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Red Side Story

The colourful and instant Sunday Times bestseller (Feb 2024) from the bestselling author of Shades of Grey

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Red Side Story

By: Jasper Fforde
Narrated by: Chris Harper, Jasper Fforde
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The long-awaited sequel to Jasper Fforde's cult bestseller Shades of Grey, set in world where social hierarchy revolves entirely around visual colour.

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....

(P)2024 Hodder & Stoughton Limited©2024 Jasper Fforde Absurdist Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Humorous Literature & Fiction Satire Comedy Witty Thought-Provoking Funny
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Critic reviews

PRAISE FOR RED SIDE STORY:
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 jokes are excellent, the pacing breathless and the last line a classic
Great fun and full of quirky worldbuilding detail
A fun yarn with . . . a generous dose of rollicking adventure
Fforde paints a Terry Pratchett-esque picture laced with laughter
That mischievous little monkey Jasper Fforde was on his best form yet with Red Side Story . . . It was possible to invest a little in the characters, as well as enjoying the incessant puns and Fforde's marvellously eccentric imagination
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This was fantastic well worth waiting for I was in tears, elated, laughing, and in total awe I'm going to re listen immediately what an absolute genius Jasper Fforde is I'm happy and totally bereft and the same time Wow what an incredible ride

I loved loved loved it wow

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lots of twists, turns and funny bits. the perfect follow on - no disappointments here!

long awaited and well worth it! brilliant sequel.

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absolutely loved it, a very satisfying ending and great exposition from the first book.

the only slight annoyance is the editing of the narration is low quality. breathing and mouth sounds have been left in which are very distracting and the recording as a whole has not been properly mastered. these take your focus away from the story which is frustrating. the first recording of the first book was great and I wish the sequel had been done the same way, rather than rerecording the first book and the second book in this inferior style.

perhaps the audio can be cleaned up to be more like the original recording of the first book. it's strange that so many years have gone by and yet the quality appears to have taken a "great leap back".

excellent sequel that I've been waiting to read since 2009

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A much appreciated sequel, that answered a lot of questions from the first book. Jasper Fford is quickly becoming a new favourite of mine, his storytelling is clever, thought provoking, witty and has just the right amount of absurdity.

The performance of the narrator was excellent, conveying several different characters without sounding forced. A very enjoyable listen!

Wonderful Storytelling

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I took a while to get into it but found it satisfying. There had been clues but the ending was quite a surprise. It will need some thinking about.

Amazing creation of a strange world

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