M. Harrison: LIGHT

" Light is a literary singularity: at one and the same time a grim, gaudy space opera that respects the physics, and a contemporary novel that unflinchingly revisits the choices that warp a life. It's almost unbearably good.

'M. John Harrison's jubilant return to science fiction constitutes something of an event. Light depicts its author as a wit, an awesomely fluent and versatile prose stylist, and an sf thinker as dedicated to probing beneath the surfaces as William Gibson is to describing how the world seems when reflected in them, SF fans and sceptics alike are advised to head towards this Light .'

'M. John Harrison proves what only those crippled by respectability still doubt-that science fiction can be literature, of the very greatest kind. Light puts most modern fiction to shame. It's a magnificent book.'

Light is dark, and heavy. Certainly quantum mechanics-both propellant and unifying force in this remarkable novel-is nobody's idea of falling off a log. But its strange conjunctions, disregard for causality and meticulous examination of the coming-into-being of things are the background to Harrison's first pure science-fiction book for 30 years. This is a serious philosophical book, beautifully constructed… it will soon be regarded as one of the most dazzling novels of its genre.'

'Having read (not by choice) all the shortlisted Bookers for the last seven years, Light knocks the shit out of the majority of them. It's profound, unique, complex, but the drawback it has on the Booker front is that it's also incredibly entertaining and gripping. Who cares about literary prizes. You'll sell warehouses full of this one.'

'The novel's style alternates between terse pointillisme and a lyrical intensity that is almost hallucinogenic… Harrison writes with fearsome, dextrous certainty about pretty much everything… Light is a novel of visionary power.'

'Post-cyberpunk, post-slipstream, post-everything, Light is the leanest, meanest space opera since Nova . Visually acute, shot through with wonder and horror in equal measure, in Light's dual-stranded narrative M. John Harrison pulls off the difficult trick of making the present seem every bit as baroque and strange as his neon-lit deep future. Set the controls for Radio Bay and prepare to get lost in the K-Tract. You won't regret it.'

'Part of the bliss of Light is that he is as interested in the hearts of his characters as he is in their worlds… it juggles storylines with exemplary balance and alternates beauty, terror and wild farce to keep us perpetually on edge'

'Dense and complex-but also action-packed and fast-moving. An impressive novel, rare proof of what science fiction can be.'

'I loved it. The multilayered plot worked stunningly well: in most such cases I tend to prefer one or the other, but with Light I was delighted to return to whichever came next. The story is somehow both bewildering and utterly clear, razor-sharp and wide enough to encompass worlds, and the language is beautiful, nailing both the bizarre and mundane with eerie skill. On every other page there's a line which makes you think 'it can't get better than this', and then it does. An amazing book: not just a triumphant return to science fiction, but an injection of style and content that will light up the genre.'

'One of the most important books of science fiction to be written for a very long time. The man whom most of Britain's young guns of science fiction claim as a major inspiration is back, and he has lost none of his skills. Furthermore, he wants to travel with us into a future that is frightening but pregnant with exciting possibilities.'

'At last M. John Harrison takes on quantum mechanics. The first classic of the quantum century, Light is a folded-down future history bound together by quantum exotica and human endurance. Taut as Hemingway, viscerally intelligent, startlingly uplifting, Harrison's ideas have a beauty that unpacks to infinity.'

'Here we have "space opera" that brilliantly transcends its humble pulp origins while simultaneously glorying in them. The result is a gripping, thrilling, meditative novel which can be read and enjoyed on multiple levels.'