Red Side Story

by Jasper Fforde

Overview

The long-awaited follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Shades of Grey—in an EXCLUSIVE EDITION for North American readers, complete with a never-before-published short story

“Fforde's books are more than an ingenious idea. They are written with buoyant zest and are tautly plotted . . . and are embellished with the rich details of a Dickens or Pratchett.” —The Independent

Welcome to Chromatacia, where life is strictly regulated by one’s limited color perception. Civilization has been rebuilt after an unspoken “Something that Happened” five hundred years before. Society is now color vision–segregated, everything dictated by an individual’s visual ability, and governed by the shadowy National Color in far-off Emerald City.
 
Twenty-year-old Eddie Russett, a Red, is about to go on trial for a murder he didn’t commit, and he’s pretty certain to be sent on a one-way trip to the Green Room for execution by soporific color exposure. Meanwhile, he’s engaged in an illegal relationship with his co-defendant, a Green, the charismatic and unpredictable Jane Grey. Negotiating the narrow boundaries of the Rules within their society, they search for a loophole—some truth of their world that has been hidden from its hyper-policed citizens.
 
New York Times bestselling author Jasper Fforde returns to his fan-favorite Shades of Grey series with this wildly anticipated, laugh-out-loud funny and darkly satirical adventure about two star-crossed lovers on a quest to survive—even if it means upending their entire society in the process.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781641296281
Publisher:	Soho Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/07/2024
Series:	Shades of Grey Series , #2
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	17,591
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.30(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Jasper Fforde spent twenty years in the film business before debuting on the New York Times bestseller list with The Eyre Affair in 2001. Since then he has written another fifteen novels, including The Big Over Easy, The Constant Rabbit, and Shades of Grey. Fforde lives and works in his adopted nation of Wales. Visit Jasper’s website, www.jasperfforde.com, find him on Facebook at Jasper Fforde Writer, and follow him on X, Threads or Instagram @jasperfforde.

Hometown:

Brecon, Powys, Wales, United Kingdom

Date of Birth:

January 11, 1961

Place of Birth:

London, United Kingdom

Education:

Left school at 18

Read an Excerpt

Welcome to East Carmine

1.01.01.01.08(ii): The name of the Collective shall be Chromatacia; it shall be divided into four Sectors known as Red, Green, Yellow and Blue; each Sector shall be subdivided further into areas known as North, South, East and West. An administrative centre will be located in each Sector, and each area. For specific definitions see sub-note 1.01.01.02.08(iii)
      —From Munsell’s Book of Harmony

My name is Eddie Russett, but only for another two hours and nine minutes. After my negotiated marriage to Violet I will take on the prestigiously dynastic surname of deMauve, but within twenty-seven hours I find out that I was not Eddie Russett at all, but a subject termed HE-315-PJ7A-M. Three days after momentarily becoming Russett again I reluctantly take on the name of Mr. Hollyberry before quickly reverting to deMauve, but less than forty-eight hours after that I decide to dispense with a colour-based name entirely.
     There is jeopardy, too: Jane and I almost catch the Mildew, a group of Yellows try to kill us and the ever-present Green Room beckons us towards its soporifically deadly charms. We also meet a Tin Man, a Riffraff and have an encounter with an Angel sent by our very own Creator, who then tries to kill us—three times.
     But it’s not all bad. At least Jane and I get to figure out the riddle of existence. Not the riddle, I should add, just ours, and we also learn there is a literal truth to the adage that you can’t go home. And that’s a problem. We’re free and healthy and ready to live full and complete lives together, away from the Colourtocracy for good. That should be a cause for celebration, but it isn’t: we wanted to improve our world, not abandon it. You’ll be joining us there shortly, looking around our new home, sharing in our wonder, but for now:
The 13:42 train pulled into the station with a punctuality that was within time parameters, but outside geographical ones. That is to say the train was on time, but the station was in the wrong place. There were strict Rules against non-punctuality, but nothing against the erroneous siting of a station. Such loopholery allowed us to maintain adherence to the strict Rules governing our society but still maintain a workable practicality.
     The locomotive hissed in the warm air as the train rocked to a standstill, the gyros a soft melodious whirr as they kept the machine upright on its single rail. There were trains every other day—one in the morning, one in the afternoon—and their arrival was always an event: the quiet stasis of the village interrupted by arrivals, departures, post, news, freight and supplies.
     The freight dispatcher moved to the far end of the platform to supervise the Greys as they swapped raw materials for finished rolls of linoleum, while the postman took the sack of mail and quickly departed. True to form, the stationmaster argued in a half-hearted manner with the train-driver about punctuality. I exchanged glances with the Arrivals Monitor, a dazzlingly unpleasant Yellow named Bunty McMustard. She was a few years older than me, had a small nose much akin to a button of understated ordinariness and insisted on wearing the Standard Casual Girls #16, which was less of a dress and more of a bell tent. No one else wore one, not even ironically.
     “None of your nonsense as we greet the visitors, Russett,” she growled. “The council told me to report any infractions with extreme prejudice.”
     “You mean you get to exaggerate any potential misdemeanour?”
     “In one—so watch it.”
     She meant it, too. Yellows took to their enforcement duties as a squarial takes to split pins and washers. Anything I could be demerited for, she’d get a cut. A Yellow who had amassed a large amount of merits had most likely done so not by worthy civil duty, but by snitching.
     “You do your thing,” I said, “and I’ll do mine. Is your bow straight?”
     Bunty quickly looked at her reflection in the train window. Her regulation-sized hair adornment was, of course, regulation straight. Yellows often used protractors on the hair bows of girls they considered sub-optimally attired, and if it was beyond three degrees plus or minus, it was five demerits. Tie knots for boys were the same, but type of knot, neatness and overly artistic interpretation added to the potential demerits. Woe betide anyone with an untucked shirt, poorly executed creases or socks not fully pulled up.
     “My bow is perfect,” she said, shooting me an annoyed glance, “as always. And you are wrong—as always. The sooner you are removed from this village, the better it will be for the rest of us.”
     “Did you ever think of starting up your very own charm school, Bunts?”
     “There is no such thing as a charm school, Mr. Russett, so your comment is as banal as it is pointless. And don’t call me ‘Bunts.’ That is reserved only for my closest and dearest friends.”
     “So no one ever uses it, right?”
     Now that we had needled one another to our satisfaction, we stepped forward to greet the passengers.
     The first to alight were a troupe of travelling players, all of whom wore Orange spot-badges on the lapels or blouses of their regulation Travel Casual #6s. They were lively and irreverent as players generally were, and I welcomed them to East Carmine while Bunty copied down their names and details on to the arrivals manifest. Quite why, no one knew: the manifests were diligently logged, filed, then recycled into blank arrivals manifest forms eight years later. The Rules demanded it. The Rules demanded a lot.
     “We welcome your welcome and give thanks for your thanks,” said the leader of the troupe, making a dramatic flourish to me, Bunty, then in the direction of the Grey Porters. “We are the Tangerine Players, and the Tangerine Players are us: famed all over Chromatacia for our bravado and spectrally compliant performances. A laugh, a tear, a smile—and after observing our lively frolics your resolve at the strength, brilliance and indivisible oneness of the Chromatic harmony will be for ever cemented. Apart We Are Together, but only together can we properly embrace that apartness.”
     “Well spoken,” said Bunty, who was always eager to praise those who exhibited an unwavering support of the Colourtocracy.
     “Thank you,” said the Troupe Leader, eyeing Bunty’s Yellow spot-badge and the 5,000-merit badge underneath. It told her Bunty was foremost a Yellow, and secondly, quite good at it. As the enforcers of the Rules, Yellows were universally loathed within the Collective. Some said it was a coincidence, but accidental face-down drownings in swamps were three times more likely if you were a Yellow.
     The Troupe Leader stared at me for a moment then said:
     “Haven’t we met before?”
     I knew instantly who she was, as I rarely, if ever, forget an interesting nose: small and snub, like a child’s. It was as though her nose had ceased development at age nine, and her adult body had simply grown up around it.
     “Jade-under-Lime,” I said, “three years ago.”
     I had helped set up the stage and had been allocated the job of prop master: stagehands were always picked from the village to assist, along with any bit parts, usually from the Amateur Dramatic Society. My good friend Fenton had a walk-on part with two lines and told everyone who would listen he was going to be an actor, but without any yellow in his vision he was not going to be an Orange, so acting was never going to be open to him.
     “I recall Jade as a very appreciative audience if a little inclined towards the cough,” she said, “but sited in pleasant enough countryside.”
     She looked around at East Carmine’s lugubrious surroundings as she said it. The landscape was hot and dusty, the grass dead in the summer heat, the railway station tired and worn and without hue as we had next to no synthetic colour in the village. High colourisation, usually delivered by colour feed-pipes, was for the wealthy and connected, generally those within the periphery of Emerald City, the nation’s capital.
     “It’s been a hot summer out here in the Fringes,” I said by way of apology. “Without regular night rain I daresay we’d have none at all.”
     I should have been happier living here in Red Sector West with people of my own hue, but there was a downside: the Rules ensured that anyone remotely troublesome was shuffled to the periphery of the Collective where they would be less influential. It made the Fringes more loaded with those of difficult disposition, which made life more challenging—but probably a good deal more interesting.
     “Anything further out?” asked the Troupe Leader, indicating the hills to the west.
     “We’re right on the edge of the known world,” I said, following her gaze. “There’s nothing beyond here except wild rhododendron, megafauna, ball lightning, Riffraff and peril.”
     “The Red Side of the nation,” she mused. “What did you do to be transferred out here? I’d say life was easier and more colourful in Jade-under-Lime.”
     “I was accompanying my father,” I replied defensively, “who is now the village Swatchman.”
     In truth, I had been sent out here to conduct a chair census—the sort of pointless task usually reserved for those who have shown a level of innovation, curiosity or independence of thought that wasn’t quite enough to send them to a re-education facility commonly known as “Reboot.” My innovation was nothing seditious: simply a more efficient method of queuing. The Prefects didn’t like the idea much, but I can happily report that my “take a number and you’ll be called in turn” system has been adopted here in East Carmine and is something of which I think I can be justly proud.
     “I see,” said the Troupe Leader, who was only making small talk while Bunty over-diligently filled out the arrivals forms. “Any idea when the last troupe of travelling players passed through?”
     “Twelve years ago.”
     The Tangerine Players all nodded and appeared relieved. There were only eight three-act plays, twelve one-act plays and forty-six educational vignettes permitted to be performed, and constant repetition to audiences only ever diluted the interest and applause.
     Once Bunty was done with the manifest, I directed them to the Model T Ford which was waiting outside the station building. Our Janitor, Carlos Fandango, was already in the driver’s seat, ready and waiting.
     “We have a grass-banked auditorium,” I told them. “Mr. Turquoise, the Blue Prefect, will meet you in the main square to show you around.”
     The players walked off down the platform towards the waiting car, talking and chatting in an enthusiastic manner that, had they been anyone else, would be demeritable on volume and frivolousness.
     The next few passengers were more run-of-the-mill: a naturalist from Green Sector here to study bouncing goat, two Greys who would be sharpening the millstones, then the Sector co-ordinator for the Jollity Fair games, who was here to give a final talk before the Fair commenced.
     “I hope your Penny-Farthing riders have got their act together,” he said anxiously. “Red Sector needs to win this year more than ever.”
     “They have been practising most diligently,” said Bunty. “I saw to it myself.”
     “Good show. Apart We Are Together.”
     The overused salutation had become little more than a murmur, its meaning lost to repetition and now merely word-grease to lubricate the wheels of social engagement. It was so oft repeated that no one even stopped to think about questioning it. When you did, people died.

Editorial Reviews

03/01/2024

Eddie Russett's future is being laid out for him: an arranged marriage to Violet DeMauve to increase the genetic potential of redness in the powerful family, then a quick execution in the Green Room after his trial for murder. Except, Eddie did not kill anyone, and he is in love with his co-defendant, the capricious Jane Grey. Trying to prove their innocence is difficult, as the Rules of Chromatacia are narrow and rigid, and time is running out. When their pursuits end up peeling away some of the centuries-old beliefs they held, Eddie and Jane discover that maybe, just maybe, they can find freedom Somewhere Else. However, Somewhere Else also brings Someone Else—one who may not want anyone from Chromatacia to leave the strict confines of their world. VERDICT The sequel to Fforde's Shades of Grey continues to flesh out the inflexible society of the Colortocracy and Eddie's pursuit to discover the truths about his world. The satirical dystopian setting and memorable characters highlight Fforde's skill with worldbuilding and dialogue.—Kristi Chadwick

Library Journal

Praise for Red Side Story

BookBub’s Best Literary Fiction of May
OverDrive’s Biggest Books of May

“Imagine if 1984 were silly and it was ok to laugh . . . A  fun yarn with just a sprinkling of jeopardy and a generous dose of rollicking adventure.”
—Reader's Digest UK

“Cleverly constructed, with engaging characters and lots of good jokes, this sparkling Wizard of Oz-inspired fantasy is . . . one of the quirkiest dystopias ever imagined.”
—The Guardian

“If you need to shake up your club a little, this is a terrific choice. It’s funny, satirical, clever, and a silly quirky read. It’s a mash-up of the Divergent books and West Side Story.”
—Carole Barrowman, The Morning Blend (Milwaukee)

“Fforde is one of modern literature’s most reliably enjoyable visionaries . . . The jokes are excellent, the pacing breathless and the last line a classic.”
—The Observer

“Hilarious satire.”
—BookBub

“There is no denying the inventiveness of Jasper Fforde’s worldbuilding, nor his ability to under­stand human nature.”
—Locus Magazine

“Fforde paint[s] a flamboyant and Terry Pratchett-esque picture laced with laughter throughout.”
—The Irish News

“Another tribute to Fforde’s black comic wit and untameable imagination, Red Side Story presses whimsy into serious service, its dystopian vision, like all the best ones, a thought-provoking indictment of current social ills.”
—WAtoday AU

“It's a tale of a young couple's thirst for justice and answers in an implacably rigid society, where the prisoners are also the guards, and cages of convention bind the citizens to only one way of thinking - or suffer the consequences . . .”
—Scala Radio Book Club

“The peculiarities of this society — and the hints of what lies behind it — make for an engaging read, with a good deal of entertaining adventure. The many literary allusions and references also add another nice layer to the novel — and it is also a quite touching love-story.”
—The Complete Review

“Fforde’s worldbuilding in Red Side Story continues to be equal parts 1984 and something from the mind of the late, great Terry Pratchett . . . Reading it, you know you are embroiled in a fantastical Jasper Fforde tale. By the time you turn the final page, you will be sorrowful at its end.”
—Bookreporter.com

“Witty and intriguing . . . Fforde swiftly brings readers up to speed on the series' conceit and previous events, so those who have not read Shades of Grey (or who read it when it was published in 2009) will not be lost. His trademark absurdity and dry wit is on full display.”
—Shelf Awareness, Starred Review

“The infectiously hilarious verbal byplay, whimsical scientific plausibilities, and some unanswered questions at the finale will have fans hoping for more.”
—Booklist, Starred Review

“Jasper Fforde surely must be one of the cleverest, funniest and most inventive authors currently writing . . . Red Side Story is wildly entertaining. Emily St. John Mandel, Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams fans would really enjoy this rollicking work of fiction.”
—BookTrib

“A refreshing spin on the life-after-apocalypse genre . . . Puns and references to the world as we know it are numerous, direct, and often absurdly funny, à la Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. Fforde expertly interlaces the most serious existential discussions with humor, favoring fun over drama.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“The satirical dystopian setting and memorable characters highlight Fforde’s skill with worldbuilding and dialogue.”
—Library Journal

Praise for Shades of Grey

“This insanely clever novel from the author of the best-selling ‘Thursday Next’ series sounds like a cult classic for people who crave a rich brew of dystopic fantasy and deadpan goofiness. Fforde has now created his most original story, an elaborate social satire about a weird but oddly familiar world almost 500 years in the future. Every page of this high-concept novel (the first of a projected trilogy) glistens with ingenious details.”
—Ron Charles, The Washington Post
 
“Shades of Grey would be a thin tale if it didn’t reflect and obliquely comment on the real world around us, but Mr. Fforde has his priorities right: First, be funny and entertaining. Second, make ’em think. But only a little. Shades of Grey II and III are promised at the end of this book, and I’ll admit it, until they’re out, I’ll feel a bit blue.”
—Karen Sandstrom, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 
“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 . . . The coming-of-age story and manic-pixie-dream-girl romance don’t need to be much more than icing on the cake to make Shades of Grey a fancifully satisfying concoction.”
—The A.V. Club
 
“Shades of Grey is absolutely [Fforde’s] by-now-expected, over-the-top brand of storytelling . . . The world is wildly but closely imagined, so the result is as internally coherent as it is unlikely. Distinctive wordplay abounds. All the fooling around is built on a good mystery, and Fforde telegraphs no punches.”
—Denver Post
 
“Fforde crafts a world with rules goofy enough to enjoy, characters with depth enough to love and hate, and a mystery that unravels so slowly and deceptively that you might not realize you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop until it actually does.”
—SFGate
 
“Shades of Grey is brilliant. The world he creates is unique and fully-realized . . . Those who enjoy reading the works of Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman . . . will find Fforde’s comedy right up their alley. It’s British humor at its finest.”
—BookBrowse
 
“This series starter combines the dire warnings of Brave New World and 1984 with the deevolutionary visions of A Canticle for Leibowitz and Riddley Walker, but, Fforde being Fforde, his dystopia includes an abundance of tea shops and a severe shortage of jam varieties. It’s all brilliantly original.”
—Booklist, Starred Review

From the Publisher

Chris Harper delivers the second adventure in Jasper Fforde's postapocalyptic "Colortocracy." Centuries ago, "Something That Happened" caused Chromatacian society to become a vision-oriented caste system. Governed by National Color, citizens follow rigid rules and suffer harsh penalties for breaking them. Eddie Russett, a Red, is charged with a murder he didn't commit. Eddie regularly offends higher-ups; plus, he's involved in an intra-color relationship (a big no-no). Harper expertly navigates this minefield of mixed metaphors, convoluted storylines, and painful puns. He develops colorful characters while his highly skilled performance channels Fforde's wacky sensibilities. Fforde's groan-inducing wordplay causes laugh-out-loud moments, but the storyline never overreaches in its humor. A bonus chapter read by Fforde adds shine to this luminous audiobook. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2024 - AudioFile