Customer Reviews

Blue Light

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I prefer Mosely's departures from the predictable, and in taking the Chance on Blue Light, received something more profound: a spectral analysis of the colors of human nature, magnified by the simple but brilliant artifice of light itself. The writing in this novel is superbly imaginative; not an overbearing mountain of details but an evocation, a description of what matters, not of matter. Reading about the mind of Grey Man and his tormented host was a marvelously hideous exploration, at once repulsive and sympathetic, suggesting a portrait of schizophrenia. Winch Fargo was likewise a fascinating treatment on evil and identity, the danger of one who has superhuman will and strength but without purpose. I marvel at Mosely's use of language and idea to invent such an original work. The story has many switchbacks and some are drawbacks: as the light strikes many in different places, convergence takes some time to occur. This will not sit well with those who like continuous action and strict sequential progress. The characters, by dint of Blue Light, become outcasts, wanderers and drifters, and as such cannot be given the more substantial treatment that say a similar Socrates is given in Always Outnumbered. The beach scenes therein are recalled in the Blues leader Orde's enlightenment. Again this work is more poetic than prosaic, so be prepared. Mosely is not shy about sex (he borders on the voyeuristic) or violence either. The traditional sci-fi genre fans will be annoyed by the fact that the powers exhibited by the Blues are intangible, and that their discovery by the world at large is as difficult to pin down as an alien corpse. This is a tantalizing angle: that "the revolution will not be televised," and as others have said may be going on as we speak. The notion was entertaining in itself that while I was reading a meta-fantasy (in the mind of Chance all along, and Mosely of course). That's one of the chances you take when you take this on. Mosely makes you work for what you get out of this book. Take a transfusion of uncommon perspective and get an increased wonder at the broadband frequencies of human possibility as your receipt.

I've never read Mosley's mysteries; I'm normally a science fiction reader. This book will probably annoy SF readers as much as it seems to annoy Mystery genre readers. There are lots of SF books that have dealt with some of the concerns in this book, but there's nothing quite like this one - a real orginal. It doesn't fit any categories. It has to be taken on its own terms. It's powerful, it's beautifully written, and it's so full of thought (if you're looking for it) that it will probably support an industry of students for years. But forget all that - I couldn't put it down. It's wonderful to read something like this. You might notice I'm not saying what it's about. You have to figure that out for yourself! Probably, like the way the blue light affects different people in different ways according to their natures, this will be a different book for anyone who reads it.

Although I have never read a Walter Mosley book, I was intrigued by the premise for "Blue Light" that he described when he was a guest on NPR. Indeed, I was quickly drawn into this hurly-burly world of hippies, blue light, and human super-evolution. The writing is quite good, with apt descriptions, believable dialog and powerful emotional language.

However, as the story progressed, the tight narrative structure began to fall apart. Suddenly, characters appeared out of nowhere, wandering in and out of the story. The narrator, Chance, became a whiny irritant. Eventually, the inconsistencies wore me down. (Did blue light make people stronger or weaker? Did it make children grow or not grow? Were the hybrids closer to the future or simply tainted humans?).

I was fairly disappointed with the giant battle with Gray Man, but the ending really threw me for a loop. How could a writer with Mosley's reputation pull off such a cheap stunt? I can't give it away, but it was a prime example of what writing teachers warn beginning novelists about. I felt betrayed and most likely won't read another Moseley book again.

I started reading Mosley years (and years) ago, and wondered for a second when I saw Blue Light on the shelves if it was really by the same author. There is a great science fiction/fantasy story in here (if you hate sf viscerally, maybe you shouldn't read it: if you have an open mind and can risk it, you should) and what seemed to me a delightful wistful remembrance of times past in a hippy-freak california you'd have trouble finding these days... I get one of my favourite emotions from this novel: nostalgia for the future (the future the blue light heralds). Where did it go?

I hope another story in this sequence appears almost as much as I'd like another Socrates Fortlow book.

It is very hard for an author to leave one genre which they are very good at and try another. Walter Mosley has done just that with Blue Light. It his attempt to write science fiction. As a whole, it is not a bad job. However, he does not finish what he starts.

The concept is that a group on Northern Californians have their lives changed when an extra-terrestrial blue light touches them. Even people that have not had been touched by the blue light are also changed. The narrarator is not touched by the light, but is transformed through a blood transfusion.

Mosley spends a great deal of time building his characters and the story line. His antagonist is also changed by the blue light, but not in a good way. He spends his time killing the transformed blues. Mosley mentions him, but does not flesh him out where he probally should have. Mosley writes a good and evil story, except that he does not do enough with the evil. His story builds to a climax that is very anticlimatic. What I found very frustrating was that his book ended very abruptly where he could have added 50 pages to flesh out the ending and bring in a more satisfying finish.

The book is an easy read that is a fast page turner. It will be interesting to see if he stays with the science fiction or goes back to his mysteries.

Walter Mosely's writing style will captivate you, in fact it is the catalyst that brings you to the end of this trite novel. However the unfathomable plot and foolhardy character's make you wonder, when will this novel end? Mosely's attempt at the mystical is by all means fulfilled. The "blue light" awakens those who perceive, touch, and experience the bounty of death, and it is the character death that leads Mosely's diverse characters into the depths of the woods. The culmination occurs in a place where the fearless "blue lights" believe they are safe (and you thought this group was enlightened). You would think in the early stages of the novel that Mosely is attempting to reveal a divine group of individuals, who are on the brink of understanding the essense of life, however the end reveals this story is nothing more than a ficticious tale of good versus evil.

I, too, like so many others, didn't know what to expect when I first started reading Blue Light, but I must be honest and admit that overall I wasn't disappointed.

It's definitely a different kind of read for me, but it had enough of the elements that I look for in a book to keep me reading, i.e. action, drama, suspense, chaos-confusion. I particularly liked the spin Mosley put on the ending. I found myself laughing at my attempt to make it all make sense when I didn't have to. Once you read Blue Light you will know what I mean.

At first this book was a stretch for me but I thoroughly enjoyed the journey in the end. Thanks Walter Mosley!

I picked up this book in anticipation of a discussion with my monthly book club this coming weekend. We had previously read RL's Dream and I found that difficult to follow but considered it historical fiction. Now we enter the Blue Light. This book had none of the lyrical language I found so endearing in RL's Dream. This was a violent journey through a twisted utopia with no purpose. In a bow to the 60's, this was an acid trip gone very bad with a short fun period in the middle. The meanies were cardboard cartoon characters and the goodies were always running from them like Dorothy, Tin Man and Scarecrow through the poppy fields. I can't wait to see who picked this in our book club...Thanks for letting me share.

I have read Walter Mosley Easy Rawlins novels and enjoyed them for their characters, realistic dialogue, and suspenseful situations. Blue Light is a book that does very little to engage this reader. The characters are written from the outside in and consequently do not elicit the reader's care. I am almost three quarters done with the book and have yet to find someone that I like, admire, or have any concern about. I am plodding through this book and ready to give it up at any time. I had hoped for something that would entertain. It is confusing at times and even when its philosophy approaches clarity, I just want to say, "So what! Who cares!" It is a mishmash of New Age, Carlos Castaneda, with bursts of Andrew Vachss and Patricia Cornwall. I would not recommend this novel.

I agree that the writing at times is quite fluid and lovely, particularly when he is describing landscapes. But it is beauty yoked to what is ultimately a silly and senseless story.

The only thing that kept me reading "Blue Light" until the end was Mosley's general skill as a writer. His style reminded me of two SF greats-- Octavia E. Butler and Tad Willams. Hardly faint praise.But Mosley forgot to include the one thing these two luminaries always have in their books in abundance and that is scope. The events of the book don't really seem to change anything; they only concern a handful of characters. Certainly the reader doesn't feel, as with Butler, that the fabric of society, even the nature of humanity, will be changed by the blue light. Outside the concerns of the main characters, it is business as usual for Planet Earth. While it is irkome to think of what this book could have been with a plot constructin equal to Mosley's writing talents, I have to applaud him for making the foray into science fiction. The genre definitely needs more ethnic diversity in its authors. I hope Mr. Mosley will try again-- this time with a better plot!