Rating: 
Summary: Bad abridgement - Avoid this title
Review: Let me preface this opinion by stating that I have purchased,on audiocasette and/or in print, every title available by WalterMosely. He is a fine writer, and his work deserves more attention.My regret is that some of the abridgements that have appeared do a disservice to the reader. The current abridged audocassette edition of Blue Light is one example. The story, as told in this casette, is difficult to follow. It appears disjointed, and characters seem to lack sufficient motivation for all their actions. In fact, character development as a whole, one of Mosely's strong suits, is very poor in the abridged cassette. In addition to poor character development, the cassette fails as a sci-fi novel because it does an inadequate job of establishing the premise. As a listener, I am never brought to the point where I am willing to believe in the reality that Mosely is painting. The third area where the abridged audiocassette fails in in story line. The story is basically linear, with events presented in sequential order with few deviations.. For all people who like audiobooks and who are fans of Walter Mosely, I advise you to avoid this title. It did not satisfy my desire to listen to a good story, it did not satisfy my desire to listen to a good Mosely book, and it did not satisfy my desire for a good sci-fi story. Other than Tucker Smallwood, who has a pleasant and agile voice narrate, this audiobook was a dissapointment for me. And to Mr. Mosely, please consider releasing your future work in unabridged form. You're giving yourself, and your listening audience, half a loaf. We want to hear *everything* you had to say. END
Rating: 
Summary: This cap not a winner. Thanks for playing. Please try again.
Review: Like many people I wanted this book to succeed so I could point to a mainstream writer (who rocks at what he does best, mystery) that has big ideas about SF. Well, Mosley does have ideas, but the book does not deliver. Rather than blend the mystery and SF genres so much, what Mosley has decided to do, more or less, is create a book that raises big questions about race in the future of this country. This would also be pretty darn great if it succeeded too, but... While the future is a frequent realm of SF, Mosley has dealt a book that feels like it was written on a bet to see if he could get a publisher to buy an SF novel from a mystery star. Hmm. Unlike some of the better works of Delany, Butler, and newer young black SF writers, Mosley's approach lacks a critical understanding of what makes an SF novel a philosophical novel (and quite unfortunately, this is exactly what he wants it to be, very very badly). Rather than unfold the whole plot for you to explain what I mean, I will let Mosley fans and SF read it on their own to decide if they agree. If you are interested in these issues (race in SF)- check out "Dark Matter", an anthology of African-American SF stories. There are some stories in there which top the effect of this book in a much smaller space.
Rating: 
Summary: Mysterious blue light genetically alters a group of humans
Review: Mosley here takes a wide detour from Easy Rawlins and Mouse with this somewhat puzzling novel that transcends all genres. The plot follows a large group of strangers who are touched by a mysterious blue light from space. The "blues" and "half blues" become superhuman in various ways; some physically, others mentally. While that sounds very SF-ish, there are also elements of fantasy and horror as one blue, who is essentially the personification of death, wages war against the others who are forced to hide in a magical forest in Northern California. Sound strange? It is, but it's also worthwhile. Mosley offers many gender twists as the men become more philosophical and the women, especially one child who quickly morphs into an Amazonian warrior, are the more physically aggressive. Race also loses meaning as the blues and half blues, whites and blacks, adults and children, criminals and cops, and teachers and fools live in harmony. This is going to be a great leap of faith for Mosley's fans, but those that endure will be rewarded with a beautifully written, deeply spiritual novel. Recommended.-Michael Rogers, "Library Journal
Rating: 
Summary: Not your children's sci-fi
Review: Mosley weaves an intriguing tale through the Bay area in the '60's. Chance, a bi-racial Ph.D. student dropout discovers a self-styled prophet and salvation in the Close Congregation. All is not well, though; there are poisonings, unnatural attractions, and a exterresterial essence in the "Blues" of the loose knit group that is attracting death personified. This isn't a children's sci-fi. Though the end delves into a fantasy replete with accommodating animals and trees, much of the work is gritty, bloody, sexy, and full of dark realism.
Rating:
Summary: God Aweful
Review: Simply, a terribly written book. It has a shallow plot, flat characters and no style. His descriptions of people are often late, and tend to consist of someone's skin colour. And that's all. The story moves ok at first but degrades into the most uninteresting chase/camping trip in the history of the world. The ideas presented are soft, touchy feely sort of "the soul is love" type crap. Seems like it's a rip off of The Celestine Prophecy, which isn't something anyone should want to rip off in the first place.
Rating:
Summary: God Aweful
Review: Simply, a terribly written book. It has a shallow plot, flat characters and no style. His descriptions of people are often late, and tend to consist of someone's skin colour. And that's all. The story moves ok at first but degrades into the most uninteresting chase/camping trip in the history of the world. The ideas presented are soft, touchy feely sort of "the soul is love" type crap. Seems like it's a rip off of The Celestine Prophecy, which isn't something anyone should want to rip off in the first place.
Rating:
Summary: A Different Light for Mosley
Review: The Blue Light struck the Bay Area and those who witnessed it and even those who didn't had their lives changed dramatically as the result of it's appearance including the narrator, Chance is a lonely man, a dejected Ph.D. candidate who'd recently failed at ending his life. He becomes a member of the "close congregation" - a group of people of who'd experienced the blue light as well as those who wanted to know about it. Their leader Orde' became Chance's mentor and "brother" after a ritual was performed on him. The story traces the path Chance takes as a member of the congregation and his experience with the "blues" (those who were directly hit with the blue light). Having never fit in with any group because of his biracial heritage, he finds amongst this group of strange folks a family made up of different ethnicities, ages and backgrounds. The main characters (blues and others) are introduced in rapid succession. The stories of these characters and Chance's involvement with them are intriguingly told but with a bit of gore. If the reader can get passed the gore the story becomes quite readable, a story about living life against the specter of death. For this reader the blue light represents an elevated life that allows that person possessing it to experience life to a greater degree than the rest of us, however the blues life ends just like everyone else's, with death. This book was at the least disturbing and at the best, interesting. It's even been theorized that none of the events told even happened but were a hallucination or dream of the narrator. You decide.
Rating:
Summary: Deeply talented author-- shallow plot
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Creative, but...
Review: The writing in "Blue Light" is always creative, and sometimes poetic. The plot, however, is disjointed, and (at least to me) just did not make a lot of sense. If you are a science fiction fan, you will probably enjoy this book. Otherwise, it is probably not worth the time.
Rating: 
Summary: The blueprint for a new agenda
Review: There were so many themes that ran throughout this novel; but, to the 'naked' eye an average person would not be able to read between the lines. The biggest themes that I gathered from this book are 'realizing that our awareness is always expanding' and that 'man's greatest challenge is himself.' Unlike his other books where there was one main character, with this book you can hear Walter Mosley speaking in a spectrum of voices. Where before "Always Outnumbered" gave us true contemporary (circa post-1995) African-American fiction, "Blue Light" has allowed Mr. Mosley alongside OctaviaButler to push the outer boundaries of the literary fiction genre.
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