Red Side Story is a novel by Jasper Fforde. It was released in 2024 as a sequel to his 2009 novel, Shades of Grey. This review is intended to be free of spoilers, but none of us are perfect. Consider yourself warned! I purchased this book myself; no review copy was provided. There are affiliate links at the end of this review.
Blurb
It’s the UK, but not as we know it: civilisation has rebuilt after an unspoken ‘Something that Happened’ five hundred years before. Society is now colour-based, the strict levels of hierarchy dictated by the colours you can see, and the economy, health service and citizen’s aspirations all dominated by visual colour, run by the shadowy National Colour in far-off Emerald City.
Out on the fringes of Red Sector West, Eddie Russett and Jane Grey have discovered that all is neither fair nor truthful within their cosy environment, and currently face trumped up charges that will see them die of the fatally soporific tones within the Green Room.
Negotiating the narrow boundaries of the Rules within their society, Jane and Edward must find out the truth of their world: What is it, where is it and even when it is. As they unpeel the lies that cloak their existence they come to the worrying conclusion that they may not be alone: That there might be a Somewhere Else beyond the sea, and more, Someone Else living there – and observing them all, purposefully unseen.
Red Side Story delves into the strictures of a society imposed on itself by itself, immovable dogma and the spirit of humans trying to love and survive and make sense of a world that makes no sense at all. Only it does, of course – you just have to look harder, look further, and forget everything you’ve ever been told.
Review
I waited so long for this sequel!
Jasper Fforde returns to Chromatacia with Red Side Story, picking up the chromatic satire of my beloved Shades of Grey and pushing it outward until the particular absurdities of East Carmine collide with wider political consequences. The novel feels like a long-awaited reunion with familiar eccentricities. We see the return of bureaucratic farce, punning arcana, and small-town rituals, but Fforde has tightened the screws! Jokes gain teeth, mysteries broaden into systems, and the book’s amiable oddness now carries clearer stakes. For readers who loved the first volume’s blend of whimsy and social critique, this is both a comfortable homecoming and a provocation to take the world seriously enough to change it.
Red Side Story follows Eddie Russett and Jane Brunswick as their local entanglements begin to reveal the outlines of a far larger chromatic apparatus. Episodic scenes, including investigations, public inquiries, and farcical ceremonies, accumulate into a pattern of institutional cover-ups and contested narratives, so that what starts as town gossip becomes evidence of systemic design. The story moves with a detective’s curiosity and a satirist’s relish: clues are dropped in seemingly incidental details, comic set pieces illuminate deeper power dynamics, and personal relationships function as both emotional anchor and mechanism for revelation. As the cast fans out from East Carmine into regional and national arenas, the novel balances puzzle-driven momentum with moments of genuine moral reckoning.
Fforde’s satirical focus remains sharp: hierarchy, conformity, and the absurd administration of authority are still the bones of the book, but here they are more clearly shown as political structures that shape lives rather than merely comic devices. The tone toggles between light, often slapstick humour and a growing seriousness that asks readers to consider what it means to live under an arbitrary meritocracy. Identity and perception are central concerns; how people are seen, how they see themselves, and what happens when those acts of seeing are weaponised or denied. Beneath the jokes and theatricality, there is a steady interrogation of power, looking at loyalty, complicity, and the costs of dissent. All of this is delivered with Fforde’s characteristic wit so that satire and sympathy remain tightly braided.
As a sequel, Red Side Story widens its lens: where Shades of Grey felt like a lovingly observed town portrait, this book reads like a civic chronicle that traces how local absurdities are baked into national systems. Fforde adds layers of institutional colour, including ministries, reform committees, rival patronage networks, so the humour multiplies into procedural satire and the stakes of small foolishness become matters of policy. Character work deepens alongside scope; familiar faces are given private histories and public roles that complicate earlier loyalties, and Jane’s changing position in the social order reframes relationships that once seemed merely eccentric. Structurally, the book is denser too: more puzzle-threads, more archival revelations, and a greater appetite for revealing how history, ritual, and bureaucracy conspire to keep the chromatic order intact.
Returning readers will find pleasure in recurrence: motifs, in-jokes, and unresolved mysteries from the first book return with new resonance, and the sequel answers some questions while teasing others in broader, sometimes more political ways. If you loved the original’s tonal tightrope (balancing whimsy with more than a hint of moral unease) this book offers that same balance but amplified; patient readers who enjoyed teasing apart the first novel’s hints will be rewarded by the sequel’s accumulation of detail. Newcomers can still enjoy the narrative as a satirical adventure, but the emotional and thematic payoffs land richest for those who remember East Carmine’s earlier eccentricities and the particular pleasures of Fforde’s world-building.
Now, in my review of Shades of Grey, I included some suggestions on running the story as an RPG. Let’s consider that in the context of this sequel. Red Side Story is a masterclass in how to scale a setting from charmingly local to politically consequential while keeping play lively and character-focused. GMs should treat the novel’s institutions as active factions: ministries, reformist cells, and municipal patronage networks that react to player actions and reshape the social terrain. Keep social mechanics front and centre, including status, public opinion, and access to colour-based privileges. These should have mechanical teeth so that choices feel costly and interesting. Systems like FATE’s Aspects mechanics would be helpful here. Campaigns should be structured in strata: start with East Carmine-style mysteries that teach players the world, then let investigations bleed into regional intrigues and national conspiracies. Use NPC loyalties and bureaucratic procedures as engines of conflict rather than relying on combat; comic set pieces and procedural hurdles make for memorable scenes. Finally, lean into the book’s tonal blend, encouraging farcical roleplay and absurd traditions while making room for genuine moral consequences when players push against the chromatic order.
Red Side Story is a rich, ambitious sequel that honours the mischievous intelligence of Shades of Grey while broadening its moral and political sweep. Fforde balances laugh-out-loud invention with sharper stakes, deepening character work and expanding the world in ways that reward patient readers. To go back to our previous advice about playing in this world, it rewards creative GMs who want a setting that supports both comic improvisation and themes of meaningful social change. This book is fertile ground for creative play.
Rating: 5/5
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