What do You think about A Different Light (2000)?
Ms Lynn's general writing skills are more than good: one page melts into the other and her style is always smooth; her phrasing is deceivingly simple, sometimes even lyrical. It is a writing made of small touches, light shades, always neat if not always moving.The problem here lies with the story: hard as I tried, I could not get involved nor get to love her characters.We have a love sick young artist, doomed by cancer to die early in a world where an intimidating science nearly always guarantees a healthy, long lasting life. This device, if a bit cerebral, could in itself be touching but, in this case, it left me cold.I wanted to feel for the main hero, his lost lover being another man should have helped me identifying, but I simply never could.It seems to me that Ms Lynn was absent minded while writing this story: while retaining her usual skill she was not and could not move.
—Furio
SlashReaders: Well that was different after the last two books I read definitely heavy on the sci-fi aspect of it but it was a cute little book. While, fun there honestly wasn't a lot there either. The book has some nice touching moments but there were not a whole lot of them.Overall, a 'Different Light' by Elizabeth A. Lynn was a cute, sweet and somewhat angsty book. There were a few moments where I wanted to smack a certain character--Russel--around but there usual is one of those. I would classify this book as good but not great. I think that the word I used above 'cute', is probably the best one.If you are looking for something that is heavy on the sex, or anything like that... Go look elsewhere. If you're looking for a sci-fi book that happens to have characters in it who are interested in the same sex, then come on in. :)
—Jaya
Second book for the readathon!This isn't really a science fiction story that's about the science. It's about what science can give us -- and what it can't. The main character, Jimson, had cancer, which is entirely controllable as long as he stays on his own planet. Which is fine for some time, but his art is stagnating, and he wants to see new worlds, see things in a literally different light, the light of other suns. And this book is about his journey, the people he meets. There is a plot in the background, but compared to -- say -- Iain M. Banks' work, it's almost incidental. What matters are the people brought into contact with each other, and what they take away from each other.It's almost a quiet little story: the action doesn't ring as loudly as the awkward silences, the quiet moments of pain.
—Nikki
