The Memory of Fire

It's been a while since I read this book, but I remember loving it when I read it (i.e. the five stars). Much of it had to do with Foy's description of the nodes, which given my travels, and associations with artists and musicians, I found very familiar and stirring. Of course I think this goes to the heart of why some people love Foy and some don't. He definitely takes a stand on issues that most authors just float by, and if you're on the other side of these arguements I'm sure he would seem quite absurd; hence the 1 star reviewer, who I'm sure falls firmly in his self-described "no fun crowd." ;)

I gave this book five stars because it is the only book I have read in the last ten years that I would consider reading again immediately after finishing it. Its plot is not strong, as other reviewers have remarked, but I imagine the author would not claim that this book is written for those who demand a lively plot. The book is set in the future, and there are some interesting futuristic scenes as well as a framework for the story line based on conjectures about the consequences of corporations that extend past national boundaries, abuse of the media to form public opinion, and excessive influence of corporations on official policy. The real power of this book, though, is its ability to put you in this future world and acquaint you with the intimate thoughts of someone who lives there.One of the professional reviewers pans the writing, but I put the quality of the writing at the top end of the spectrum. The writing is strongly evocative. It provides a strong mood for the book, and a very unusual solidity of surroundings. In a way I have rarely, if ever, before experienced in a futuristic novel, I finished the book thinking that I would not be at all surprised to be able to buy an airline ticket to Bamaca, and disembark to see exactly what the book described. And though the San Francisco of The Memory of Fire does not exist, if one is willing to suspend one's knowledge of the facts, the book gives its city the same feeling of reality we experience when we think of the real San Francisco.As another reviewer remarked, the protagonist, Solidad MacRae, is not someone we would be likely to meet on the street. On the other hand, she comes across as a very real person. Many SF books give characterization short shrift. Most of the best put believable people into the plot. In contrast, MOF builds the plot around an improbable character, and somewhere along the line gives her life.There is much in the book about Solidad's personal relationships. Relationships with her mother and father, her past and current lovers, even her lover's daughter. This focus on her relationships is what makes Solidad so real. It is also what makes this book a distinctly literary sort of book rather than SF. It is also the aspect of the book that comes close to putting the plot in the back seat. Someone who has trouble understanding people who are not like them will probably not enjoy this book, because they will fail to appreciate what the words about Solidad are doing. My view is the following. If I want a book likely to have a riveting plot, I can read John Grisham or Michael Crichton or Stephen King. If I want to feed my mind with new technical ideas, I really should read some book on programming, because it furthers my career. I do often choose science fiction because it has both of these, but what I am really looking for in my SF is books about people in an interesting situation. And this book is about someone in spades, even to the ext

This is an ambitious work. In it the flash and edge of cyberpunk collides with a Latin American culture out of step with the fevered pace of technology. The protagonist, Soledad, is an outsider to both worlds who finds herself slowly drawn into the heart of each in turn. In doing so, Foy combines the dystopic vision of Gibson's later works with a more post-colonial worldview. Witty,intelligent, and dreamy with more political and economic heart than standard escapist SF fare.