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Blue Light is a science fiction novel written by Walter Mosley in 1998. The book was published in 1998 by Little Brown & Co.

Plot Summary
In 1965, a mysterious beam of blue light came down from space and overlooked Northern California. This light had extraterrestrial powers that caused whomever the beam touched to die, go mad, or acquire a special unique power. This power is defined as full actualization of humankind, with strengths, understandings and communication abilities that exceed our normal capabilities. The people touched by the light in the novel were soon referred to as "Blues" and were segregated from society because of there new and improved super human powers. Soon after this discovery, they came together to try and find their purpose in the universe. As they look for their calling in life, an evil force emerges which sets the stage for a battle later on in the novel between good and evil. The evil represents the "Gray Man" which is Winch Fargo, a character in the novel who is driven mad by the light to kill all of the "blues". Once the "blues" discover this nemesis, they take refuge in the forest outside of Northern California. Soon the Gray Man finds out where they are hiding from inside sources and the "blues" come to a consensus in which they are going to confront their enemy and declare war with the Gray Man. This epic battle takes place at the ending of the novel and has an extraordinary finish. The "blues" all use their powers that they were given to destroy the Gray Man and all of his followers. They soon reside in the small cities of Northern California and live normal lives with the people of California.

Main Characters

 * Chance: narrates the story, also a "Blue" that has the power of vision
 * Claudia: A female "Blue" that has the power to make men lust after her
 * Winch Fargo: A "Gray Man" that is driven mad by the light which makes him want to kill all of the "Blues"
 * Orde: leader and teacher of the "blues"
 * Horace LaFontaine: dies from cancer, revived by Gray Man in ghost form to help him annihilate the "blues"

Easy Rawlins mysteries

 * Devil in a Blue Dress (1990)
 * A Red Death (1991)
 * White Butterfly (1992)
 * Black Betty (1994)
 * A Little Yellow Dog (1996)
 * Gone Fishin' (1997)
 * Bad Boy Brawly Brown (2002)
 * Six Easy Pieces (2003)
 * Little Scarlet (2004)
 * Cinnamon Kiss (2005)
 * Blonde Faith (2007)

Fearless Jones mysteries

 * Fearless Jones (2001)
 * Fear Itself (2003)
 * Fear of the Dark (2006)

Leonid McGill mysteries

 * The Long Fall (2009)
 * Known to Evil (2010)
 * When the Thrill Is Gone (2011)

Science fiction

 * Blue Light (1998)
 * Futureland: Nine Stories of an Imminent World (2001)
 * The Wave (2005)

Socrates Fortlow books

 * Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned (1997)
 * Walkin' the Dog (1999)
 * The Right Mistake (2008)

For young adults

 * 47 (2005)

Other novels

 * RL's Dream (1995)
 * The Man in My Basement (2004)
 * Walking the Line (2005), a novella in the Transgressions series
 * Fortunate Son (2006)
 * The Tempest Tales (2008)
 * The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (2010)

Erotica

 * Killing Johnny Fry: A Sexistential Novel (2006)
 * Diablerie (2007)

Non-fiction books

 * Workin' on the Chain Gang: Shaking off the Dead Hand of History (2000)
 * What Next: An African American Initiative Toward World Peace (2003)
 * Life Out of Context: Which Includes a Proposal for the Non-violent Takeover of the House of Representatives (2006)
 * This Year You Write Your Novel (2007)
 * Twelve Steps Toward Political Revelation (2011)

Graphic novel

 * Maximum Fantastic Four (2005,with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)

Reception
Blue Light received mostly positive reviews, but there were not many reviews to go by. The reviews that were created were mostly science fiction fanatics but there was one review written from the New York Times. This specific review gave the novel Blue Light a positive assessment compared to other reviews written for this book. The reviews compared this novel to his other famous books the Devil in a Blue Dress and Futureland: Nine Stories of an Imminent World.

Critics have viewed this novel differently over the years but they seem to be consistent when they rate the novel.

Interview

 * Walter Mosley: A Seat at the Table Excerpts from the interview on Locus Magazine (December 2001)

Awards

 * Blue Light won the New York Times Notable Book of 1998.
 * Finalist for the NAACP Award in Fiction
 * 1996 - Black Caucus of the American Library Association's Literary Award for RL's Dream
 * 1996 - O. Henry Award for a Socrates Fortlow story.
 * 2002- Grammy Award for "Best Liner Notes" for a Richard Pryor box set
 * 2006 - First recipient of the Carl Brandon Society Parallax Award for his young adult novel 47.
 * Mosley was awarded an honorary doctorate from the City College of New York.

Reviews

 * Primary Color on New York Times by MEL WATKINS (1998)
 * Books To Look For by Charles de Lint, Fantasy and Science Fiction (1999)
 * 'Blue Light' Shines by Transcending Novelty by Tom Janulewicz, Space.com (1999)
 * REVIEW: Blue Light by Walter Mosley (2003)