Red Side Story

After such a long wait for this time be published, you might be concerned that it is not going to live up to expectations. Well, I can reassure you: this is excellent. As good, if not better than Shades of Grey. While the first book sets up the initially baffljng world, this expands the world and answers many of the questions. I am now very much looking forward to the conclusion of the trilogy, although hopefully we won’t have to wait another 14 years for it (having said that, if it is as good as this one, I’d be happy to wait).

This is a provisional review after first reading, but it seems a worthy sequel to [b:Shades of Grey 2113260 Shades of Grey (Shades of Grey, #1) Jasper Fforde https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327563734l/2113260.SY75.jpg 2118671], and I found it gripping throughout.Rather to my alarm, it's even more dystopian than [b:Shades of Grey 2113260 Shades of Grey (Shades of Grey, #1) Jasper Fforde https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327563734l/2113260.SY75.jpg 2118671], but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it seems to have a happy ending. I say ‘seems' because this is the second volume of a planned trilogy, and novelists write “they all lived happily ever after” at the end of a story, not two-thirds of the way through it.From the first volume, I couldn't tell whether the series was intended to be fantasy or science fiction. As more secrets are revealed here, it begins to seem more like science fiction: although the scenario is extremely weird, we're beginning to uncover rational explanations of it all.It's difficult to uncover the secrets of a novel without a feeling of disappointment creeping in: to travel hopefully is better than to arrive, and to wander in a land of mystery is more wonderful in a way than to find the mysteries explained. However, so far I don't feel too disappointed by this volume, and I still hope to read the third volume someday and find out more.I note that one of the characters is named Violet Elizabeth deMauve: Fforde has mischievously taken the first names of Violet Elizabeth Bott from [b:Still William 742818 Still William (Just William, #5) Richmal Crompton https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1358746731l/742818.SX50.jpg 728971], and there is some degree of similarity between the two girls.

5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
Sent to East Carmine to inventory chairs, Eddie Russett has gotten himself in a fair amount of trouble - some it it instigated by Jane, whom he loves, but who has tried to kill him twice. In the rigidly color-coded world of Chromatacia, they're both finding out much more about how the world really works - and what there might be outside it.

Review
I think this is the best thing Fforde has written. I've been a fan since the first Thursday Next novel, and I've read most of his books. Largely, I've liked them, though it hasn't been entirely smooth sailing. The precis that sets up this book – giving the highlights of what will happen – is an example; I found it more confusing than helpful. Happily, the rest of the book is much better.

In Red Side Story, Fforde has firmly found his groove. The champion of absurdist satire, he creates a world that's both profoundly ridiculous and internally consistent and credible. Unlike authors whose aliens are frequently indistinguishable from humans, Fforde gives us humans whose outlook is reliably alien.

It occurred to me as I read that in some ways, Fforde is this generation's Jack Vance. The worlds and characters he creates are often ridiculous, but compellingly readable. Often through the eyes of a relatively normal protagonist, he's telling a relatably human story of facing down the accreted and unquestioned oddities of generations. Vance and Fforde have entirely different writing styles and voices, but I think they're achieving a similar effect.

While Red Side Story fulfills and even exceeds the promise of Shades of Grey, Fforde often has trouble keeping his series on track, and there's a shift in milieu at the end of this book that poses a considerable risk. Nonetheless, I'm loving this series, and looking forward to the next book (should there be one; if not, this is an adequate, but not fully satisfying place to stop).

My edition had a ‘bonus' short story – irritatingly, told through images that weren't full screen – that's pleasant, but far from essential.