Published: 29 December 2009 (print)/16 December 2011 (audio) 
Publisher: Viking/Hodder & Stoughton
Pages: 390/13 hrs and 31 mins
Narrator: John Lee
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Science Fiction
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars
Part social satire, part romance, part revolutionary thriller, Shades of Grey tells of a battle against overwhelming odds. In a society where the ability to see the higher end of the color spectrum denotes a better social standing, Eddie Russet belongs to the low-level House of Red and can see his own color—but no other. The sky, the grass, and everything in between are all just shades of grey, and must be colorized by artificial means.
Eddie’s world wasn’t always like this. There’s evidence of a never-discussed disaster and now, many years later, technology is poor, news sporadic, the notion of change abhorrent, and nighttime is terrifying: no one can see in the dark. Everyone abides by a bizarre regime of rules and regulations, a system of merits and de 9781101145890 merits, where punishment can result in permanent expulsion.
Eddie, who works for the Color Control Agency, might well have lived out his rose-tinted life without a hitch. But that changes when he becomes smitten with Jane, a Grey, which is low-caste in this color-centric world. She shows Eddie that all is not well with the world he thinks is just and good. Together, they engage in dangerous revolutionary talk.
Stunningly imaginative, very funny, tightly plotted, and with sly satirical digs at our own society, this novel is for those who loved Thursday Next but want to be transported somewhere equally wild, only darker; a world where the black and white of moral standpoints have been reduced to shades of grey.
Unlike previous Fforde novels where you are in an alternate timeline/reality but it’s easy to grasp or follow along almost immediately, this one took me a long time to get my head around. It took two hours to really understand the concept, and another two to become invested in the story properly. Which, to be fair, is a long time to trust a book is worth the effort, but with a fourteen hour runtime and being a trusted author I felt it was worthy of my attempt.
I love all of Fforde’s other stuff I’d read so I was a bit sad I hadn’t clicked with this one right away. It felt more complicated than Thursday Next or The Constant Rabbit in terms of societal rules and logic. There is a lot to get around colours and how it works, the societal hierarchy was the simplest, but the rest you have to go along with and it slowly falls into understanding.
The thing about this being a long book is it gives you time to really understand this colour world Fforde has created. Even without fully understanding it for some time, I understood the story around it. You understand there is a hierarchy, our protagonist drops information about the world in a way that gives you contexts and explanations that made sense. There is also the handy idea that it’s been going on for so long no one knows any different, knows why it happened, and are going about as they are ‘because this is the way it’s always been’. Which is why the outliers like Jane and co are intriguing.
It’s a slow story in that sense but it moves along with bits of small actions here and there, building on the mystery of the recent deaths and missing people. Also the fact this world is so different to ours you are inclined to keep reading to see where it could go. A lot happens in only a couple days, but because a lot happens it doesn’t feel like it drags on, there is a lot to get your head around so having time to really build up an understanding is helpful.
Lee is a good narrator, it’s easy to stay in the story and each character is distinguishable without being so wildly different you’re thrown out of the rhythm of the narrative.
You gauge context because the narrator knows what he is talking about and talks about it in a way that you get the meaning or intent even without the 500 year history behind you. Like all fun Fforde books there are little snippets of information to enlighten, so even if you have no understanding of the greater meaning, you still get to know the world and how it operates.
Eddie is a good character, he is interested in the world but also guided enough to stay in his lane, especially with concern of greater impacts on the rest of his life. It’s a rough few days for him but I loved how Fforde makes all these small changes that have big impacts. There isn’t one thing that sets Eddie on his journey, it’s a hundred little things that pique his interest and impact other things, setting off the dominoes.
By the end I was a tad underwhelmed, the revelations are great, and I understand it being a big enough idea that it needs a sequel, but whether it was such a complex story to get my head around or the fact that beyond that concept the plot wasn’t as intriguing I’m not sure. But I wasn’t leaping into the next book and I’m not sure if it’s because I don’t really care enough to get answers? But then again it could all kick off in the sequel so who’s to say? On the other hand, I should get onto it sooner than later because if I do pick it up one day I don’t want to have to recall all the rules of the society again and try and catch up.
You can purchase Shades of Grey via the following
Wordery | Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson
Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible
