Red Side Story is the second (and probably last?) novel in the Shades of Grey series by Jasper Fforde.

Content Note: dubious consent

Plot:
Eddie and Jane only barely came out alive of their last attempt to question the history and state of Chromatacia. In fact, they are not out of the woods yet: over their heads hangs a trial for murder that might well end with their own death. Meanwhile Eddie was forced into a marriage with Violet DeMauve as a way to increase their red sight, and that Violet hasn’t conceived yet is the only thing buying them some time. Maybe they can use that time to find a way out.

Red Side Story is the long anticipated sequel to Shades of Grey, and it has been worth the wait. Fforde answers all questions and ties up loose ends here in his usual creative, witty way that makes Red Side Story a whole lot of fun.

Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2024/08/12/red-side-story-jasper-fforde/ ( )

Fifteen years is a long time to wait for a sequel. Jasper Fforde has said that he never planned to write a sequel to Shades of Grey, a story about a group of English villages where your color perception determines your social status. Readers kept asking him what happened next, so he finally had to figure it out. Red Side Story is the result.
Eddie Russett and Jane Grey are back struggling against the silly rules that constrain life in the area. The constraints should not be taken lightly. You do not want to be sent to the Green Room, put on a train to Emerald City, or catch a bad case of Mildew. And then there is ball lightning that can take out whole communities. There are dead astronauts, a socially invisible man named Baxter, and a scarcity of spoons. Fforde’s whimsical satire points several directions at once, but his prose is always witty. Douglas Adams was one of Fforde’s favorite writers, and it shows. ( )

While reading 'Red Side Story' might be enhanced by reading Fforde's previous 'Shades of Grey,' I think they can be read independently without substantial loss of story. Both are riotous socio-politico-economic satires cum farces set in a not all too distant future. It would give away too much of the story to provide even a sketchy plot summary. Suffice to say, it's not as good as Fforde's 'Eyre Affair,' which caught readers off-guard, but it's equal to anything else in the Tuesday Next series, better than anything in the Nursery Crime series, and well worth a read. ( )

It took me some time to get into this new series by Jasper Fforde, but then I really didn't want to leave. He really is a genius! Good for the brain to escape into such a different world. Though it does give one pause to think about the world we live in. Chris Harper did a good job narrating! ( )

There's a feeling you get when reading a certain type of book. A sense of calm and wonder settles over you, letting you know you are being transported to another world. A world that is fascinating and alien and will allow you to completely disappear into it for hours. Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde is that kind of book.

Chromatica is as unique and vivid as Tolkien's Middle Earth or any other created universe you care to name. Only much more humor-filled.

Society in Chromatica is hierarchically governed by what color you can see, and to what degree you can see that color. Purple, yellow, and red are at the top, green at the bottom, and grey, those who can see no color to any significant degree are the much despised but essential working class.

Despite 15 years between books, Red Side Story picks up right where Shades of Grey left off. Eddie Russett who can see more than 86 percent red (87 percent if you round up), has relocated to the remote East Carmine along with Jane Grey, who recently discovered she can see a small degree of green. Their relationship is illicit, as Eddie is engaged to a high-seeing purple, Violet deMauve. Violet detests Eddie, but his high percentage of red will keep the family line from straying into the less desirable blue.

The world of Chromatica is built on the remnants of a previous civilization in a future sort of England. Objects or machines they can't understand are forbidden or ignored under a rigid set of rules that are periodically and haphazardly updated. For example, gloves are forbidden to be worn but required to be manufactured. Bending, evading, or flat-out ignoring the rules is almost an art form. Cause too much of a problem and you may become afflicted with the Mildew, a mysterious disease that seems to affect only the troublemakers.

Eddie and Jane know there are mysteries to be solved about their world and how such an unjust society came to be. They are determined to make changes, no matter how long it takes or how much danger they find themselves in.

Any Jasper Fforde novel is also going to be humorous. Filled with puns, situational humor, and downright amusing characters. Red Side Story has such a compelling plot that the humor sometimes catches you off-guard, resulting in several laugh-out-loud moments. The world-building is incredibly complex and the characters are so compelling you could spend a library full of books just following them around.

The ending of the story is surprising, satisfying, and for me, quite emotional. This would be an amazing duology if the Shades of Grey story ends here. It is also clear that this world has many more stories to tell. I would love to return to this world, but even if there are no more books in this world, this is one of my favorite series of all time.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. ( )