Books I read recently!

I loved Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters. I don't need to give a long review. Most of you have probably read it already. It's brilliant—and there are Shakespeare jokes. If you haven't read it, do!

I need more space for Jasper Fforde's Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron. I'll put spoilers under a cut because I know at least two of my friends have read it and I want to talk about details.

The non-spoilery bit: I loved it. On his website, Jasper Fforde clearly labels it "Shades of Grey 1," so I feel assured of a sequel (though another Thursday Next book is due out sooner, apparently, with book Thursday rather than our Thursday, if I can even say that. Um, where was I?). I very much want a sequel in this new series as well.

Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron was not as funny as the Thursday Next series often is, but it had its moments of comedy and even hilarity (including the bit on grading I shared with some of you). It's more thoughtful and thought-provoking and even frightening than Thursday Next.

The Shades of Grey world seems to be a future of ours or a world much like ours, but it's after Something Happened. Life in this world is very different, we learn right away. Most people don't see colors plural. Some see only gray. Some see only one color. The degree to which even those who can see a color can see it varies. Everyone can see artificial colors, but they're expensive to produce. Everyone lives a highly rule-bound life. Our protagonist, Eddie, seems a tad dense, but I found him quite sympathetic (and I don't think it's truly a spoiler to say that he becomes less dense).

I stayed up late one night to finish this book. That should tell you something. Sleep is precious!

( I read it! Take me to the spoiler-filled discussion! )

Books I read recently!

I loved Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters. I don't need to give a long review. Most of you have probably read it already. It's brilliant—and there are Shakespeare jokes. If you haven't read it, do!

I need more space for Jasper Fforde's Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron. I'll put spoilers under a cut because I know at least two of my friends have read it and I want to talk about details.

The non-spoilery bit: I loved it. On his website, Jasper Fforde clearly labels it "Shades of Grey 1," so I feel assured of a sequel (though another Thursday Next book is due out sooner, apparently, with book Thursday rather than our Thursday, if I can even say that. Um, where was I?). I very much want a sequel in this new series as well.

Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron was not as funny as the Thursday Next series often is, but it had its moments of comedy and even hilarity (including the bit on grading I shared with some of you). It's more thoughtful and thought-provoking and even frightening than Thursday Next.

The Shades of Grey world seems to be a future of ours or a world much like ours, but it's after Something Happened. Life in this world is very different, we learn right away. Most people don't see colors plural. Some see only gray. Some see only one color. The degree to which even those who can see a color can see it varies. Everyone can see artificial colors, but they're expensive to produce. Everyone lives a highly rule-bound life. Our protagonist, Eddie, seems a tad dense, but I found him quite sympathetic (and I don't think it's truly a spoiler to say that he becomes less dense).

I stayed up late one night to finish this book. That should tell you something. Sleep is precious!

( I read it! Take me to the spoiler-filled discussion! )