Seriously, if you haven’t read any of the 8 or so noves by Jasper Fforde, then you’re missing out. I have never seen an imagination so bizarre, and yet oddly educated and strangely enthralling. I’m sure it’s not for everybody, but I think that if you love to read novels, you should give these a try!
I just finished Shades of Grey, Mr. Fforde’s newest novel, and it was a hoot. Maybe a little harder to get a grip on in the beginning than some of his other ones, but very worth the effort. It’s about a young man coming of age in a bizarre future world where everybody is colorblind in some way (some can see red, some blue, some yellow, some two colors, but nobody can see the full spectrum), and the society is entirely run by those who have the highest perception of their own particular color, rather than those who are the smartest, most worthy, most educated, most well-bred, or any other way societies are usually organized – all according to the Rules of Munsell, handed down after the Something That Happened wiped out the previous civilization, many, many years in our future. Eddie Russett (an untested, but highly perceptive Red) gets sent out to the boonies to do a Chair Census as a penalty for a minor prank – the boonies are much more complicated than he anticipates, however, and he soon finds himself embroiled in a number of plots, ranging from minor medicinal color smuggling, to helping unsuitable couples elope, to trying to break the hold of the Head Office over the entire civilization and change life as he knows it. It’s the first novel in a series, and I am eagerly anticipating the next installment.