Recommendations based on Shades of Greyby Jasper Fforde

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. The Eyre Affair

    by Jasper Fforde
    An eccentric literary detective, in an alternate 1985, uses time-travel to save kidnapped characters from classic novels.

    In a parallel universe , England and Imperial Russia have fought the Crimean War for more than a century; England still has a parliamentary government, although heavily influenced by the Goliath ... (Wikipedia)

  2. Lost in a Good Book

    by Jasper Fforde
    A journey through the magical world of fiction as a character attempts to find a way out of the book.

    Three months after the events of The Eyre Affair , Thursday Next is happily married to Landen Parke-Laine and working as a literary detective out of Swindon . One day, Thursday meets her father, a ... (Wikipedia)

  3. The Well of Lost Plots

    by Jasper Fforde
    A detective story set in a world of books, where characters and stories collide.

    Apprentice Jurisfiction agent and SpecOps -27 operative Thursday Next is taking a vacation inside Caversham Heights , a never-published detective novel inside the titular Well of Lost Plots, while ... (Wikipedia)

  4. To Say Nothing of the Dog

    by Connie Willis
    Time-traveling historian visits Victorian England in search of an artifact, amidst a comedy of errors.

    Ned Henry is a time traveler in 1940 studying Coventry Cathedral after the Coventry Blitz of World War II . He is specifically searching for the location of the "Bishop's bird stump ", a MacGuffin ... (Wikipedia)

  5. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

    by Susanna Clarke
    A whimsical tale of two magicians mastering the mysteries of English magic.

    The novel opens in 1806 in northern England with The Learned Society of York Magicians, whose members are "theoretical magicians" who believe that magic died out several hundred years earlier. The ... (Wikipedia)

  6. Small Gods

    by Terry Pratchett
    A humorous fantasy tale of a god struggling with his dwindling power and followers.

    The Great God Om tries to manifest himself once more in the world, as the time of his eighth prophet is nigh. He is surprised, however, when he finds himself in the body of a tortoise, stripped of ... (Wikipedia)

  7. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

    by Douglas Adams
    An eccentric detective's surreal journey through time and space to solve a mysterious case.

    Richard MacDuff attends the Coleridge dinner at his old college St Cedd's , where he witnesses his former tutor, Professor Urban "Reg" Chronotis , perform an inexplicable magic trick in which he ... (Wikipedia)

  8. The Graveyard Book

    by Neil Gaiman
    A young boy's journey through a graveyard, learning the secrets of the dead.

    The story begins as the man Jack murders most of the members of a family (later revealed to be the Dorian family) except for the toddler upstairs. Unknown to him, the toddler has climbed out of his ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Doomsday Book

    by Connie Willis
    A time-traveling historian struggles to contain a deadly pandemic in the Middle Ages.

    For Kivrin, preparing an on-site study of one of the deadliest eras in humanity's history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi ... (Goodreads)

  10. Leviathan Wakes

    by James S.A. Corey
    Space adventure of two unlikely allies in a fight to save humanity.

    The ice hauling ship Canterbury (nicknamed the Cant by Belters) is en route from Saturn's Rings to Ceres Station when it encounters a distress signal . Five members of the Cant 's crew are dispatched ... (Wikipedia)

  11. Neverwhere

    by Neil Gaiman
    A mysterious journey through a hidden realm of London, filled with danger and unexpected allies.

    Neverwhere is the story of Richard Mayhew and his trials and tribulations in London. At the start of the story, he is a young businessman, recently moved from Scotland and with a normal life ahead. ... (Wikipedia)

  12. His Dark Materials

    by Philip Pullman
    An epic fantasy adventure across multiple universes, pitting good against evil.

    In Jordan College, Oxford , 11-year-old Lyra Belacqua and her dæmon Pantalaimon witness the Master attempt to poison Lord Asriel , Lyra's rebellious and adventuring uncle. She warns Asriel, then ... (Wikipedia)

  13. Foundation

    by Isaac Asimov
    Exploring the possibilities of a galactic empire in a future driven by science and technology.

    For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future – to a dark age ... (Goodreads)

  14. Snow Crash

    by Neal Stephenson
    A hacker's quest in a futuristic America dealing with a mysterious computer virus.

    Hiro Protagonist is a hacker and pizza delivery driver for the Mafia. He meets Y.T. (short for Yours Truly), a young skateboard Kourier ( courier ) who refers to herself in the third person , during ... (Wikipedia)

  15. The Last Continent

    by Terry Pratchett
    A comedic adventure through a fantasy world, uncovering secrets of the past.

    The story opens weeks after the events of, Interesting Times, , in which Rincewind is magically transported to the continent of Xxxx due to a miscalculation made by the Unseen University wizards. He ... (Wikipedia)

  16. The Subtle Knife

    by Philip Pullman
    A young boy embarks on a journey through multiple worlds to unlock the mysteries of the multiverse.

    Twelve-year-old Will Parry lives in Oxford , where he cares for his mother who has mental health problems. After accidentally killing an intruder, Will escapes via a portal into another world and ... (Wikipedia)

  17. Hogfather

    by Terry Pratchett
    A magical and comical adventure to save Hogswatchnight from the evil Auditors.

    The Auditors of Reality, a group of "celestial bureaucrats" attempt to eliminate the Hogfather, a jolly god-like creature who brings children presents on December 32nd , similar to the figures of ... (Wikipedia)

  18. Watership Down

    by Richard Adams
    A group of rabbits embark on a treacherous journey to find a new home.

    In the Sandleford warren , ,[b], Fiver, a young runt rabbit who is a seer , receives a frightening vision of his warren's imminent destruction. , When he and his brother Hazel fail to convince their ... (Wikipedia)

  19. The Golem and the Jinni

    by Helene Wecker
    Two supernatural creatures from different mythologies, living in New York City, find companionship and friendship in each other.

    In the Polish town of Konin at the end of the 19th century, a corrupt kabbalist named Yehudah Schaalman creates a golem in the shape of a woman at the request of young Otto Rotfeld, who seeks a ... (Wikipedia)

  20. Anathem

    by Neal Stephenson
    A philosophical novel set in a monastic society, exploring the limits of knowledge.

    Anathem is set on the fictional planet of Arbre. Thousands of years before the events in the novel, the planet's intellectuals entered concents ( monastic communities) to protect their activities ... (Wikipedia)

  21. A Visit from the Goon Squad

    by Jennifer Egan
    A mosaic of characters, lives, and relationships as they intertwine and evolve over time.

    Jennifer Egan’s spellbinding interlocking narratives circle the lives of Bennie Salazar, an aging former punk rocker and record executive, and Sasha, the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. ... (Goodreads)

  22. Station Eleven

    by Emily St. John Mandel
    Post-apocalyptic exploration of a world drastically changed after a pandemic.

    An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse,, Station Eleven, tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of ... (Barnes & Noble)

  23. Storm Front

    by Jim Butcher
    A wizard detective investigates a mysterious magical murder in modern Chicago.

    Dresden is hired by a Monica Sells to find her husband Victor Sells, an amateur magician who has been acting oddly. Later that day, he gets a call from Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, director of the ... (Wikipedia)

  24. The Truth

    by Stephen Briggs
    A man's quest to uncover secrets of his family's past, uncovering truths that will change his life.

    William de Worde is the black sheep of an influential Ankh-Morpork family, scraping out a humble lifestyle as a common scribe and making extra pocket money by producing a gossipy newsletter for ... (Wikipedia)

  25. Old Man's War

    by John Scalzi
    Elderly citizens enlist in an interstellar war to save humanity, discovering new strength and purpose.

    Old Man's War is about a soldier named John Perry and his exploits in the Colonial Defense Forces (CDF). The first-person narrative follows Perry's military career from CDF recruit to the rank of ... (Wikipedia)

  26. The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

    by Philip Pullman
    A retelling of the story of Jesus and his twin brother Christ, exploring the nature of faith and religion.

    This is a story. In this ingenious and spell-binding retelling of the life of Jesus, Philip Pullman revisits the most influential story ever told. Charged with mystery, compassion and enormous power, ... (Goodreads)

  27. Railsea

    by China Miéville
    An epic adventure set in a fantastical world of giant moles and mutant creatures.

    Sham Yes ap Soorap is a young assistant doctor on a moletrain, captained by Abacat Naphi, that hunts giant moles for meat in a similar fashion to whaling . Naphi is especially obsessed with one mole ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Wolf Hall

    by Hilary Mantel
    A historical fiction about the rise of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII.

    England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry ... (Goodreads)

  29. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

    by Patrick Süskind
    A murder mystery set in 18th century France, exploring the depths of human obsession.

    An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind's classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion—his sense of ... (Goodreads)

  30. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

    by Alan Bradley
    A young girl's detective journey to solve a murder mystery in a picturesque English village.

    As the novel opens, Flavia Sabina de Luce schemes revenge against her two older sisters, Ophelia (17) and Daphne (13), who have locked her inside a closet in Buckshaw, the family's country manor home ... (Wikipedia)