Walter Mosley: Blue Light (USA 2024)

From the Publisher:
In 1965, a mysterious beam of blue light descended from space, illuminating Northern California. This extraterrestrial beam possessed strange powers, causing those it touched to either die, go mad, or gain a unique, extraordinary ability. This newfound power represented the full actualization of human potential, bestowing strengths, understandings, and communication abilities far beyond normal human capacities. Those affected by the light were soon dubbed "Blues" and were segregated from society due to their superhuman abilities. United by their shared experiences, the Blues began searching for their purpose in the universe. However, an evil force known as the "Gray Man" soon emerged, setting the stage for a battle between good and evil. The Gray Man, originally Horace LaFontaine, was a character struck by the light at the moment of his death, revivified as a demon with a mission to annihilate the Blues. Once the Blues discovered their nemesis, they took refuge in the forests outside Northern California. Despite their efforts to hide, the Gray Man learned of their location through inside sources. Determined to confront their enemy, the Blues decided to declare war on the Gray Man. This epic battle, which takes place at the novel's climax, showcases the Blues utilizing their extraordinary powers to ultimately destroy the Gray Man. After their victory, the Blues settled into small cities in Northern California, integrating and living normal lives alongside the other residents of California.

Walter Mosley: Blue Light. A Novel. Black Classic Press, ISBN 9781574782332 (December, 2024), 385 p., $22.00.

Walter Mosley: Blue Light (UK 2000)

From the Publisher:
In San Francisco in the-mid 1960's, a cosmic blue light strikes people in its path, quickening their DNA, and greatly enhancing their strengths and understanding. They become the Blues, Powerful but yet vulnerable. And Blue Light is their story.

Narrated by Chance, a half-black, half-white follower of the Blues, the novel traces their desperate conflict with one of their own, a man who - struck by the light at the moment he died - has become the living embodiment of Death.

Blue Light refracts questions of identity, race and humanity - hallmarks of Waiter Mosley's writing - through a gripping adventure that puts a dazzling new spin on the relationship between past, present and future.

Walter Mosley: Blue Light. Serpent's Tail, ISBN 1852427337 (June, 2000), 296 p., £6.99.

Walter Mosley: Blue Light (USA 1999)

From the Publisher:
San Francisco in the sixties is already crazy when mysterious shafts of blue light touch the lives of random strangers: Chance, a suicidal grad student who needs a history to chronicle... Orde, a scam artist turned prophet... Claudia Heart, housewife, swinger, and free-love goddess... Winch Fargo, a violent junkie driven mad by truth... and Alacrity, a little girl growing up very, very fast. They may have come from different places, but now they're all on the same trip - because under blue light nothing looks the same...

Walter Mosley: Blue Light. Warner Books, ISBN 0446606928 (November, 1999), 371 p., $6.99 .

Walter Mosley: Blue Light (UK 1999)

From the Publisher:
In San Francisco in the mid 1960s, a cosmic blue light strikes people in its path, quickening their DNA, and greatly enhancing their strengths and understanding. They become the Blues, powerful yet vulnerable. And Blue Light is their story. Narrated by Chance, a half-black, half-white follower of the Blues, the novel traces their desperate conflict with one of their own, a man who - struck by the light at the moment he died - has become the living embodiment of death. Blue Light refracts questions of identity, race and humanity - hallmarks of Walter Mosley's writing - through a gripping adventure that puts a dazzling new spin on the relationship between past, present and future.

Walter Mosley: Blue Light. Serpent's Tail, ISBN 185242611X (May, 1999), 296 p., £9.99.

Walter Mosley: Blue Light (USA 1998)

From the Publisher:
THE HUMAN RACE HAS JUST BEGUN
In a brilliant departure for Walter Mosley, author of the bestselling Easy Rawlins mystery series, Blue Light imagines a world in which human potential is suddenly, amazingly fulfilled -- a change that calls into question the meaning of human differences and the ultimate purpose and Pate of the human race.

From an unknown point in the universe, an inscrutable blue light approaches our solar system. When it reaches Earth, it transforms those it strikes, causing them instantaneously to evolve beyond the present state of humanity. Each person imbued with the light becomes the full realization of his or her nature and potential, with strengths, understanding, and communication abilities far beyond our imagining.

Blue Light is the story of these people and their transforrnation. Narrated by Chance, a biracial man whose entire life has been a struggle for self-definition, the novel traces the desperate conflict of the "Blues" with one of their own, a man who -- struck by the light at the moment he expired -- has become the living embodiment of death. Written as a kind of gospel in which Chance describes the wanderings of this tribe and their ultimate, apocalyptic battle, the account is also toll of his uncertainties -- about his own place in this strange new world and about whether he may be recording the beginning of the end of the human race.

Blue Light explores questions about identity, race, and humanity -- the hallmarks of Walter Mosley's fiction -- but within a mind-stretching new framework. Written as the prelude to a projected trilogy, Blue Light is imaginative fiction of the highest caliber from one of the most adventurous thinkers and accomplished novelist at work today.

Walter Mosley: Blue Light. A Novel. Little, Brown, & Co., ISBN 0316570982 (October, 1998), 296 p., $24.00.