Rating: 
Summary: hard to follow
Review: I was anxious to pick up a stirring science fiction novel, however several chapters into "Blue Light", things start to get confusing. I'm unable to keep track of the characters. I trudge on because I have bought the book, however the further I go, the more lost I feel. I read about 2/3rds into it and finally decided, there's no way any of this will make sense to me, so I gave up. The first time I ever gave up on a book more than halfway read.
Rating: 
Summary: Should have been a 5 Star book!!
Review: Walter Mosley is a wordsmith of the highest quality, and his prodigious skills are on display throughout Blue Light. As you read the opening of this book, you will be sucked into the narrator's mind. You feel his anguish, you revel in his discoveries, you fear for his safety. This book has a wonderful premise: A light falls from the sky, imbueing everyone who lays eyes upon it with wonderful powers. I won't describe any more of the plot to you because a large part of the enjoyment factor of this book is experiencing the ebb and flow of the plot. One thing kept me from awarding this book the five star treatment. The book ends in an obvious cliffhanger. Granted, Mosley does wrap up the story in a satifying manner. Granted, most sci-fi books work under the trilogy pattern. Still, I would have felt less used if this book would have ended a little less . . . maniputively.
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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.
Rating: 
Summary: Blue Light - either you see it, or you don't
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: A cop-out of an ending.
Review: 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.
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Summary: Mosley's only bad book
Review: Although I am mostly a science fiction fan, I've always loved Walter Mosley's books. The farther afield he has stretched in the past from the detective stories that made him famous, the better I liked him -- his Gone Fishin' and Always Outnumbered are even better than his mysteries. So I figured that Mosley and science fiction would be two great tastes that taste great together. I was wrong. In his efforts to convince us of the earth-shattering importance of the events of his story, he resorts to telling us over and over again that they are important, rather than giving us facts that would lead us to decide for ourselves that they are. In his efforts to convince us those affected by the Blue Light of the title are more than human, he has his worshipful protagonist Chance tell us over and over how trancendent they are, even though many of them seem less functional, and far less interesting, than the ordinary humans who usually populate Mosely works. Also, Mosely seems intentionally to piece out the stories of the various characters in such a way that just when we are starting to get into them, the narrative switches to another storyline. As a result, the book never gains momentum. Mosely did a better job creating a story arc that carried us along with it in his collection of short stories, Always Outnumbered, than he does in this novel. Another thing: I am not much of a fan of protagonists who do very little, and Chance is one of these passive protagonists. Even when he does have one of his rare bouts of action or feeling, he is invariably wrong or manages to embarrass himself somehow. I know this is a matter of taste, but frankly, I did not like or enjoy any major character in this book. Mosely's way with language is really the only bright spot I saw in Blue Light. He is a true prose stylist and deserves the praise reserved for self-indulgent peacocks like David Guterson. Even when, as here, he writes something I don't like, I like the way he writes about it.
Rating: 
Summary: mystifying, challenging, intriguing
Review: I must start by saying that I am a Walter Mosley fan. I love his writing, generally, and his characters. His characters are rich and substantive, ordinary and extraordinary at the same time. "Blue Light" was difficult to read, however. I only completed because of a colleague who had read it and encouraged me to press on. Do I think I understood it? Probably not. It raised questions about the basic substance we call life, yet left many trailers. It is probably a book for discussion on spiritual, philosophical and extential elements. My favorite book by him is still "RL's Blues."
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Summary: Mosley captivates and intrigues from beginning to end!
Review: This book is rich with symbolism. When I first started reading the book, I thought Mosley had gone over the deep end. As I continued to read, I realized why he is one of the best.
Rating:
Summary: Slow.Very different for this author. Not his usual stuff.
Review: I am a good story "listener", i.e., tell me a good story and I am yours. This one didn't grab or hold my attention like any of his remaining works have. It seemed to be a narrative of a group of semi-wooden characters reacting to a situation (the blue light) rather than a story about humans. I am a SF AND a Mystery fan but I found this slow and somewhat annoying. In other words it had the "so" but not the "so what". Skip it unless you have nothing better to do.
Rating:
Summary: An important book
Review: 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.
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