Light

by M. John Harrison

310 pages

English language

Published Nov. 8, 2004 by Bantam.

ISBN:: 978-0-553-38295-2
OCLC Number:: 56389157

(21 reviews)

[Comment from Jon Courtenay Grimwood][1]:

Light is the kind of novel other writers read and think: "Why don't I just give up and go home?" That was certainly my first reaction on reading its mix of coldly perfect prose and attractively twisted insanity. It's also the only book to bring me unpleasantly close to sympathising with a serial killer. But this is M John Harrison: so antihero Michael Kearney is a mathematically brilliant, dice-throwing, reality-changing hyper-intelligent serial killer haunted by a horse-skulled personal demon.

Harrison's genius is to tie Kearney's narrative thread to those of Seria Mau – a far-future girl existing in harmony with White Cat, her spaceship, surfing a part of the galaxy known as the Kefahuchi Tract – and Chinese Ed, a sleazy if likeable cyberpunky chancer with a passion for virtual sex.

This is not a kind book, or even a particularly likeable book. But then …

[Comment from Jon Courtenay Grimwood][1]:

Light is the kind of novel other writers read and think: "Why don't I just give up and go home?" That was certainly my first reaction on reading its mix of coldly perfect prose and attractively twisted insanity. It's also the only book to bring me unpleasantly close to sympathising with a serial killer. But this is M John Harrison: so antihero Michael Kearney is a mathematically brilliant, dice-throwing, reality-changing hyper-intelligent serial killer haunted by a horse-skulled personal demon.

Harrison's genius is to tie Kearney's narrative thread to those of Seria Mau – a far-future girl existing in harmony with White Cat, her spaceship, surfing a part of the galaxy known as the Kefahuchi Tract – and Chinese Ed, a sleazy if likeable cyberpunky chancer with a passion for virtual sex.

This is not a kind book, or even a particularly likeable book. But then I suspected it was never intended to be, and the author wouldn't want the kind of people who want to like characters as his readers anyway. What it is is stunningly written, meticulously plotted, hallucinogenically realised and brutally honest. No one who reads it could doubt that Harrison might win the Booker if he could be bothered.

Light is also the book that novelist and critic Adam Roberts was so sure would win the Arthur C Clarke award, he offered to change his name to Adam Van Hoogenroberts if it didn't. We're still waiting . . .

[1]: www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/may/14/science-fiction-authors-choice

5 editions

Lucas reviewed Light by M. John Harrison

Lots of interesting and involving stuff going on, and well written—but I did not like its finale much.

4 stars

M. John Harrison's Light is a real blend of, and biting-of-thumb at, space opera, cyberpunk, horror. There are some parts of it that remind me of other space sci-fi (esp. Consider Phlebas; Harrison and Banks are friends and sometimes it feels like Harrison is poking at The Culture books specifically), but more thrilling, more clever—differently misogynist or uncomfortable in its use of race.

Odd to me that its ending seems to me to be treated with "no spoilers" kidgloves despite not being much of a solution or revelation, not promising greater plot or emotional consequence. So much of what drove me through it was its chaotic, hyper-charged far-future setting, its characters' deeply personal psycho-sexual problems—which are braided throughout the three stories, but just kinda left loose at its end? Even considered through the lens of a meta-textual argument about fantasies and "going deep," or of extreme dysmorphia and self-hatred, it …

Unruly Stacks reviewed Light by M. John Harrison

Review of 'Light' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

The challenge for me here was the poetic underpinning. I found the nonsensical phrasing and open-ended scenes somewhat confusing, though I recognized how they served the tone of the story.

Daniel Andrlik reviewed Light by M. John Harrison

Review of 'Light' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

A brilliant novel with a fractal plot. It's rich with poetry and dream logic. You have to stop forcing into novel shape and go for the ride. This is really 4.5 stars for me, and I only take the 0.5 off for a minor issue I had with the conclusion.

Molly Foust reviewed Light by M. John Harrison

Review of 'Light' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Oneric, dark, original, imaginative and.. huh?.. I could describe this book, but what happened? I am not so sure. Apparently, a serial killer/quantam scientist is trailed through modern times by an alien god- like figure from the future, who misplaces his dice. There is a woman/spaceship, also a mass murder, who roams the galaxy of the future, snubbing some vague authority figures and reliving her memories of being human. There is a "tweek" guy, Ed Chainese, who is addicted to some sort of drug or virtual reality. He has lots of sex, runs from some cyberpunk witch sisters, then sticks his head into a fish tank on the suggestion of a mysterious circus director in order to be a prophet.
I am glad it is over. It would be a great book for the right reader, for me, I felt disconnected from the characters and a little too perplexed.