The Memory of Fire [Mass Market Paperback]

George Foy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 27, 2001

Some memories can never be forgotten....

In a dark and not-so-distant future, whole populations are addicted to virtual sensation -- and vast bureaucracies are using deadly force to rid themselves of troublemakers. Within this world, small, self-contained communities -- called nodes, or cruces -- live in an anarchistic freedom that threatens organized society. This is the world of accordionist and composer Soledad MacRae.

When the cruce of Bamaca on the South American coast is destroyed, Soledad flees to northern California in search of a Yanqui node to give her refuge. But terrifyingly realistic dreams of her old city intrude on her peace. It soon becomes clear that Soledad's visions of her doomed home have somehow turned into a black prediction of how the bureaucracies will wipe out the American node.

Now, to save her new refuge, Soledad must uncover the deadly secret that lies at the heart of her old life, particularly her passionate love affair with rebel poet Jorge Echeverria, whose incendiary poems she once set to music. For music is the final key, not only to the bureaucracies' deadly plans, but to the ultimate mystery of her own survival.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Foy's latest novel expands the gritty, high-tech near-future setting of his Contraband (1997). Soledad MacCrae is a young Mexican musician and composer on the run following the brutal destruction of her cruce, or node, of Bamaca, an anarchic community of artists, writers and musicians who chose to live outside the mainstream in their own small enclave and to dedicate their lives to creative pursuits, funded with money earned by smuggling drugs. Escaping north to San Francisco, Soledad searches for another node she's heard about in Oakland, but she quickly discovers that her past isn't so easy to leave behind. It looks as if the same megaorg corporate security forces who annihilated Bamaca may have trailed her here. Even more chilling, her arrival at the Oakland node seems to herald increased threats against the node from the local authorities, assisted by BON, the federal Bureau of Nationalizations. Danger escalates as Soledad discovers she is pregnant with the child of her Bamaca lover and lyricist, poet Jorge Echeverria, who died during the attack on that node. Now Soledad must come to terms with her past as well as her present, accepting the influence Echeverria had over her, even as she discovers that the music they created may hold the key to saving her new home. Foy sets this story of memory and love in a finely detailed setting resonant with the Borges-style recursion that life is "a story we tell ourselves about who we wish we were. And because we are the story we tell ourselves, we in turn become the story, the story itself." (Feb.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Library Journal

In a world controled by bureaucratic governments that suppress free expression and creativity, musicians and poets gather in armed enclaves to protect their artistic visions. Fleeing the destruction of her sanctuary on the coast of South America, musician Soledad MacCrae journeys to San Francisco in search of a new refuge, unaware that she carries within her the knowledge of how to win--or lose--the battle for nonconformity. Foy (The Shift) brings to life a dark, dystopic future in this story of one artist's struggle to remain true to her principles. Thoughtful and disturbing, this grim portrait of an all-too-possible future belongs in most sf collections.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Spectra (February 27, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553578863
• ISBN-13: 978-0553578867
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,384,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful stuff, March 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Memory of Fire (Bantam Spectra Book) (Paperback)

Like its forerunners, MOF turns on the notion of subversion. Unlike its forerunners, it forgoes a certain page-turning heat in favor of cooler, deeper analysis. This may put off some readers; it didn't put me off. Can you conquer social or political demons without conquering your own? I don't know, but I love this author for tackling the question.

Foy writes with sensuality & immediacy; MOF has the same scary sense of place as his previous novels. He has an unsettling talent of creating scenes you can't forget even when you try to.

This is a super-ambitious novel. For one thing, a male author is trying to create a credible female protagonist. For another, it's in part about music, and "writing about music is like dancing about architecture," as somebody once said. These are high hurdles, but in my opinion, Foy clears them.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Post-colonial cyberpunk, May 8, 2000

By 

Nous "nous" (Irvine, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Memory of Fire (Bantam Spectra Book) (Paperback)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dreamy, July 30, 2000

By 

Allan Engelhardt "Just Another Reader" (Bedfordshire, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Memory of Fire (Bantam Spectra Book) (Paperback)

If you, like one of the reviewers here on Amazon.com, thought that Foy's previous book, "Contraband", was similar in style to James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man", then this is "Ulysses".

Nothing much actually happens in this book, it is mostly a stream of thoughts by the main character Soledad MacRae. The setting picks up on the idea in the quote to chapter 21 in "Contraband". In this quote, BON talks about Hawkley-ites establishing communities called "nodes" that behave like sovereign states and trade freely.

"The Memory of Fire" starts with the destruction of Soledad's node and continues in two main streams. One stream is her memory of the events that led up to the destruction of the node, from her moving from the "normal" city to the node, falling - perhaps - in love, and discovering herself as a woman. The other stream talks about her flight to the American node, the fight for its survival, and Soledad's further self-disovery.

It is a difficult read - much more so than Foy's previous books - but it pays off reasonably well for the patient reader. If you liked the previous works then be aware that this story is quite different: much more thought stream and much less "cyperpunk". And almost no Hawkley quotes! Depending on your tastes, this may be a better or worse starting point. "Contraband" is certainly an easier read. If you don't enjoy the "cyber" elements then you might prefer this volume.

A good effort by George Foy.