Shades of Grey is a pretty far cry from Jasper Fforde's other work in some ways. It's not a happy novel, and the ending is downright depressing. But it's also got that same inventiveness that marks his excellent "Thursday Next" novels. At times, in fact, Shades of Grey feels like a travelogue of strange things in this new post-apocalyptic world that Fforde has created. In fact, I wasn't surprised when I later read an interview in which he said that the novel started out as a travelogue -- the plot doesn't actually kick into gear until the last quarter.
There are very few writers who can pull off a novel that's wholly a tour of imaginary places (Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities is, of course, the shining example of the genre, but I can't think of any others off-hand). And, as much as I enjoy Fforde's inventiveness (and there's a lot of cool stuff to see), there were a few places where the doldrums set in. I'll be interested to see what he can do with the setting he's so carefully established in the next book. Also, although the plot is complete, there are definitely plenty of mysteries to unravel in books to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment