i've been thinking about how fantasy handles the cost of magic, specifically when characters CHOOSE to sacrifice memories rather than having amnesia forced on them
in Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana, an entire nation's name gets erased from collective memory as punishment. brutal, but involuntary. versus something like Kingdom of Liars where using magic literally costs you your memories – you KNOW what you're trading away
what fascinates me is how voluntary memory sacrifice feels more visceral than death in fiction. when a character dies heroically, we mourn but understand it. when they choose to forget their child's face to save that same child? that's a different kind of horror
it's the trolley problem but ongoing. you're not dead, you're just… no longer you. your body survives but the person who made the choice doesn't get to remember why they made it
i think this theme is resonating more now because we're watching relatives with alzheimer's/dementia. (sadly my sister has it) we see what memory loss actually does. fantasy is finally exploring that fear – not the quick death, but the slow erasure of self
the question that keeps bugging me – if you sacrifice your memory of loving someone to save them, did you actually save them? they survive, but the version of you that loved them is gone. is that really better than death?
what books have you read that explore this well? or poorly? does voluntary vs involuntary memory loss change how effective the theme is?
by Standard_Strategy853