Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde

Imagine a world where your position in society depended on what bit of the colour spectrum you could see. This is the world inhabited by Eddie Russett (red, middle-level) and Jane Grey (monochromatic, lowest in society). Eddie and Jane must negotiate the delicate Chromatic politics of society to find out what the 'Something that Happened' actually was, how society got to be this way, and crucially, is there Somewhere Else beyond their borders - and if there is, could there be Someone Else, too, someone whose unseen hand has been guiding the fortunes and misfortunes of the nation for the past 500 years?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. . ..

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.

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).