{4.5\/5} “I think they simply wanted to make us whole… to cure what they saw as our tragic failure. Failure of memory. Which is failure of conscience. They were surprised, I would guess, by our capacity for aggression. For ruthlessness, for inflicting pain. Conscience is memory… and the stones would restore it.”<\/p>\n
Memory Wire<\/strong> by Robert Charles Wilson, published in 1987<\/p>\n Teresa, Byron, and Ray are heading to Brazil. Teresa is trying to smuggle out a dreamstone that will allow her to remember her lost childhood. Byron cares for her, and is worried that if she doesn’t find what she’s looking for she’ll die. Ray is a Network Angel who will record everything he sees. Byron and Ray have been to Brazil before — they were soldiers during the war. But this time they’re going to an open pit mine.<\/p>\n In this book, his 2nd, Wilson creates the style that he’s known for — a mysterious event or object, and characters you care about whose lives are profoundly changed by it.<\/p>\n It’s about dealing with astonishing artifacts and unbearable memories.<\/p>\n