Light

Light was a perplexing read, but in the best way. China Mieville mentioned M. John Harrison as an author to read, so being a Mieville fan I had to try Harrison out. Heck, Neil Gaiman gave the novel an enthusiastic blurb, so it must be good, right? But, the story didn't grip me at first and I found myself wondering what the big deal was even while recognizing that Harrison is a true wordsmith. Even if this novel deeply turns you off in all other ways, any literate reader should recognize the quality of the writing. Harrison has a true gift for stripped down sentences and a powerfully apt use of vocabulary. Even in the early going, when I was kind of bored, I found myself rereading passages for the simple pleasure of the words on the page. The plot was bizarre, lurid and somewhat jarring - jumping around in time and space to various loser protagonists. There were three storylines and although I assumed a resolution, the connections remained fuzzy and I was to the point of just getting through it. But about three quarters of the way through something happened - I got it. This is a brilliantly structured novel and I curse my lack of early attention now. Light should be approached as literature, not genre fiction. The convergence of the three characters and their stories happened so gradually, the realization startled me. When you realize there is not three stories, but just one story, interconnections missed earlier spring out. It was a singularly mind blowing epiphany for this veteran SF reader. I am still struggling with the text, but have to recommend Light as a singularly fascinating read. Light is a fractal novel about fractals, where large ideas are reflected in smaller scale throughout the text. No details, but keep fractals in mind and you will see patterns brilliantly woven throughout the book. This novel gets five stars with the full recognition that it is a personal statement - the book just leapt out and blew me away. Light is going to irritate many and enrage a few like only powerful writing can do. I compare it to David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest in this way - a book with loud proponents and detractors. But honestly the book this reminds me the most of is Gravity's Rainbow. It's not in that league but there is a resonance. Light challenges SF conceits and blows away expectations and is aimed at those bored with popcorn heroes and trite space opera. But I can see even bright, literate readers having a hostile reaction.

Super realistic and surrealistic at the same time, this novel has a feel to it as the the world itself - virtual islands of meaning in the overall absurdity transcending human understanding. Intellectually energizing and challenging.

I have to admit that when I started reading this book, it took me a good amount of time to start to understand what is going on. Three stories going on at the same time, without much explanation how they relate to each other. There isn't much explanation about what is going on in the world in each of the stories either (they seem to be happening in different points in time, but later you find out that time is something very abstract throught the book), but when everything starts to fit together, towards the end of the book, it's delighful. Very well written, impressive piece of science fiction. But I wouldn't recoment it to people that are not a science-inclined and sci-fi fans. M. John Harrison tends sometimes to throw some deep discussions about the validity of physics that may bore some.

Harrison returns to the form of his classic influential New Wave New Worlds proto-cpunk novel, CENTAURI DEVICE, and then some, merging it with the modes he has mastered in his more recent contemporary masterpieces, such as COURSE OF THE HEART. The characters are beautifully realized, the empty spaces in their hearts echoing the emptiness of the intergalactic reaches they explore, but ultimately the intricate infinite beauty and promise of those spaces is revealed. One of the few s.f. novels in recent memory that is such an intricate and mysterious puzzlebox, that an instant return trip should be even more rewarding than the first voyage.

M. John Harrison's Light is indescribable. A mind-warping romp that exists somewhere in the continuum between hard SF and cyberpunk. A cruel, violent story, with a core of pure forgiveness and grace. The story of three throughly unlikable people, who nevertheless earn the reader's affection. At times tragic, at others bitingly sarcastic, and even funny in certain patches. It requires the reader's complete confidence - one must trust that Harrison knows what he's doing. Amazingly, that trust is repaid.I could try to say a few words about the plot, but to do so seems almost beside the point. A reader cracking open this deceptively slim novel had better not expect anything even approaching a linear plot. Almost to the very end, Harrison keeps his readers befuddled - the best you can hope for is to hang on as he drags you into the deepest, oddest reaches of the galaxy. Then, only a few pages before the end, like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, Harrison manages to tie it all together. If you're looking for Sci Fi that breaks the mold, that challenges you, that is as much about inner space as outer space, look no further.