
Review: I got this book
I mean it. I love Eddie’s world, as mixed up as it is. I have a fondness for dystopic fiction about totalitarian governments. Most dystopic fiction takes its subject matter much more seriously than Fforde. Yet I appreciated the way Fforde tackled a serious issue with humour and satire. It made for a book that isn’t afraid to be entertaining, which is my favourite kind.
With that said, there were a few things that didn’t work for me. Jane, mostly. I liked her as a character but I saw almost no chemistry between her and Eddie. That they would fall in love and so quickly was forced and unbelievable to me.
I was also put off by the ending, which was too fast-paced. Characters died, were sent off to die, broke up, got back together, and got pregnant so suddenly that I was left reeling. The languorous pace that marks the first part of the novel as Eddie travels to East Carmine is broken too dramatically.
Still, it’s a great book. Funny and satirical. I’m excited to read more.
Conclusion: How does Fforde even think of these things?
Review: I got this book
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as an ARC from the Early Reviewers program, so thank you for the copy! I was looking forward to reading this since Fforde is a popular author, known for his quirky characters and humour. I own one of his other novels but I haven’t read it yet, so Shades of Grey is my introduction to Fforde. And it was great! The absurd world of the colortocracy came into life vividly in the first few chapters. I had thought it might be boring to read about color perception, but Fforde creates an entire society out of it, considering the ways it affects technology, marriage, and communities. I cracked up and marveled at several points in the book, pausing to read choice passages out loud to my sister. This is a world that I’d like to read more about, so I’m glad that this is only the first book in a promised series.I mean it. I love Eddie’s world, as mixed up as it is. I have a fondness for dystopic fiction about totalitarian governments. Most dystopic fiction takes its subject matter much more seriously than Fforde. Yet I appreciated the way Fforde tackled a serious issue with humour and satire. It made for a book that isn’t afraid to be entertaining, which is my favourite kind.
With that said, there were a few things that didn’t work for me. Jane, mostly. I liked her as a character but I saw almost no chemistry between her and Eddie. That they would fall in love and so quickly was forced and unbelievable to me.
I was also put off by the ending, which was too fast-paced. Characters died, were sent off to die, broke up, got back together, and got pregnant so suddenly that I was left reeling. The languorous pace that marks the first part of the novel as Eddie travels to East Carmine is broken too dramatically.
Still, it’s a great book. Funny and satirical. I’m excited to read more.
Conclusion: How does Fforde even think of these things?
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LibraryThing member bookworm12
In this dystopian future world, color equals status. The Colortocracy is based not on skin tones, but instead on what shades of red, blue, purple, yellow, etc. that an individual can see. People are judged by what color they can perceive and in what saturation.
Fforde has created a complicated and
The book, the first in a series, follows Eddie Russet and his father (a Chromaticologist, who heals people of their maladies using color swatches). They travel to East Carmine, far from the busy city they’re used to. There they meet a “colorful” cast of characters including the prickly Jane Grey and the nonexistent Apocryphal man.
Just like Fforde’s Thursday Next series, the reader must be willing to suspend reality and be swept along in the flood of his intellectual imagination. His writing is clever and provides a constant stream of witty twists and dialogue. If you’ve read his work before and loved it, this is more of the same, unique, hilarious and wonderful. If you haven’t liked his writing in the past, this won’t change that. I am firmly in the loved it camp and will continue to read everything he writes.
Fforde has created a complicated and
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fascinated society. Instead of money, people have merits. When they become difficult they are sent to Reboot to be reprogrammed to behave better. All of this takes place after “The Something That Happened,” though no one knows what exactly that was. The new world is set up with a strict rule structure that must be blindly adhered to. Here’s a great example, for years parents follow the rule “Every child should receive a glass of milk and a smack in the afternoon.” Finally someone realizes that this is simply a typo and should be “snack.” After loads of paperwork and the careful navigation of loopholes the rule was changed. The book, the first in a series, follows Eddie Russet and his father (a Chromaticologist, who heals people of their maladies using color swatches). They travel to East Carmine, far from the busy city they’re used to. There they meet a “colorful” cast of characters including the prickly Jane Grey and the nonexistent Apocryphal man.
Just like Fforde’s Thursday Next series, the reader must be willing to suspend reality and be swept along in the flood of his intellectual imagination. His writing is clever and provides a constant stream of witty twists and dialogue. If you’ve read his work before and loved it, this is more of the same, unique, hilarious and wonderful. If you haven’t liked his writing in the past, this won’t change that. I am firmly in the loved it camp and will continue to read everything he writes.
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LibraryThing member jugglingpaynes
The best way to explain this book is by using its own terms: Shay's Dove Gray is a book of high dudgeon that won't leave you feeling beige at all. At first you may feel you viewed Lincoln for too long and your senses may feel overwhelmed with the smell of bread and strains of Handel's Messiah, but
If you enjoyed any of that, you will probably enjoy reading this book. It is probably the funniest post-apocalyptic dystopian tale I've ever read. Keep in mind that it is the first of a trilogy, and I don't think the other books have been written yet. If you aren't very patient, I would at least wait for the second book to come out.
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soon you will feel like Munsell after the Epiphany, imparting wisdom of the colors.If you enjoyed any of that, you will probably enjoy reading this book. It is probably the funniest post-apocalyptic dystopian tale I've ever read. Keep in mind that it is the first of a trilogy, and I don't think the other books have been written yet. If you aren't very patient, I would at least wait for the second book to come out.
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LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
I loved reading this book, I think its even better than Jasper Fforde Thursday Next series. This book does have a few faults in its logic, which I suspect might be explained by future books. What I like best about this world is how tightly it is written - Chromaticia is dystopia type world, where
Fforde has created a world where the population keeps the population in line - where most authors go for an us against them sort of approach, most people in this world are happy, agree with the rules (even those that don't make sense). The rules even give a sense of purpose, the quest to produce children that will be at the top of the color spectrum. This is a fully developed world and it is believable within the scope of the book.
Our Hero Eddie is a full character. His motivations make sense. He reacts properly. Even the supporting characters are well written, and act in context with the world of Chromaticia. Because marriage is such an important part of this world, the characters are similarly to Victorian England, with moving up in the world the primary motivation of parents with marriageable children. Jane is probably the least fleshed character of the book, we don't know her history, or why she acts the way she does. I expect that her history will be covered in the next book.
Other things, I really enjoy Ffords plays on today's society - for example, social networking. People in this world keeps a friends list. As far as I can tell, it really doesn't mean much without an online network, but it is limited to only 438 people. Or giving positive feedback? The book is full of stuff like this.
To end things, I really enjoyed this book. It takes a different take at a dystopian society and you don't realize just how bad things are until the end. There are a number of unfinished plot lines and a few plot holes. Jasper Fforde is a good writer, so I expect that these will be completely filled by the end of the series.
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everything is tightly controlled by Munsell's rules, from what a person can wear, to how marriages are handled. Eddie is a typical person in this world, wanting to get the best marriage possible, looking forward to his future career, and generally accepting things as they are. Eddie lives in a world where the population is color blind - that is everybody is classed by what color they can see, and how much of that color. Jane is a grey, one who sees no color. Greys in this society are the laborers, the one who do all the work. Eddie meets Jane and starts seeing the world differently.Fforde has created a world where the population keeps the population in line - where most authors go for an us against them sort of approach, most people in this world are happy, agree with the rules (even those that don't make sense). The rules even give a sense of purpose, the quest to produce children that will be at the top of the color spectrum. This is a fully developed world and it is believable within the scope of the book.
Our Hero Eddie is a full character. His motivations make sense. He reacts properly. Even the supporting characters are well written, and act in context with the world of Chromaticia. Because marriage is such an important part of this world, the characters are similarly to Victorian England, with moving up in the world the primary motivation of parents with marriageable children. Jane is probably the least fleshed character of the book, we don't know her history, or why she acts the way she does. I expect that her history will be covered in the next book.
Other things, I really enjoy Ffords plays on today's society - for example, social networking. People in this world keeps a friends list. As far as I can tell, it really doesn't mean much without an online network, but it is limited to only 438 people. Or giving positive feedback? The book is full of stuff like this.
To end things, I really enjoyed this book. It takes a different take at a dystopian society and you don't realize just how bad things are until the end. There are a number of unfinished plot lines and a few plot holes. Jasper Fforde is a good writer, so I expect that these will be completely filled by the end of the series.
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LibraryThing member kqueue
Jasper Fforde is known for taking a concept and then taking that concept to the extreme. In Shades of Grey, the idea is that people can only see limited amounts of color, and the color you can see establishes your place in society, with Greys (who can see less than 10% of any color) at the lowest
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end, and Purples at the highest end of the ROYGBIV chromatic scale. The main character, Eddie Russett, is a Red whose curiosity is starting to get him into trouble. You see, this society has many Rules, and while many of them are nonsensical and arbitrary, it's best not to question them. Eddie and his father are sent to the Outer Reaches of East Carmine, where the questions keep adding up and the answers don't always make sense, at least not right away. I loved Fforde's Thursday Next series, and this one has his same biting wit and sarcasm. There's a delicious feeling of vertigo that hits you as you plunge into this color-bound world and the meaning starts to slowly reveal itself. A promising start to a new series. Show Less
LibraryThing member jamiesonwolf
I never know what to expect when I open a new novel from Jasper Fforde. I always try not to have any expectations of what the novel will be like as I will be dissapointed. And, ultimately, the book will defy any and all expectations anyways.
Shades of Grey is without a doubt one of the most
That's not to say that it's not good. Quite the contrary in fact; it's excellent and is perhaps the first Very Good Book of 2010.
If you love Fforde's work, don't miss this one. And if you've never read a Jasper Fforde book, well...prepare for a wild and colourful ride.
Funny, hillarious, sombre and unnerving, Shades of Grey is a literary classic in the making.
Shades of Grey is without a doubt one of the most
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brilliant and odd novels I have ever read. Set in a world that has moved on, where the colour you can see dictates your place in the world, Shades of Grey is unlike anything that Fforde has written previously. That's not to say that it's not good. Quite the contrary in fact; it's excellent and is perhaps the first Very Good Book of 2010.
If you love Fforde's work, don't miss this one. And if you've never read a Jasper Fforde book, well...prepare for a wild and colourful ride.
Funny, hillarious, sombre and unnerving, Shades of Grey is a literary classic in the making.
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LibraryThing member Eisler
As a fan of Jasper Fforde I eagerly started this title. With a setting that uses the restriction of natural colour only being limitedly visible to its inhabitants and a society governed by a strict but often irrational set of rules, with rank determined by colour perception it is truly a black and
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white world at all levels. The revelation of the real shades of grey in society, brilliant characters and the tantalising glimpses into the future that led to this world made this my favourite Jasper Fforde to date, with elements reminiscent of Flatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott and Counter Clock World by Philip K Dick. Show Less
LibraryThing member Perlsowisdom
My favorite book I've read thus far in my life. The level of intricacy and attention to detail that Jasper Fforde employs blows me away every time I read it. The concept of creating a society based off of the colors people can perceive is such a clever and unique idea. I cannot wait for the sequels.
LibraryThing member FionaCat
Another brilliant novel from Jasper Fforde. Not as flat-out funny as his Thursday Next and Nursery Crimes books, this one is more philosophical, as befits a dystopian novel.
LibraryThing member MelanieL
What a delightful book! I wasn't sure what to expect as I had read The Eyre Affair previously and hadn't enjoyed it very much. However, Shades of Gray was a lot of fun! I loved the pop-culture references from before the Something That Happened and Fforde's amazing world-building.
This world, a
One complaint is that most of the characters were rather black or white, if you'll pardon the pun, almost clichéd, in that you have the mean, greedy Prefects, the wise Apocryphal man, the obnoxious love interest and the naive but smart protagonist. That said, I did find the latter, Eddie Russett, very likeable.
All in all, Shades of Gray is a book I'd recommend wholeheartedly, especially to those who enjoy comic novels by the likes of Terry Pratchett, Tom Holt, etc.
This world, a
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colourtocracy, where one's trajectory in life is determined by what colours can be perceived, as well as by the Word of Munsell and its Rules or risk going to Reboot, is so precise in its details that I couldn't help but be sucked in. The story kept me wondering what had happened before to spawn such a way of life, what facets of everyday life I was next going to be privy to and how the pieces of the bigger mystery all fit together.One complaint is that most of the characters were rather black or white, if you'll pardon the pun, almost clichéd, in that you have the mean, greedy Prefects, the wise Apocryphal man, the obnoxious love interest and the naive but smart protagonist. That said, I did find the latter, Eddie Russett, very likeable.
All in all, Shades of Gray is a book I'd recommend wholeheartedly, especially to those who enjoy comic novels by the likes of Terry Pratchett, Tom Holt, etc.
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LibraryThing member thelittlebookworm
entire review atThe Little Bookworm
I've been contemplating how to describe this book. I've been thinking about what I even think about this book. I must say that out of all the Jasper Fforde books I've read, this one is the quirkiest and the most serious and the most unbelievable and the most
I've been contemplating how to describe this book. I've been thinking about what I even think about this book. I must say that out of all the Jasper Fforde books I've read, this one is the quirkiest and the most serious and the most unbelievable and the most
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fantastic. There are so many elements that I could talk about because Fforde builds a world that is real in this book. It is intricate and sound and alive. The thing I love about a Jasper Fforde book is that he shows and doesn't tell. This concept, in the hands of a less author, would have fallen flat. He doesn't set up a great deal of exposition, but rather allows the reader to find out how this world works on their own. Not to say that there is no explanation, but it only comes when it is natural. There is no forced description or dialogue. It made for a confusing book til I got the hang of the slang and the language and what was going on. Show Less
LibraryThing member littlegeek
Fforde's forte is word play, cultural or literary references and his very English dry wit. His world building tends to be too complicated and not quite coherent. But usually his plots skip around so quickly and he crams in enough jokes that it doesn't matter. Let's just say that he declines to go
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with his strengths in this book. I read to the end hoping that things would somehow make more sense than they seemed to, but was disappointed. Perhaps some of the gaping holes get filled in the subsequent volumes. Not sure I'm going to bother reading them, tho, since the underlying distopian totalitarian story is so very played and the characters are stock. Maybe I'm just horribly jaded, tho, since so many people seem to love this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member Jthierer
I've enjoyed every Jasper Fforde book I've read and this one was no different. I always enjoy his slightly off sense of humor and the way the worlds he presents are like ours and yet not. Although the main character of this series is not as instantly endearing as Thursday Next, Eddie grew on me. I
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also appreciated that Fforde didn't wrap everything up in a neat happy ending, but trusted the reader to appreciate the complexity of the situation he had placed his characters in. I will for sure be looking forward to the sequels. Show Less
LibraryThing member isabelx
'I thought Munsell said that colour was here to give our life meaning?'
'Its function is to give life apparent meaning. It is an abstraction, a misdirection- nothing more than a sideshow at Jollity Fair. As long as your minds are full of Chromatic betterment, there can be no room for other, more
"Shades of Grey" is set in what used to be Wales, hundred of years after the mysterious Something That Happened. Nobody knows what the Something That Happened actually was, but it seems to have been linked to the disappearance of the Previous (i.e homo sapiens) and the establishment of the Colourtocracy, a society where your social status is based on which colours of the spectrum you are able to see, and the population lives according to a series of rules, with their conduct being rewarded or otherwise by the award of merits and demerits. Their society is gradually regressing technologically, as every few years there is a Leapback, when certain subjects are 'defacted' and all books on those subjects removed from the increasingly empty libraries, and the use of certain items becomes forbidden. Telephones, any cars more advanced than a Model 'T' Ford, and even riding horses are some of the things that have been forbidden in previous Leapbacks. The few remaining artefacts made by the Previous are now incomprehensible to the populace, but the Oz Memorial made me laugh when I realised who the figures on the statue were.
For most of the book, not a huge amount happens, but I liked the way that information about this strange rule-bound society is drip-fed as the story progresses - there are no info-dumps but you gradually get to understand how this strange society works (or so you think). The action picks up towards the end of the book, and I was surprised (shocked, even) at just how dark the story became. I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series and am hoping that we it will reveal more about the Something That Happened, who the the Riff Raff are, and where the Fallen Man fell from.
While reading the book, it gradually becomes clear just how bad the characters' eyesight is, even leaving aside their problems with colour perception. Eddie remarks more then once about the hollow, empty appearance of the Previous, due to their large pupils, and it seems that people have tiny pupils which don't change size to adapt to different lighting conditions like ours do. So their eyesight is poor even in daylight (hence the complicated arrangements of heliostats bringing sunlight into their buildings), while at night, they are completely blind (and terrified of the dark). They can't see by moonlight, although they know that some animals can, and they are unable to see the stars at all.
As well as the Apocryphal Man telling Eddie that the function of colour is to give life apparent meaning, Jane also says 'Someone remade the night as a barrier to restrict movement, and sightless people who have no fear of the darkness would give the game away.' So I don't think that the differences between the characters in this book and the Previous are due to evolution. It's not as if they live in caves or underground, so what evolutionary benefit could there be for the deterioration in their eyesight? If there were no colour-based rules on who you could marry, colour-vision would soon even out amongst the population. There is also no logical reason for social status to increase as you move along the spectrum form red to ultra-violet. I think that at some point someone must have made an arbitrary decision that that was the way it would be (maybe based on the historical role of purple as a colour for royalty). But whether it was brought about by genetic meddling or selective breeding, and why it would only affect the ability to see 'natural' colours I have no idea.
'Its function is to give life apparent meaning. It is an abstraction, a misdirection- nothing more than a sideshow at Jollity Fair. As long as your minds are full of Chromatic betterment, there can be no room for other, more
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destructive, thoughts. Do you understand?'"Shades of Grey" is set in what used to be Wales, hundred of years after the mysterious Something That Happened. Nobody knows what the Something That Happened actually was, but it seems to have been linked to the disappearance of the Previous (i.e homo sapiens) and the establishment of the Colourtocracy, a society where your social status is based on which colours of the spectrum you are able to see, and the population lives according to a series of rules, with their conduct being rewarded or otherwise by the award of merits and demerits. Their society is gradually regressing technologically, as every few years there is a Leapback, when certain subjects are 'defacted' and all books on those subjects removed from the increasingly empty libraries, and the use of certain items becomes forbidden. Telephones, any cars more advanced than a Model 'T' Ford, and even riding horses are some of the things that have been forbidden in previous Leapbacks. The few remaining artefacts made by the Previous are now incomprehensible to the populace, but the Oz Memorial made me laugh when I realised who the figures on the statue were.
For most of the book, not a huge amount happens, but I liked the way that information about this strange rule-bound society is drip-fed as the story progresses - there are no info-dumps but you gradually get to understand how this strange society works (or so you think). The action picks up towards the end of the book, and I was surprised (shocked, even) at just how dark the story became. I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series and am hoping that we it will reveal more about the Something That Happened, who the the Riff Raff are, and where the Fallen Man fell from.
While reading the book, it gradually becomes clear just how bad the characters' eyesight is, even leaving aside their problems with colour perception. Eddie remarks more then once about the hollow, empty appearance of the Previous, due to their large pupils, and it seems that people have tiny pupils which don't change size to adapt to different lighting conditions like ours do. So their eyesight is poor even in daylight (hence the complicated arrangements of heliostats bringing sunlight into their buildings), while at night, they are completely blind (and terrified of the dark). They can't see by moonlight, although they know that some animals can, and they are unable to see the stars at all.
As well as the Apocryphal Man telling Eddie that the function of colour is to give life apparent meaning, Jane also says 'Someone remade the night as a barrier to restrict movement, and sightless people who have no fear of the darkness would give the game away.' So I don't think that the differences between the characters in this book and the Previous are due to evolution. It's not as if they live in caves or underground, so what evolutionary benefit could there be for the deterioration in their eyesight? If there were no colour-based rules on who you could marry, colour-vision would soon even out amongst the population. There is also no logical reason for social status to increase as you move along the spectrum form red to ultra-violet. I think that at some point someone must have made an arbitrary decision that that was the way it would be (maybe based on the historical role of purple as a colour for royalty). But whether it was brought about by genetic meddling or selective breeding, and why it would only affect the ability to see 'natural' colours I have no idea.
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LibraryThing member Alirob
His best yet!
LibraryThing member atreic
A really awesome book. I can't wait until the rest of the triology comes out! Surprisingly careful world building, and a remarkable amount of suspense and emotion for what is a delightlyfully whimsical idea. I want to read it all over again.