Review of Memory Recall

[Alice Heritage]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Memory Recall" by Bill DeFoor.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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It's an age-old question: How does it feel to die? What might we see? What if your body was frozen and you then woke up in an unfamiliar world?

The speculative science-fiction novel Memory Recall: Androids, Telepathic Communications and Memory Access by Bill DeFoor explores these questions. Protagonist Bill Bailey's last earthly memory is of a traffic collision in 2017. The next thing he knows, it's 2129 and he's being brought around in the care of a nurse named Riley. She has carefully selected Bill for awakening after learning about his life as a computer programmer and family man. He seems the best man for the job of teaching the latest line of "neuro" androids to respond to human emotions. However, following disastrous experiences with unfrozen subjects, Riley wants to tread carefully with Bill's memories.

Indeed, when he first awakens, Bill is overwhelmed by the grief of knowing that his family from 2017 are now all long gone. This loss is portrayed in a moving way. (Content warning: This book features suicidal ideation.) However, Bill soon finds that life in twenty-second-century America is not without its consolations. Conveyed in a driverless car through settlements that gleam with cleanliness and prosperity, he moves into an apartment equipped not with an "Alexa" but a "Karen"! Delighted by now having a mature mind in a rejuvenated body, he gets down to his mission to teach neuro android Griffin about compassion.

I was deeply impressed by the imagination that went into this work. I was struck by DeFoor's passion for speculating about where we are headed, contemplating the future of the human-machine interface. He clearly gave careful thought to the technical aspects of the communication between Bill and Griffin, but while he goes into enough detail, the explanations do not become dry or cumbersome.

Despite these positives, DeFoor unfortunately succumbs to some common science fiction pitfalls. One of these is transplanting contemporary realities into the future world without full integration or adaptation. To give some examples, Riley is described as wearing "a perfectly fitted business suit that would have passed muster at any board meeting" (p.43). She is often holding something referred to only as a "device" - apparently "devices" are still rested on tables and may be "closed" in the twenty-second century. Riley herself refers to "my device" in a passage from her point of view, though given that I don't call my iPad "my device" in 2023, it seems unlikely that she would put it this way. It would have been more satisfying to discover the names and features of novel inventions or dress codes. Although "Karen" did have a name, she didn't seem to have advanced much on "Alexa" in over a century.

Riley's use of the same language as Bill and the narrator represents a general area for improvement in this book, namely, the character voices were not differentiated enough. For example, although Griffin sometimes felt convincingly robotic, his behaviour seemed implausibly human-like at other times. (If that was deliberate, the theme was not sufficiently developed.) The story could have benefitted from going deeper into the projected world.

This being so, despite the thought given to some processes and some imaginative ideas, the narrative as a whole felt underdeveloped. Although the best passages were engaging, many felt stilted, giving a general impression of writing that needed more polish. Cliches were common - "passed muster" above being one example. Information was repeated unnecessarily and plot points were flatly told rather than shown. For example, an omniscient narrator describes Riley as "driven", but it would have been preferable to see that drive in action more. Bill's qualms about trusting Griffin would have given rise to much more tension had they been dramatized rather than explained.

The possibilities of life with androids a century from now are fascinating to contemplate. Taking everything into consideration, I appreciated DeFoor's devotion to his themes and his many ideas. However, in general, the future world was not fleshed out enough, and more distinctive and consistent character voices would have enhanced this book. Weighing up the awe-inspiring ideas against the unpolished writing, I'd rate this book three out of five stars. I did appreciate the characters' warm-heartedness, and the book's novel ideas have tremendous potential.

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Memory Recall
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[Amy Luman]

I have seen lots of movies that involve androids and they are either clueless or very conniving. It would be nice to find some that are easy to live with, even if it is in book form.

[Alice Heritage]

I have seen lots of movies that involve androids and they are either clueless or very conniving. It would be nice to find some that are easy to live with, even if it is in book form.

Interesting - seems DeFoor was onto something novel with Griffin.

Thank you for your kind comment!

[The Keeper Jr]

I like the story being described this way. It does seem like the protagonist has a very challenging life and I can't imagine how he would fit into the future world. That makes me want to read this book. Thanks for the informative and engaging review!

[Alice Heritage]

I like the story being described this way. It does seem like the protagonist has a very challenging life and I can't imagine how he would fit into the future world. That makes me want to read this book. Thanks for the informative and engaging review!

It's quite a thought, isn't it - how would it feel to be woken up from being frozen? The author did a good job of imagining it. Thank you for your kind comment.

[NetMassimo]

This seems like a novel with great potential that still needs editing to create a believable its 22nd century setting. Thank you for your honest review!

[Alice Heritage]

This seems like a novel with great potential that still needs editing to create a believable its 22nd century setting. Thank you for your honest review!

Yes. It also felt like the bare bones of a story - as if a lot more details and plot development could be added.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

[Julie Marie Basil]

This is a very thorough review and I appreciate your assessment of the book's shortcomings and the examples that you provide. It sounds like an interesting story, but not necessarily the kind of book I am usually interested in reading.