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The Republic of Memory
Not yet published
Expected 14 May 26The Safina is a city ship, two hundred years into its voyage from the ruins of Earth towards a new habitable world. Its crew maintain the ship, generation after generation, while protecting their 'ancestors' - the final remnants of Earth's doomed Network Empire - by keeping them alive in cryostasis.
But a lot can change in two hundred years, and people are starting to ask questions. Why should the crew continue to toil for people none of them remember? What exactly gives Administration its authority over everyone else?
And when the blackouts start, they set in motion a chain of events that will change life on the Safina forever. A reckoning is coming. The system is only secure so long as those in power maintain the obedience of those beneath them.
And the crew has had enough.
A science fiction odyssey of breathtaking scope, The Republic of Memory,/i> is a gripping examination of what divides us, and what brings us together. This is a modern and ambitious work of Arabfuturism, and is perfect for fans of The Expanse, A Memory Called Empire or Children of Time.
But a lot can change in two hundred years, and people are starting to ask questions. Why should the crew continue to toil for people none of them remember? What exactly gives Administration its authority over everyone else?
And when the blackouts start, they set in motion a chain of events that will change life on the Safina forever. A reckoning is coming. The system is only secure so long as those in power maintain the obedience of those beneath them.
And the crew has had enough.
A science fiction odyssey of breathtaking scope, The Republic of Memory,/i> is a gripping examination of what divides us, and what brings us together. This is a modern and ambitious work of Arabfuturism, and is perfect for fans of The Expanse, A Memory Called Empire or Children of Time.
416 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication May 5, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
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October 22, 2025I CANNOT WAIT TO READ THIS!!!!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This author is a former journalist and you can see that his experience informs how he writes about the tricky political situation aboard a generation ship. There's also the clear influence of A Clockswork Orange in how he has designed his shipboard patois, even using exact terms like "rabbit" for work and "vellocet" for a drug that's used to enhance certain capabilities. These words are taken from other languages (rabbit is from the Russian word "rabot" for work) and I could make out Spanish, German, French,Latin, Japanese and Chinese based words. I'm sure that if I had more language proficiency I would have seen more. Despite that, I found the patois easy to understand. Since on this generation ship, regions are separated by language, the merging of different languages into a dialect by the workers ends up being a way that the criminal and less privileged classes can speak with each other and recognize each other as part of their own "in group". The official language of the ship is English and everyone has at least a little bit of English, but it's the tongue you need to speak in order to get official business done and it's a class signifier.
This is a multiple POV book. We hear from a young administrator/facilitator/advocate, his privileged younger sister who nonetheless runs with a revolutionary street gang, that gang's boss, workers in various parts of the ship. Although the author does a great job with bringing this ship to life, with a unique culture and various very interesting technologies, the core story is a revolutionary one. Folks are dissatisfied with how things are run, feel like the privileged few have too much power over the disadvantaged many, and have decided that violence is the way to make a change. There's a lot of angry young blood being directed by a few older and more jaded veterans.
And people get hurt because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time, and sometimes they find themselves in situations where there are no good choices.
Complicating all this is the fact that the ship is still hauling thousands of "ancestors", the original colonists that the ship was to transport to a new world. At this point, the ship is halfway to its destination and has another 200 years to go. All the people on the ship are on board with this mission and there's a big cult of ancestor worship. One radical group on the ship does think that the ancestors should no longer dictate the activities of the crew and that they should be woken up.
A disastrous loss of power drops the ship out of its hyperwarp and some ancestors are woken up when it looks like power to the crystasis pods can't be restored (although it eventually is). One of the people who's woken up is a cyber soldier who fought for one of the totalitarian regimes of Earth before she was packed away on the ship when it was decided that colonizing a far planet was a better survival bet than trying to keep Earth habitable. She finds these crew that she's woken among to be naive and soft compared to what she's lived.
So there's fomenting revolution, a disastrous drop from hyperspace that might doom the ship entirely, and finally in the background there might still be the AI that was disabled over a hundred years ago in a past rebellion by the crew. With the ancestors, who have inbuilt data links and interfaces with tech that the modern crew have never used, back in play, might this AI come back as a variable as well?
The author takes the time to build a culture and people that feel real, same as it ever was. I wanted to know what would happen next. The book isn't always fast paced but I was always interested.
This is a multiple POV book. We hear from a young administrator/facilitator/advocate, his privileged younger sister who nonetheless runs with a revolutionary street gang, that gang's boss, workers in various parts of the ship. Although the author does a great job with bringing this ship to life, with a unique culture and various very interesting technologies, the core story is a revolutionary one. Folks are dissatisfied with how things are run, feel like the privileged few have too much power over the disadvantaged many, and have decided that violence is the way to make a change. There's a lot of angry young blood being directed by a few older and more jaded veterans.
And people get hurt because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time, and sometimes they find themselves in situations where there are no good choices.
Complicating all this is the fact that the ship is still hauling thousands of "ancestors", the original colonists that the ship was to transport to a new world. At this point, the ship is halfway to its destination and has another 200 years to go. All the people on the ship are on board with this mission and there's a big cult of ancestor worship. One radical group on the ship does think that the ancestors should no longer dictate the activities of the crew and that they should be woken up.
A disastrous loss of power drops the ship out of its hyperwarp and some ancestors are woken up when it looks like power to the crystasis pods can't be restored (although it eventually is). One of the people who's woken up is a cyber soldier who fought for one of the totalitarian regimes of Earth before she was packed away on the ship when it was decided that colonizing a far planet was a better survival bet than trying to keep Earth habitable. She finds these crew that she's woken among to be naive and soft compared to what she's lived.
So there's fomenting revolution, a disastrous drop from hyperspace that might doom the ship entirely, and finally in the background there might still be the AI that was disabled over a hundred years ago in a past rebellion by the crew. With the ancestors, who have inbuilt data links and interfaces with tech that the modern crew have never used, back in play, might this AI come back as a variable as well?
The author takes the time to build a culture and people that feel real, same as it ever was. I wanted to know what would happen next. The book isn't always fast paced but I was always interested.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Rating 3.75 rounded up
The Republic of Memory is a contemplative, politically charged science-fiction novel about a society confined within a ship, carrying the lingering ghosts of an empire that refuses to fade. It is far from a typical space opera; there are no explosive battles or dazzling displays of technology. Instead, the story unfolds aboard a generation ship where the working population spends their entire lives maintaining essential systems for a frozen elite who will one day awaken to claim a new world. The premise is inherently compelling and raises an unsettling question of why should the living sacrifice themselves for the sake of the sleeping?
Mahmud El Sayed’s ship feels less like a vessel and more like a drifting nation, complete with class divisions, evolving myths, and fading memories of Earth. Over time, you can see the society aboard the ship change linguistically and culturally. Physical spaces mirror social hierarchies, higher levels reserved for authority and restricted access, and lower, industrial zones where workers live and labor. These divisions emphasize the fragility of the system and heighten the tension, because the entire society depends on cooperation even as it remains deeply stratified. Through multiple viewpoints, El Sayed presents life across the ship’s social and political spectrum, creating a collective portrait of a society on the brink of transformation.
Overall, The Republic of Memory is a quiet yet powerful novel that favors themes and world-building over action or individual heroics. It stands out for its ideas, atmosphere, and political depth. The book becomes a haunting meditation on empire, generational sacrifice, and the weight of collective memory, offering a rich, thought-provoking experience for readers who appreciate reflective, idea-driven science fiction.
The Republic of Memory is a contemplative, politically charged science-fiction novel about a society confined within a ship, carrying the lingering ghosts of an empire that refuses to fade. It is far from a typical space opera; there are no explosive battles or dazzling displays of technology. Instead, the story unfolds aboard a generation ship where the working population spends their entire lives maintaining essential systems for a frozen elite who will one day awaken to claim a new world. The premise is inherently compelling and raises an unsettling question of why should the living sacrifice themselves for the sake of the sleeping?
Mahmud El Sayed’s ship feels less like a vessel and more like a drifting nation, complete with class divisions, evolving myths, and fading memories of Earth. Over time, you can see the society aboard the ship change linguistically and culturally. Physical spaces mirror social hierarchies, higher levels reserved for authority and restricted access, and lower, industrial zones where workers live and labor. These divisions emphasize the fragility of the system and heighten the tension, because the entire society depends on cooperation even as it remains deeply stratified. Through multiple viewpoints, El Sayed presents life across the ship’s social and political spectrum, creating a collective portrait of a society on the brink of transformation.
Overall, The Republic of Memory is a quiet yet powerful novel that favors themes and world-building over action or individual heroics. It stands out for its ideas, atmosphere, and political depth. The book becomes a haunting meditation on empire, generational sacrifice, and the weight of collective memory, offering a rich, thought-provoking experience for readers who appreciate reflective, idea-driven science fiction.
November 28, 2025
There's a lot to love in this book, but it felt completely buried at the bottom of too many characters, distressingly confusing world-building (including slang that does reluctantly grow on you), and a lack of plot focus that doesn't follow expected narrative arcs. It leans heavily on the reader's patience.
I would have loved to read the three separate books this one book tries to be. I wanted to care and feel the emotions of the (12?) point-of-view characters, but was interrupted repeatedly by new voices that kept me from developing a real relationship with anyone.
El Sayed has a brilliance that occasionally shines through, and clearly has a lot to say, so I hope with the next book he can tame some of that fire so everyone can bask in it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Saga for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
I would have loved to read the three separate books this one book tries to be. I wanted to care and feel the emotions of the (12?) point-of-view characters, but was interrupted repeatedly by new voices that kept me from developing a real relationship with anyone.
El Sayed has a brilliance that occasionally shines through, and clearly has a lot to say, so I hope with the next book he can tame some of that fire so everyone can bask in it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Saga for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
January 31, 2026
This is a hell of a debut, and a series I am now in the paint hard for. We have a city ship, the Safina, that has departed on a multi generation journey among the stars carrying the cryostasis original passengers. Through several points of view we get an amazing world building exercise as we learn about how various sections of the city have been replicated on the ship, how all the cultures have blended and gone on their own paths, and how through it all Ship Administration has kept an iron fist on the inhabitants, and maybe, just maybe, it's high fucking time someone did something about it. The ship's cant that forms a good part of the language is exquisitely done too. A slice of life that morphs into a mystery that becomes a revolution. This comes out in May, preorder it now and get yourself a hell of an Arabfuturist read that feels informed by the Arab Spring as well.
maybe-to-read
January 6, 2026why a maybe
Despite my love for science-fiction I realised over the years I like it in visual form more than in my books. The idea of generational ships is something I am drawn to but after Rivers Solomons An Unkindness of Ghosts I am a bit more hesitant to pick up these kinds of stories. That book still lives rent-free in my brain.
These kinds of stories have some kind of impact on me. I need them with a lot of hope. Rivers Solomon do give a sliver of hope but I would not call their stories hopeful? Argh I cannot explain this very well. Just blame at vibes. It has to do something with vibes.
Despite my love for science-fiction I realised over the years I like it in visual form more than in my books. The idea of generational ships is something I am drawn to but after Rivers Solomons An Unkindness of Ghosts I am a bit more hesitant to pick up these kinds of stories. That book still lives rent-free in my brain.
These kinds of stories have some kind of impact on me. I need them with a lot of hope. Rivers Solomon do give a sliver of hope but I would not call their stories hopeful? Argh I cannot explain this very well. Just blame at vibes. It has to do something with vibes.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I think the strength of this book is its world building. the culture of the ship was interesting and really drove the story for the early part of the book as the plot took a while to get going. I look forward to seeing what else this author comes out with in the future!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Outstanding.
This book roils and sparks with such a freshness of voice, and a true egalitarianism of spirit as to make it quite exceptional. Deeply thought-provoking, enthusiastically international, wonderfully human; this book will win awards, and deserves every one of them.
This book roils and sparks with such a freshness of voice, and a true egalitarianism of spirit as to make it quite exceptional. Deeply thought-provoking, enthusiastically international, wonderfully human; this book will win awards, and deserves every one of them.
Want to read
January 28, 202614/05/26
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews