The Republic of Memory

The Song of the Safina #1

by Mahmud El Sayed

The 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 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.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Adult, Fantasy, Dystopia, Science Fiction Fantasy, Space Opera

479 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 5, 2026

Reviews

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

An ambitious debut novel, and I loved it. So rich in culture, political intrigue, fresh concepts of language through time, and REVOLUTION. All in the confines of a generation ship voyaging through space to their new home after technology / war destroyed earth. The precious cargo is the important people/ ancestors who are living centuries in cryostasis/fueg. The crew operating the ship are their descendants working- living on this city ship generations after generations to sustain it.

When you’re stuck on a ship in deep space the world building can be confined, yet, somehow the author did an amazing job with this city ship. & left so much room for the series to progress and for us to learn more about this ship and where it’ll progress towards in book 2.

We follow multiple POV, from different genders, ages, and backgrounds. Characters like Hilal really stuck with me ( not just because she’s queer, and the El Sayed’s embodiment of a powerful women) to see vulnerability and to see how the world is built through these generational gaps is so so special. You see how ageism, racism, and classism still can exist through time, (and space) through a very anthropological scope. Which, I always appreciate. This book is so rich in culture and diversity.

The concepts of language in this book was phenomenal and at some point was also where I had some personal issues with. However, that’s due to my lack of language knowledge. I think that a couple pages dedicated to a glossary could’ve been very helpful (especially with the inventiveness of the slang words)

Thank you Saga Press for this amazing ARC!

[Fanna]

I love when science fiction explores the birth of a revolution.

[gremlinkait · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75✨ “Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”

The Republic of Memory is vigorously thought-provoking and fascinating - bursting with the intricacies of culture, politics, language, and humanity.

I was simultaneously blown away and left unsatisfied by this book. It is grand in scale and scope, but maybe a bit too much for its own good. You can tell it is deeply layered with intention and complexity (so much probably went over my head), but I just don’t know if it was pieced together in the most effective way with a slow moving plot, too many POVs, and jarring shifts in focus.

I assumed this was a standalone when I picked it up and not the start of a series, so that is on me. This is very much a set up book, truly showing the beginnings and inner workings of what’s to come.
It depicts the coziness of day to day interpersonal conversations and the individuals that make up a community- “the cogs in the machine.” How a typical day can be threaded with a range of corruption, resistance, and ignorance. The exploration of language and how it both divides and connects and the juxtaposition of past and present and future were so powerful. It was approached in such an interesting way and created this really compelling tension throughout.
Iskander was my favorite POV so I was immediately drawn in from the start, but it quickly became my nightmare when we started to switch between around 12 different POVs through the entirety of the book, some one-offs and some recurring. I became more understanding of that after learning the author is a former journalist and that choice was likely influenced by his background- storytelling through the lens of getting all the different angles and perspectives of what’s unfolding. It just made it really hard for me to connect with any of the characters because we kept switching and I don’t think each one propelled the plot forward in an equally effective way and it felt a bit stagnant at times.

I am overall incredibly impressed and the ambition should be applauded, but also disappointed that it didn’t leave as big of an impact on me as I expected. BUT I can see this changing once the other book(s)? come out since this was truly just the beginning. (It almost feels like the prequel novel you would get to accompany an already finished series)

“A revolutionary can be anyone. Even you.”

Thank you to Saga Press for the opportunity to read and review this ARC ✨

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐ rounded up!

A visionary debut that I will be thinking about for a long time! This is an “Arabfuturist” dystopian sci-fi set onboard a mammoth spaceship hundreds of years after the end of human life on Earth; it’s diverse and clever, witty, sad, and often brutal, and it was executed so well.

This must have been a huge undertaking for the author, the layers of world building were immense, each of the several perspectives were fleshed out and each individual voice was distinct and nuanced. The use of language to explore identity was fantastic and El Sayed even created his own creole called Nupol, akin to Nadsat in “A Clockwork Orange”, used as somewhat of a coded language by revolutionaries in the book. I look forward to hearing an audiobook version of it eventually (fingers crossed), because I’m very interested in hearing it spoken!

I cannot wait for the next book, I feel like this was just a taste of what there is to learn about Safina and her people.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Saga Press for the ARC!

[Thaís · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably one of my best readings of 2026. The Republic of Memory, by Mahmud El Sayed, is the first book of The Song of the Safina series. This is a perfect mix of Ancillary Justice and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, and if you loved these books, you will love this one.

I want to create a full long-form video about this book because the political aspects go beyond politics. El Sayed shows, among other elements, how language is also political. And I think I've never read a quote that made so much sense to me as a person who has English as a second language:

"When you speak a different language, you become another person."

[thelamaesque]

I CANNOT WAIT TO READ THIS!!!!

[Anodyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

200 years ago, the Network Empire commissioned a fleet of generation ships to carry their best and brightest to a new world. Ten years into that journey they receive an emergency communication from Earth calling them back; when the ship AI insists, the crew respond by forming the Compact, decommissioning the AI, removing their augments and restructuring the berths to be segregated by language. Now, at the halfway point of their journey, amidst resource and power issues, dissatisfaction with Admin is rising, fuelled by nepotism in watch appointments and restrictive bureaucracy. A catastrophic event serves as the catalyst that may challenge the ship’s purpose and ignite the growing revolutionary movement. The book utilises multiple third-person point-of-view characters top show a range of perspectives.

I really liked the interrelationships between berths and the sub-cultures mentioned. I think I caught around 15 different berths and about 7 different languages – Arabek-speaking Fustat being the seat of most of the action, followed by Miyako (Nihon), Damask (also Arabek), Ziyou (I think both Manda and Canto), Linda Cidade (Porta) Novy Oblast (Russian) Koutobia (also also Arabek), Birshahr (Torkodil), Sehrimiz (also Torkodil) and Malacca (Malay). I found the selection of cultures surviving in this incredibly refreshing. I would love some more supportive content, like maps or summaries of berths and/or watches, just to help catch things; a lot of these are mentioned in passing, and I found it a little difficult to figure out the scale of things.

Probably worth raising early: the book employs ‘Nupol’, a Nadsat-esque creole or argot used by revolutionaries and other anti-Admin groups. There is one early chapter from a one-off PoV character written entirely in this, and it’s relatively prominent throughout the book in dialogue and in the internal monologue of more recurring characters. Nupol is an odd meld of old-time English thieves cant and a melange of predominantly European languages, including a strong Russian influence (hence the Nadsat comparison), but also German, French, Spanish and Italian/Latin, as far as I could easily place. I love the idea of this but the execution didn’t particularly land for me, especially given the contrast with the prominent cultures on the ship. The predominance of (explicitly ‘dead’) European languages feels a little odd given the relative lack of significance Europe has on the ship; additionally, while Inglez is the ‘neutral’ language of the ship, it’s also very loaded because it’s associated with Admin as the organisation users of Nupol are opposing. Ultimately, because so much of the story involves and is told in Nupol, it ended up eclipsing a lot of the cultural focus I expected from ‘Arabfuturism’, and the melange of cultures throughout the ship.

There’s definitely other interesting use of language throughout. One memorable thing for me was the very neat use of different styles language in and out of PoV chapters for a specific character (Hilal). In other PoVs her speech is a little archaic, but the language in her own PoV is casual with almost-modern slang – a tiny little detail I adored!

I like the variety of characters on display. I’m not usually a big fan of multiple point of view narrations, but it was used very effectively, using both one-off and recurring narrators to pop in across a wide range of perspectives, both in their background and their experience of ongoing events. It is incredibly refreshing to see a widely diverse cast that manages to avoid being US / Western Europe centred. The ship is very much multicultural, and the predominant culture conveyed is largely the revolutionary community, which is of all berths and thus effectively of none. It’s also very interesting that the most prominent recurring characters of Fustat origin are effectively divorced from their community in one way or another – Iskander clearly values his family and culture but is made an outsider by his profession as a translator and its need for neutrality, Hilal is likewise and moreso both by her joining security and the nature of who she is, while Damietta actively abrogates the culture she’s born into in favour of the revolutionary movement. I will say that I would have been interested to see more of Admin overall; while nepotism and corruption are very evident throughout the novel, Admin’s exact contribution to things felt fairly opaque to me.

Props for queer rep. For those seeking, there are multiple sapphic characters, and though their relationships are not of overly major plot relevance, they are significantly prominent.

The greatest weakness here for me personally was in characters, specifically in Damietta. I would love to see a well-executed teen revolutionary character; however, Damietta reads as the very media stereotype of a rebellious teen rather than as a serious and independent character, in the sort of way that always feels profoundly unfair to actual teens. As seen elsewhere, there could have been something interesting done between PoVs, switching from an ‘unreasonable’ outer portrayal to an internalised view that dealt sensitively with the emotions and needs she felt. It missed the mark for me, however – Damietta is even more bratty inside her own head than she appears in other character’s views, and she never seems entirely cognizant of the people around her and why they may be doing the things they’re doing.

The idea of the generation ship is always a big appeal to me, because it fascinates me how that environment – the limited resources, the need for everyone to contribute, the pressure on everyone and everything – shapes the characters within it. For me, Republic of Memory didn’t quite hit the mark on that, but this is likely more of a mismatched expectations kind of thing. The Safiya works excellently instead as a massive space-borne city-nation, bringing together a mass of different cultures and how they grapple with the legacies of the past and the threats of the present.
Also, advanced warning – this is not a standalone. I did not know this going in, and as such the ending put a bit of a damper on things for me. Without spoilers, there is very little resolution to either the driving mystery of most of the book, or to the revolutionary storyline; there’s also an obvious thread of something that I was hoping to see come to fruition teased throughout that only comes up as setup for the next book.

Overall it was an enjoyable read and the concepts for the language-based segregation and cultural influence were fascinating. I would have loved to delve deeper into more of the details of the ship, its history and its culture outside the revolutionary set.

[mo • lesmotsdemo · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was definitely an unexpected read, for many reasons. It felt very slow moving overall, which was not the pace I was waiting for based on the synopsis. The plot itself was also not what I was expecting; I thought it was going to focus on the revolution and its consequences, but it actually focused on the build-up leading to the revolution which took place later in the book. Therefore it felt quite incomplete, which I’ll get back to later in my review.
It had a rich and unique worldbuilding but in a sense not much more than that; the absence of most of the plot I had in mind before starting the book and the characters did not make up for that feeling of emptiness I had many times throughout my reading experience. The whole focus on the importance of languages and translations led to some very interesting moments though, they were some of the strongest of the book. But the cast of characters was unfortunately quite unengaging and the abundance of points of view was maybe a reason why. Also, some scenes (of sexual nature) felt so random and completely unnecessary; they added nothing to the plot and I’m questioning their presence in this book.
As I said earlier, the plot felt quite incomplete. After I finished the book I found out it was the first book in a series and it disappointed me a little… I believe the story would have been so much more impactful if it was more intense and based on the actual revolution I was so interested in. What we had of it was very intriguing and I wished we just got straight into it. This book felt like a long prologue, in some ways. I just wished I knew that before starting the book. I would still recommend it though.

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-ARC in exchange for a honest review.

[Gem · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

(Thank you to Saga Press for the ARC. All opinions are my own.)

I don’t read Science Fiction all that often, but whenever I do, I always curse myself that I don’t read it more, because when I do pick up a Sci-Fi book, I almost inevitably find I’ve chosen something great. The Republic of Memory is no exception to this rule, being an excellent debut that deals thoughtfully with ideas of revolution, and themes of language.

We find ourselves on the generation city ship Safina, which is halfway through its 400-year journey to the new colony world of Hurriya. On board are thousands of new colonists in cryostatis, along with thousands more crewmembers, descendants of the original crew tasked with keeping the Safina running, but who know they will die (as will their own descendants) long before the ship reaches its destination.

All members of the crew are required to take up a role in one of the ‘watches’ once they come of age - whether that be engineering, environmental, stasis management, admin, etc., and when it comes to living arrangements, the ship is divided up into ‘berths’, with crew required to live in the appropriate berth. Except that rather than the berths being divided along the lines of nationality, race or culture, they are dividied along the lines of language, i.e. everyone who speaks the same language inhabits the same berth - the reasoning behind that being that that if someone wants to switch berth, it is more feasible to learn a new language than to change your race or nationality (technically true, although I think the story positions this as being a bit too ‘easy’, when it definitely isn’t, and also perhaps slightly overlooks the fact that often, language is inherectly tied to your nationality or race, so the distinction isn’t really all that clear).

The thematic use of language in the book is very interesting, however; positioned as something that both unites and divides people, and as something that is at least indirectly providing fuel for the revolutionary feelings that are brewing among certain parts of the crew. One of our main characters is a translator - someone who works for the Admin watch, who are at the top of the pile when it comes to running the ship, and therefore also one of the key antagonists in the eyes of the revolutionaries. In their eyes, translators are agents of the enemy, and the necessity to have one present at every administrative interaction is just another way of keeping everyone in line (for example, if a crewmember wishes to marry someone from another berth, Admin has to approve it, and each party is required to have a translator present at the relevant meetings, almost like a lawyer).

The revolutionaries also use a completely separate constructed language (in the same way that Esperanto is a constructed language in the real world), created by their various factions over the years to allow them to communicate with each other in a way that almost functions like a code, and is a sign of a fellow sympathiser. This language is very cleverly done by the author, and is an impressive element of the book, although I will say that I was quite glad it didn’t feature quite as heavily as it was at one point appearing it might, as I found it quite difficult to parse when reading. I generally picked up the general gist of what the characters were talking about, but never felt that I had a complete grasp on the specifics of what they were saying.

This is very much character-driven Sci-Fi - so if you’re a fan of space operas, full of space battles, aliens, and new planets, this may not be for you. But I found the character-centric approach very compelling to read, mainly because I found the characters to be mostly very interesting, and the approach to the character perspectives to be surprisingly effective.

There are essentially two main POV characters - Iskander Ezz, the aforementioned translator, and Heba Hilal, a detective. But rather than alternating between these two characters all the way through the book, there’s almost something of a handoff around halfway through the story, when Iskander takes a backseat, and Hilal comes to the forefront (for reasons that I won’t mention explicitly, because they’re spoilers). We do also have other POVs - one of whom constitutes a third ‘main’ perspective, which is that of Damietta, Iskander’s sister and burgeoning revolutionary. I will say that she was probably my least favourite character, as I found her to be a bit naive and hot-headed, in that typical teenaged unfiltered way. And then there are also multiple other perspectives, most of whom appear for a chapter and then disappear again, never to be seen again. Normally, this method of including POVs annoys me, as it feels like slightly lazy writing, but in this instance it worked well to show the reader how the Safina functions as a community, and how that community is feeling about, and reacting to, developments.

I will say I was a bit surprised that the impact of AI didn’t feature more in the story, given that the Safina was originally run by an AI, and was sent off on its journey to Hurriya (along with several more sister ships) by the Network Empire, an Earth-based empire run by AIs. We’re told early on that the original crew of the ship overthrew the AI and removed all their technological connections to it, and while the concept does reappear to a certain extent later in the book, it never really becomes the focus of anything - although my sense is that this might be more the case in the second installment.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from this book, and said yes to the ARC as a bit of a punt, more than anything. But I’m very glad I did, as it has most certainly continued my trend of picking up excellent Science Fiction. I already can’t wait for the second book.

[Tobie Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Republic of Memory is the first in a new series that deserves a place in the canon of great modern Sci-Fi series like The Imperial Radch, The Expanse and Teixcalaan. I strongly recommend this if you like rich, immersive worlds or tense plots involving multiple factions. If you want something to theorise over, then this is for you.

The book is set on the generation ship Safina, sent from Earth to establish an outpost of the Network Empire, an Islamic theocracy governed by advanced AIs, in the stars. Under the rule of the Network Empire, Earth has descended into all out war, as people rebel against the tyranny of the AIs and 10 years into the Safina’s journey, they receive news that the war has resulted in the extinction of humanity on Earth. The AI running the Safina wants to turn round and head back, but the crew rebel, tearing the AI out of the ship and ushering in an age of democracy for the last bastion of humanity.

The story takes place 200 years into the Safina’s journey, as they are preparing to celebrate the halfway point of their four century long journey. The first third of the book is spent getting to know the setting, largely through the eyes of two members of the Ezz family – Iskander, a translator who hopes to make his way into politics, and Damietta, a teenager just finishing education and a member of an underground political faction. After the first third, we get a big event that triggers the main plot of the book into motion. Once it gets going, it progresses at quite a pace and manages to keep you engaged the entire way through. It’s an interesting choice for the book to do this slow introduction – another way to introduce us to the setting would be for us to learn about it alongside one of the POVs introduced during the course of the book, but this way makes the setting and plot feel bigger than this one person.

Language is a big factor in the book. The Network Empire was predominantly Arab-influenced, but like most large empires, there’s a lot of cultural blending. The importance of language is enforced by how the Safina’s crew is divided – the rebellion against the AI decided to separate communities based on language rather than any creed or class, making translators an important part of any administrative process, but also making multiple lingua francas that allow communication between denizens of different berths. The most common of these are ‘Inglezz’, a form of English that has undergone 200 years of evolution whilst being spoken entirely by people who don’t have it as a first language, and ‘Nupol’, a dialect of Inglezz that uses loan words from a variety of languages. Nupol is very important to the story – it’s predominantly used among the young and by the various underground political factions in the book and we get multiple points of view that belong to both of those groups. There’s long passages of dialogue (and even interior thought) written entirely in Nupol, and it’s fascinating how quickly you pick it up as a reader.

The other major factor in the book is politics. After nearly 200 years of stagnation after the rebellion against the AI, the Administration has become corrupt and tyrannical. Nepotism is rife, with family members of admin personnel often being parachuted into cushy admin jobs whilst the rest of the crew do gruelling work keeping the ship running. As such, there are a number of underground political factions that seek to change the current state of the Administration – from factions familiar to us in the real world such as various communist groups and Islamic fundamentalists, to ones that have developed due to the unique situation of being on a generation ship. The most important of these is The Haraka. It was formed by a visionary revolutionary, Selin Devrim, a few decades before the events of the book. One of the main differences between Devrim’s political faction and the rest regards the question of the Ancestors – thousands of people in cryosleep that are intended to be useful (scientists, engineers and the like, but also police and the like) when the ship reaches its destination. Most of the crew hold them in high regard, including in a religious fashion, but the Harakaists want to wake them all up gradually and make them adapt to the new way of life. The existence of the ancestors poses a great moral question – they are an ultra-conservative faction politically, and as people they have technology proscribed by the revolution embedded into their bodies and are generally taller and stronger than the people who’ve grown up in the confines of a space ship, so waking a large number of them up at once would have strong ramifications both culturally and politically. Selin Devrim led a revolt against the administration, but was undone by the diversity of the anti-administration political factions involved, with some betraying the cause to make deals. The Haraka is now led by Badreddine, the only remaining member of Devrim’s inner circle, who has spent the intervening years as, among other things, a general in inter-gang warfare, contract killer and smuggler. The main plot of the book follows how these political factions, principally the Haraka, try and use the main triggering plot event to their advantage.

All in all, the author does an incredible job at making the world feel alive through the language, the food and the politics. When the plot starts moving, this build up allows us to feel the ramifications of certain events alongside the characters and react alongside them. I can’t wait to see where this series goes next.

[Rallie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is everything I hoped for and more - if you're excited by what it says on the tin, guess what it's EVEN BETTER than that! I was hooked from the first page and by the time I got to the last ~40-50 pages my heart rate monitor started screaming at me to chill out (I have screenshots to prove it). Thank you so much to Sage Press for gifting me a copy of this book!

TL; DR: Best book of the year! Brilliant prose, brilliant political commentary, brilliant playing with language, brilliant characters...okay now read the whole thing (or go read the book and come back to finish then tell me your thoughts in the comments!)!!!
~
The Republic of Memory is political sci-fi at its best - the conflict(s) are multifaceted with no real good guy, but certainly a clear bad guy (bad guys? only time will tell o_o). El Sayed plays in the politics of antisystemic movements, and his creation is nuanced and thoughtfully executed. Our PoV characters come from different factions and different levels of engagement in the struggle; from Iskander, our well-meaning little bureaucrat dreaming of reform in his silly hat to his younger sister Damietta and her direct engagement with the anarchist faction; from Kalila, Taki, and Lebanon, each a different facet of the average person getting drawn into revolutionary activity to Hilal, Britva, and Badrieddine, political agents with explicit goals driving them.

El Sayed's use of language is marvelous. Nupol is brain-bendingly cool (I have recordings of me reading some of my favorite bits to friends; Damietta refers to it as music and you really need to hear it spoken to truly appreciate just how rad it is). This "prattle of the disenfranchised" (p. 33) on a ship with Inglez as the Administrative tongue in a society separated based on native language reorients racism and colonialism along linguistic lines (but it's not racism because "anyone could learn a new language" [p.53] and Inglez isn't anybody's first language so like, nobody is on top! Nice try First Crew 😬). Also, from a world-building level it does not erase or flatten cultural differences - the precariat or underclasses might have to unify purely for survival in a way that is expressed linguistically, but the proletariat or "official" society would, realistically, maintain some degree of separation along cultural lines. This isn't sci-fi where "it's the future!" and culture has all become the same (a legacy of western colonialism and American Manifest Destiny). El Sayed's future is just as messy and differentiated and oppositional as humans are in real life - like Iskander says, "old divisions only gave rise to new ones" (p. 53) - and cultural expectations evolve along with new circumstances.

One of my favorite parts of this book is the biting and overt critique of capitalism. I mean...Iskander could not be more explicit:

"It's what they were bred and trained for, generation after generation. The crew was nothing more than a living, breathing repair system for the ship" (p. 155)!

Under capitalism the worker already exists for production of commodities and re-production of workers, and on the Safina it takes on such a starkly literal tone and everybody knows it, whether they treat it as an honor or as an unjust sacrifice of their lives and the lives of their descendants as grist in the mill for the Sleepers' future. The fact that they exist for the sole purpose of getting the Sleepers to their destination cannot be hidden by ideology (instead, ideology justifies it). They are always referred to as crew, never residents or citizens, while the Sleepers are treated as revered ancestors - a built in future for a ruling class.

There is so much beautiful prose and my copy is full of highlights and annotations. El Sayed has crafted something full of passion, full of life, full of questions without answers that force us to look at the world as it is and consider this exploration of a not-unrealistic future. The characters feel real, the conflict feels real, nothing feels forced or contrived. The symbolism is lovely - like the uniform for Navigators is crew grey with a black and white kaffiyeh, a nod to the Palestinian diaspora!!! I loved watching Damietta's growth over the course of the book. Seeing some PoVs pop up occasionally when they become relevant but an overall focus on some core characters was an excellent choice to give the story space to breathe and expand context while also keeping the plot focused and always moving. There are Moments that stand out so clearly which is again a perfect call to the kind of Moments that occur within revolutionary movements, and reading those parts filled me with the same emotions as watching the Arab Spring unfold on the other side of the world (and on social media, which OOF! I cannot wait to see how interfacing mirrors that!).

Truly, this book is a triumph, and I'm so excited to see what comes next! Because WHO IS ELYAS?? WHAT IS HE DOING?? LIKE

Connecting: Imperial succession protocol activated.
Elyas? Do you read me?
...
Safina, here I am

WHAT IS THAT??? Nobody knows his purpose, he can't put a target on his back.......AAGH!!
~
Original Review 4/23/26
FULL REVIEW TO COME BUT OHHHH MAH GAAAAAAAAAHHDDDDD Mahmud El Sayed you brilliant brilliant man. A thousand blessings upon you.

[Jacqie · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Rem Tolentino · Rating 4 out of 5]

One thing that science fiction and space operas usually assume is the static homogenous nature of language. Focusing on the planets, alien species and technology, very few writers decide to explore how diction, slang, and vernacular progress and evolve over time. In the Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed, an interstellar voyage of 400 years set in an Arab-futurist colony ship, the Safina, blends traditional science fiction elements like warp travel, new technology and stasis pods with grounded elements of revolution, commentary on class and religion, warnings against Artificial Intelligence and the growth of language.

As a linguist, language is firm and center in the world-building (or shall I say ship-building) of this debut novel by El Sayed. Clever literary devices are used amongst the vast POV cast to highlight how language not only stratifies social class and career progression but how revolution can be fomented and discussed secretly. When reading as the POV of a translator, the prose on page is written in perfect English no matter if the character is talking to someone speaking neofuturist versions of English, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, Mandarin and others. For another character and her arc in revolution she speaks NuPol - an invented language by El Sayed that blends words from the aforementioned languages mixed with colony ship slang. Granted, the NuPol sections of the book probably would not be for everyone, as it requires a lot of understanding of context and familiarity with the base languages to fully understand what characters speaking NuPol are saying. While I appreciated the effort that El Sayed put into creating this new language, I imagine these sections could potentially be difficult for some to read. Aside from that warning, I enjoyed reading those sections. Finally, a colonist woken up from a long period of stasis speaks an archaic form of Arabic that when viewed from the POV of the younger generations is written in the prose as Shakespearean English which was a clever and brilliant choice.

The wide cast of characters that get POV chapters help with the lore and world-building of this novel where we see firsthand how business and bureaucracy is done, how crops are harvested, and how stasis pods and the ship are maintained. This fleshes out the Safina quite nicely and El Sayed builds believable systems grounded in science and realism when describing the ship. The heavy emphasis on the operational aspects and the day-in-a-life vignettes of each of the colonists does come at a cost however, as the plot isn’t clearly identified until midway through the novel and the genre and tone shifts afterwards to a detective mystery from pure speculative science fiction. Finally, although not advertised, it’s quite clear that this book was written with a sequel in mind, as the climax of the book leaves most of the cast of characters in plot limbo (or shall I say cryo-stasis).

Overall, I enjoyed this book. El Sayed created an immersive, unique world with heavy Arab influence not seen in science fiction today. His mastery and knowledge of linguistics was a highlight of this novel, but a tighter plot could have kept the momentum of the book moving forward as we the reader are learning about the mysteries and intricacies of the Safina. I’m hoping we get a sequel to this stellar debut novel and I am looking forward to more works by this author.

Thank you Saga Press for providing this advanced review copy for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Janette · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Republic of Memory was a brilliant slice of Space Opera which I loved. The idea of Generation Ships travelling vast distances across space transporting humans to homes on new planets is such a fascinating one and the author uses this to explore ideas such as how governments actually govern and the role of language in our identities.
In this case, the original A1 brain of the Safina was disabled by the crew not long after the start of the voyage and a compact was agreed. However, two hundred years later, the cracks are beginning to show. People were divided into berths according to the language they spoke which sounds reasonable as it should be possible for anyone to learn a new language and therefore be able to change berths. In practice, things have become very stagnant with very little movement and the important Admin jobs being reserved for a few families
One who has been able to make the move is one of the main POV characters, Iskander, who has managed to become a translator which is part of Admin. This puts him at odds with his family especially his younger sister who is one of a group formenting revolution to overturn the current government and make things more equal. These two together with a third POV who emerges half way through the book are the main characters whose eyes we see events through. I liked all three of them and felt that they made an effective contrast with each other with a quiet almost academic man in Iksander, his impulsive, artist teenage sister and the experienced, world weary detective. There are also many secondary characters and the whole thing builds up to a cohesive picture of a closed society in imminent danger of exploding.
However, it’s not just the government of the ship, the place of the ancestors is a dividing point too. They are the colonists for the planet, the doctors, Scientists and other experts who will run the new colony. However, some of the crew are beginning to question why they should spend time and precious space on the ship looking after these people who none of them ever knew and who carry the seeds of a destroyed planet inside them.
I loved the working out of the political situation on the ship. We see so many different points of view as everyone has their own feeling about how things should change and this feels so real and becomes almost a window into our own world. The one thing that is very different though is the fact that the Safina has to be kept going. If anything serious happens to her, that will threaten the lives of everyone on the ship.
As you might expect from a society divided along language lines, language forms an important part of the story especially at the beginning and I loved the odd digressions into how many different words there were for a particular thing. There is a created language used by young people and the criminal underworld and this is used by several of the characters. It does make part of the story a bit challenging to read as you have to work out what is actually being said but for me, it just added to the fun.
The book took a while to get going as there was a lot of world building and character development to set up but it never felt as though it dragged for me and when the plot does finally take off, it’s a amazing and I was never quite sure what direction things were going to go in next.
This was a brilliant Science Fiction debut and I can’t wait for the next book to come out to find out what happens next.

[Tina Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sci-fi is not my typical genre, so I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Unlike traditional sci-fi, it’s actually quite easy to follow, and it weaves together family drama and political conflict in a way that keeps the tension high and had me hooked from beginning to end.

In this story, Earth’s environment is deteriorating, so a group of people are sent aboard a ship called Safina on a journey estimated to last 400 years to explore and settle a new planet. Among them, the most valuable and knowledgeable individuals are placed in hibernation to preserve them until humanity reaches its destination. The remaining passengers—ordinary people—serve as crew members, maintaining the ship and ensuring the hibernators remain in good condition. The crew is divided into sections based on language, and translators serve as bridges between these communities. Although the ship is originally operated by an AI, over time, the crew gradually takes control and overrides it. As the years pass, the system that once functioned smoothly begins to crack.

The book follows multiple POVs and builds a vivid, detailed world composed of different cultures, ideas, and dreams. The primary POV, Iskander, is a highly skilled translator—well-connected, self-assured, and gregarious. He has a deep love for languages, and although he was born into a prestigious family devoted to the environmental department, he chooses instead to work as an admin. He dreams of one day starting his own business. He also has a secret lover—someone he knows his family would never approve of—which adds another layer of tension to his storyline. Meanwhile, his younger sister Damirtta, an art student, is passionate about a revolution aimed at reforming the admin system.

One of the book’s greatest strengths is its immersive world-building. The author carefully develops how people live aboard the ship, how the language-based divisions function, how the hibernators are stored and cared for, and even how Launch Day is celebrated. These details make the sci-fi setting feel grounded and relatable. The writing is smooth, logical, and easy to follow, with touches of humor and sharpness that keep the narrative engaging. The ongoing family drama and political tensions maintain a high level of suspense—I truly couldn’t put it down. Even though there are multiple POVs, they are well-connected, and most characters are introduced before becoming viewpoint characters, which makes the transitions feel natural rather than overwhelming.

That said, the novel features around ten POVs, so if you’re not used to multi-POV storytelling, this might not be the right fit for you. Additionally, since the main character is a translator interacting with people who speak different languages, the book includes portions of foreign languages. However, most of them are easy to infer from context.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Thanks to NetGalley, Saga Press, and the author Mahmud El Sayed for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Hussain A. Ayoub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of advance copy received from the author.

This is an ambitious novel that aims for a good story, a fully realised world that feels less like fiction and more like a report from the future, a colourful cast of believable characters, and a realistic take on the nature of revolution. And it delivers on all fronts.

The Republic of Memory is a thoughtful, politically charged sci-fi novel about a generation ship half-way through a 400-year journey to the planet Hurriya: the final refuge for humanity after Earth was ruined. Generation after generation, the crew maintains the ship while protecting the remnants of a fallen empire in cryostasis. Over the years, the crew drifts away from their imperial past as the ship voyages further from Earth. History repeats itself, and the crew grows dissatisfied with the new regime. When a devastating shutdown forces them to awaken the "ancestors", things get even more complicated as the fate of the ship—and humanity—hangs in the balance and a revolution is brewing under the surface.

Central to this story is language. El Sayed masterfully utilises language in unique and simultaneously realistic ways. Every berth has its own culture, language, and heritage, which are in many ways echoes from the old ones on Earth. Language is not static though; it changes over time, and El Sayed captures this fluidity by showing us how language can shape our memories and understanding of past, present and future. There's also Nupol, a language the crew has developed over time, which can be described as a mixture of many old Earth languages. Parts of the book are written in Nupol, which can be difficult to understand at first, though most of it can be understood from context. As the story progresses, Nupol becomes easier to follow.

The POV characters are all realistic and multilayered. From the translator, to his revolutionary young sister, the veteran gang-rebel, and the soldier, El Sayed guides us alongside these characters slowly but purposefully through every part of the Safina, fleshing out her many berths, gangs, political parties, cultures, fears and hopes. Following these characters is intriguing, to say the least. There are no good or bad guys here. Even the security forces are humanised.

The highlight for me was the worldbuilding: thoughtful, meticulous, well-researched and alive. El Sayed has thought about every detail that needs to be in a generation ship—how food is recycled, political and social engineering, the watches (jobs) needed to maintain a functioning ship. And the result feels like a blueprint for a realistic future project.

This is not an easy read: it is dense, with deep themes and relevant political and social questions. It is a triumph of storytelling and prose. As an Arab who has always been an SFF fan, I couldn't ask for a better Arabfuturist debut. I can't wait to continue this story in book 2.

Recommended for fans of A Memory Called Empire, Children of Time, and The Expanse.

[Caitlin G · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE REPUBLIC OF MEMORY is an engrossing tale of a ship in crisis that also digs into some juicy existential questions. What do you do when your ship's values and identity no longer align with the civilization that gave the ship its mission in the first place? Why are the lives of those in cryostasis more honored than the lives of the people who keep the ship running today?

I really enjoyed how the disaster that hits the ship really forces its everyday inhabitants to question things that they've taken for granted and to see the contradictions in their lives. They revere those in cryo as "ancestors," and consider the journey to their new planet as a sacred mission, but the culture of the ship has fundamentally changed since it began its voyage. If the crew were to wake the ancestors today, would they even get along with those who woke up?

To explore all these facets of a culture in upheaval, the story skips around to several different viewpoints over the course of the book, from a mid-level administrator to a teen street artist to the head of a rebel faction. While a few POVs get more of the lion's share of the tale, it's almost hard to point to the "main" characters of this book as there are so many POVs. And yet it is done in a way that is never confusing, as many characters show up in other POV chapters; you are now simply getting a different angle of the same story. It gives a pretty broad look at the different ways people are handling the crisis and grappling with the choices put before them and really enjoyed seeing the different cultures and parts of the ship.

Where I'm a little more mixed is in how well the author engaged with one of the unique aspects of the ship. On this generation ship residential areas are divided not by nation or by job description, but by the language a person speaks. Dividing on those lines is supposed to allow residents more flexibility in migration, as anyone can learn a language but they can't change their religion or heritage. And I did enjoy some of the ways the author plays with language. For instance, when listening to the voice of an ancestor, the current ship inhabitants hear it as "ye olden days" style language, but in flashbacks, the dialogue is perfectly normal.

But language is also supposed to be a huge barrier between the different berths. In fact, there's a whole occupation dedicated to translation, as only Admin people speak English as a primary language, and common folk need a Translator to process paperwork. Aside from some initial encounters with Translators, however, language didn't seem to cause too much friction. I myself grapple if this was the intent, that language evolves to its needs and people will find a common language. But as this is being sold as a linguistic sci-fi, it didn't feel like the author did enough with it.

THE REPUBLIC OF MEMORY is exactly what I was hoping for: a deep dive into a fully realized culture that has uniquely evolved in support of its mission. I really enjoyed the many different POVs it used, and how well fleshed out this microcosm of civilization felt. I am eagerly awaiting the next installment in this journey and can't wait to see how the crew evolves in the aftermath of this first crisis.

Note: I was provided a free ARC by the publisher in exchange for my fair and honest review.

[Steph | bookedinsaigon · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE REPUBLIC OF MEMORY is an impressive and ambitious sci-fi debut with an incredible Arabfuturist premise that doesn’t reach its full potential due to some authorial choices that weren’t questioned during the developmental edits stage.

The Safina is one of the most incredible new worlds I’ve read lately. El Sayed does a fantastic job of depicting the hundreds of thousands of individual moving parts that make up the colony ship. A+ for atmosphere and details. The Safina is divided into sections by language spoken; each “neighborhood” is replete with a plethora of culturally specific sensory details that immerse you into this fascinating world.

Unfortunately, worldbuilding is the book’s strongest point. It could easily have been just half as long. It reads like El Sayed is so impressed by his own ideas that he’s loath to cut out details—indeed, entire chapters—that don’t really contribute to the main storyline. Multiple-perspective books are challenging to pull off—certain characters’ perspectives will always be more interesting/important than others—but here there are SO many chapters from different characters’ perspectives, and not all of them are done evenly. For instance, there are some characters whose perspectives we only get once or twice.

But more head-scratching to me was the decision to closely follow one main character through the loooong exposition, only to take them out of the story a third of the way through and switch focus. As a writing exercise, I can see why one would think it’s cool and edgy to subvert readers’ expectations and sympathies with the characters. As a reader, though… Why? What’s the point?

I’m also puzzled by the book’s shift in tone and focus halfway through, again because it didn’t feel necessary to the storyline. In the second half, a “hardboiled detective” plotline dominates, yet doesn’t reach a satisfying conclusion, bubbling away at the eleventh hour to meld back into the main plotline.

In fact, the main plotline sold to us in the synopsis—that of a ship-wide revolutionary uprising against original colonists, or “ancestors,” and the Admin that severely controlled everyone’s social statuses—is not as thoroughly explored as I had hoped for. I wonder at El Sayed’s decision to pursue a polyphonic narration, especially as we never get to go into the minds of the key figures in the revolution (Badreddine, maybe?). Nearly all of the perspectives we get feel like those of side characters, with the verve and zeal of revolution missing from this piecemeal approach. If this was an attempt to illustrate the bottom-up nature of activism and organization, I wasn’t convinced.

It wasn’t until I had finished THE REPUBLIC OF MEMORY that I found out there’s going to be a sequel, which is disappointing, because it means that the majority of Book One really was just one long setup for the action that will supposedly happen in Book Two. I remain cautiously open to reading more from El Sayed—the worldbuilding is, ugh, divine *chef’s kiss*—but will say that THE REPUBLIC OF MEMORY is more of a challenging sci-fi read that’s immersive in worldbuilding but not so much so in character development and pacing. Patient fans of James S.A. Corey’s The Expanse, P. Djèlí Clark, and Ken Liu’s Julia Z series may appreciate this one.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. This was such a fantastic, impressive debut sci-fi that really leans into culture, language, and revolution in a way that feels both thoughtful and gripping.

Set aboard the city ship Safina, launched 200 years ago by the remnants of a dying empire, The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed explores what happens when a society literally rebuilds itself mid-journey. After receiving a distress call from Earth that the ship’s AI insists they respond to, the crew instead chooses rebellion: decommissioning the AI, stripping away their augments, and restructuring their entire society around language. From there, and 200 years later, everything begins to unravel, especially once regular mysterious blackouts start triggering a chain of events that spirals into revolution.

This story is told through multiple third-person POVs, sometimes very brief, one-off perspectives, which is something that doesn’t always work for me. But here, it’s handled so well that I never once felt lost. Instead, it adds depth and scale, giving a real sense of how widespread and personal the unrest is across the Safina.

One of the standout elements for me was the focus on language and how it shapes culture and division. The way El Sayed explores what drives a revolution-what sparks it, what sustains it, and what fractures it-felt incredibly nuanced. The “ancestors,” preserved remnants of the old empire, were also fascinating and added another layer to the story, especially in contrast to the present-day crew.

There’s also a compelling mystery running throughout involving the blackouts, and I couldn’t stop guessing who was behind them. That tension, paired with the more personal stories of characters just trying to live their lives in the middle of growing instability, made this feel both epic in scope and grounded in humanity.

This did remind me of A Memory Called Empire in some ways, so I’d definitely recommend it to fans of that, but it still offers a very different experience, especially with its deep emphasis on language and the unique societal structure aboard the Safina.

Also, I have to give major kudos for the structure here: the prologue hooked me immediately, and the epilogue left me desperate for a sequel. I will absolutely be looking forward whatever this author writes next.

4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for the eARC. All thoughts are my own.

[RavenReads · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed is a novel that reaches for something big, something arguably too big for its own good. At its core, the book is tackling weighty and important themes: class, race, religion, and the uncomfortable truth that even in a completely new environment (aboard a ship removed from Earth and time itself) these divisions persist. The idea of a fractured group of people learning to overcome those boundaries should feel powerful, even hopeful. And to some extent, that intention is there.

But the execution gets in its own way. The narrative is crowded with too many characters and shifting points of view, making it difficult to form a strong connection with any one storyline. Just as you begin to settle into a thread, the book pulls you somewhere else, often before anything meaningful can fully develop.

The most challenging aspect, however, is the language. El Sayed incorporates a constructed, evolved dialect meant to reflect centuries of linguistic blending aboard the ship. It’s an interesting concept in theory, but in practice, it becomes a major barrier. The prose frequently leans so heavily into this invented language that entire passages become difficult to parse, pulling the reader out of the story rather than immersing them in it. Instead of enriching the worldbuilding, it creates distance and frustration. Let me give you an example of a direct quote that is not even dialogue, this is a description by the author: "For the average crew, dva coves could be beshing right next to ’em on the rapido on their tao home after tri drudge palavering about obving Rema, the capo venti herself, and they would nish savvy. And if Badreddine did nish want to palaver?"

And that’s ultimately the most disappointing part, because there is a meaningful story here. Beneath the stylistic choices, there’s a narrative about perseverance, about resisting systems that devalue people based on identity, and about the quiet strength found in friendship and solidarity. Those themes are compelling and worth exploring. But a story can’t resonate if it’s this hard to read.

The Republic of Memory is overly ambitious, thoughtful, and clearly written with purpose, but for me, that ambition ultimately overwhelms the reading experience.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Mahmud El Sayed, and Saga Press for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

[El Fish | libro.vermo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never read anything influenced by the Arab Spring before and I don't know much about it beyond the basics, so The Republic of Memory was a very interesting read for me. The Arab Spring was a powerful uprising with quite a bit of violence and Mahmud El Sayed did not shy away from those things in this book. The call for revolution really hit home for me too, being in the US right now where fascism is running rampant and trampling over our rights. And honestly, it felt good to read about a people standing up for themselves both peacefully and... ahem... otherwise.

The story is great. It's tense and mysterious and hopeful. There are quite a few characters and locations to keep track of and I can't lie, I had a little bit of trouble with that, but I feel it was worth it. The characters were all compelling and believable. I especially liked Lebanon, one of the stastechs who worked to keep cryogenically frozen people alive. Damietta was another of my favorites. Her youthful enthusiasm for revolution was inspiring.

I loved the political intrigue and brewing revolution in The Republic of Memory, but my absolute favorite thing about it is the importance placed on language. Everyone on the Safina is separated not by race or religion but by the language they speak. Most of the languages are evolved versions of current language; Arabic is Arabek, Mandarin is Manda, etc. But the Haraka, a revolutionary group, speak Nupol, which is a fictional conlang like Newspeak (Orwell's 1984) or Nadsat (Burgess' A Clockwork Orange). Nupol is a fascinating mix of several languages and it's used frequently throughout the novel. When I first saw it I thought I would have a hard time understanding it, but several paragraphs into a chapter written entirely in Nupol I realized I was using my knowledge of language in general along with context clues to perfectly understand what I was reading. I basically learned a conlang without trying and it was one of the coolest experiences I've had reading a book in a long time.

If you're a lover of language, this is a fantastic book to read just for that alone, but I also recommend it to anyone interested in the Arab Spring (this is a cool jumping point) and/or anyone who wants to believe the little guys really can make a difference.

Many thanks to Saga Press for the ARC!

[Sarah-Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where do I even start with The Republic of Memory? It was a demanding read. It was a rewarding read. It offered a post-Earth future. It also offers us more than we may want to acknowledge about present-Earth. I could read it through at least six more times and keep discovering remarkable bits and unexpected connections between its fictions and our lives. This generation ship holds a mirror up to our time—and anyone who doesn't see our reflection in that mirror is willfully blind.

The "ancestors" in stasis that the ship Safina is transporting to a new planet (a 400-year journey) will be protected and served by one generation after another of ship's crew who will never see the final destination.

The communities on the ship, segregated by language to avoid other forms of prejudice, are every bit as divided as we are.

Shortly after the ship Safina left earth, the crew chose to disable the ship's AI. Now the Safina is run by its living occupants, who over time have been sorted into hierarchies that in theory shouldn't exist, but that in reality are firmly established. The possibility of change in status is almost non existent.

The ship has its official crew—it also has those living under the radar, products of marriages and births that weren't sanctioned. There's an official economy. There's a vast unofficial economy for those whose existence may be unsanctioned, but is nonetheless very real.

What is owed to the ancestors? To the ship's different linguistic communities? To those who shouldn't exist, but do? To those who will die over the centuries over space travel? To those who have been tapped to return to life at that journey's end?

Is revolution possible? Is it desirable? Who will benefit? What form might it take? Which, if any, of the cohorts that think of themselves as revolutionary are actually willing to foment revolution—and capable of living it out?

Read this book. Take you time about it. Then wait like I am for the next volume, turning over both possible futures and our own historical moment in your mind.

Five stars aren't nearly enough.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

[Booksy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for a sci-fi that has something to say about our world today, this book is a massive achievement.

The author has created a "generation ship" story that feels entirely fresh because it swaps out the usual tropes for a perspective rooted in Arabfuturism.

The setting is an enormous vessel called the Safina which has been traveling through the void for centuries. The tension between the crew keeping the ship running and the elite Ancestors sleeping in cryostasis creates a political pressure cooker that eventually blows up!

​The writing style is where the book truly shines but it might also be the biggest hurdle for some readers.
As a translator, El Sayed obsesses over how language and memory shift over hundreds of years in isolation. It is beautiful and dense, though it requires a lot of focus to keep track of the various factions and technical jargon. It is not exactly a light read because the world building is so immersive that you almost need a map and a glossary to keep your bearings during the first few chapters. He even created his own fictional languages, which were abit confusing to read in the beginning, but eventually, you get a hang of it.

While the scale of the story is epic, the sheer number of character POVs can make the middle section feel a bit slow. There were moments where I wanted to stay with one person longer to really feel the emotional stakes of the revolution, but the book often jumps away just as things get intense. However, the payoff in the final third is worth the patience.

It is a haunting exploration of what we owe to the past and what we are willing to sacrifice for a future we might never see!

It is ideal for fans of Arabfuturism or anyone looking for a fresh perspective that moves away from traditional Western sci-fi tropes. If you don't mind a story that demands your full attention and rewards you with a rich and an immersive world, this is a must read!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for the ARC*

[Joy ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not exactly sure how to rate this book because there were equally things that I liked and didn't like, so ima just go with 3 stars lol

The Republic of Memory really gripped me from the start. This is a book about culture and how it changes over time, it's about how the status quo doesn't make something right, choosing yourself and the power of language, and how even something as simple as words can play a major role in equality and inclusion in our societies.

The beginning was just so easy, and im sure that doesn't make much sense lol. I felt like the story was interesting, and I liked the setting and the characters a lot. Although I really loved the exploration of language in this book, the chapters with the slang really took me out of the story and the plot. For the most part, with the help of context clues I was able to understand what was being said and as cool as the concept is, it just didn't work for me. Another thing that didn't work for me is the multitude of POVs. I am someone who LOVES a multi POV story and stories with many players, but again, this was something that took me out of the story because some POVs to me really didn't push the plot forward. And last but not least, the plot was very hard to follow. I really didn't even understand what the actual plot was until about halfway into the book because it was more about the characters and being in their heads up until then.

But there were also things I really loved about this book such as the setting. The author did an incredible job of creating The Safina and creating these pockets of people with different cultures, languages and motivations. Also there was some moments that really made me LOL and make me connect with the characters a lot.

Overall, I would say this is a very ambitious debut, and I am definitely intrigued enough by the ending to check out the next book in the installment.

Thank you to Saga Press for the early copy!

[T Davidovsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Safina is a generationship crewed by people whose sole purpose to guide their ancestors (who are cryostatically sleeping) to a new planet. They all disagree on how loyal they should be to the ancestors and how committed they should be to this purpose. In answering these questions, the novel explores duty and family. It also explores religion and what it has to say about interacting with the past. The main characters all come from a Muslim family, and other religions and cultural norms are also present in the book. Some of them have clear analogues from Earth in the modern day. Some of them are a weird mix of familiar things. Others are norms that can only really exist on a generationship.

I loved the way the book explores a diverse array of approaches to change, politics, and society in general. From the very first chapter, it's clear that the ship is kind of falling apart, though no one in charge wants to admit it. Most people have figured out that there's a problem. Nobody can really agree on what to do about it. One translator wants to run for office to change the system from the inside. His sister wants to do a more comprehensive overhaul. There are communist, loyalists, pacifists, tradionalists, imperialists, unionists, reformists, revolutionaries, and a whole host of other factions that all clash (and sometimes uneasily unite) over how to deal with an array of obstacles on the ship.

As the story progresses, too many characters keep getting introduced, and the novel kind of loses its focus. I can see what the author's trying to do, but it doesn't really land. In the end, it's only mediocre as a space opera, but it's excellent as a family drama about idealists and ideologues. Mahmud El Sayed clearly knows how to tell a compelling story about inequality, injustice, and revolution with real moral clarity.

~Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a Digital ARC. All opinions are my own.~

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

This is an extremely ambitious debut novel with multiple POV's and extremely intricate worldbuilding. I absolutely adored the world of the ship Safina, what with its background as a generation ship formerly under the control of an AI empire, but now with the AI torn out and the crew split into different factions and berths based on language and also job. Tension roils as blackouts occur and the people in the ship try to decide what to do about the "ancestors" kept cyrogenically frozen for over two hundred years now, but at the same time, you get a deep dive into the food and nightlife of the various berths, the way language has shaped all of them, and the way religion and philosophy has developed in such a closed environment.

I do enjoy having multiple POV's but I will say that I feel like a few of these POV's could have been cut since some of the more boring ones always managed to interject right at the most exciting parts of my favorites. I very much enjoyed reading Iskander's POV, as a translator and burgeoning politician trying to navigate both the political waters of the ship along with appeasing his own familial expectations, and also Hilal's POV since she's basically a noir detective and a fish out of water and time. I didn't much as enjoy Damiritta's POV, since she is very much a teenager, even if she's key to the rebellion, or honestly, any of the rebel POV chapters because it's written mostly in NuPol, a mix of different languages that kind of gave me a headache. Kudos to the author for making NuPol understandable, but it wasn't really for me.

I do still have a lot of questions at the end of this novel mainly, is Safina going to be super evil?, and I look forward to the second book of this series!

[Sarah Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A generation ship held together by bureaucracy, memory, and a language hierarchy that quietly decides who matters. That’s the tension at the heart of The Republic of Memory, and it’s as sharp as it sounds.

This is a deeply idea-driven story, and it commits. The Safina isn’t just a setting, it’s a closed system shaped by history, policy, and the lingering grip of an empire that technically no longer exists but still dictates everything. The way language functions here is one of the most compelling parts of the book. It’s currency, gatekeeping, identity, and resistance all at once. Translators aren’t just intermediaries, they’re power brokers, and that dynamic ripples through every interaction. The atmosphere leans claustrophobic and brittle, with the ship itself feeling like it’s one bad decision away from collapse.

What really gives the book its edge is how it handles conflict. There’s no clean moral ground to stand on. The administration is trying to maintain order in a system that’s already cracking, while the revolutionaries are driven by urgency but not immune to the same flaws they’re fighting against. It’s political without being preachy, and it refuses to simplify anything. The family dynamics layered into all of this help anchor the story, adding pressure in a way that feels personal rather than abstract.

This is not a hand-holding read. It expects you to keep up, to sit in the discomfort, and to accept that not everything will be neatly explained or resolved. But if you’re into sci-fi that actually grapples with power, legacy, and the cost of carrying the past forward, this one is worth your time. It feels deliberate, challenging, and just a little bit unsettling.

Thank you to Edelweiss, Saga Press, and Mahmud El Sayed for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Jensen McCorkel · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: This review is based off of my experience reading an eARC I received from the publisher via Netgalley. This did not in any way affect my review.

The Republic of Memory is the first book from author Mahmud El Sayed, and is a sci-fi epic that takes place on the city-ship Safina, that is halfway through a 200 year journey from earth to a new planet. The crew of the Safina work around the clock to keep the Safina moving and to provide for the crew while their ancestors are in cryostasis awaiting the end of the long journey. However, some of the crew are starting to doubt the fairness of the ancestor’s being kept alive through this whole journey while their crew who toils for them will never see their destination. Through this story, we get to see a beautiful example of Arabfuturism and what exactly is involved in the making of a revolution.

After finishing this book, I think that I enjoyed it much better than I thought I would going in. Not only was the story-telling and world-building engaging and compelling, but it was really just a great story. The characters were so well-developed and I loved how into their heads we got to see. I can tell the author put a lot of thought into creating this world and into each and every character in it.

Language is a huge part of this book. One of the first characters we are introduced to is a translator, whose job it is to be the bridge between the crew and the Administration who speak a language that the poorer crew cannot afford to take the time to learn. The crew itself is divided into living areas based on the languages they speak, which I thought was such an interesting concept. However, my one complaint about this book was that the author created a sort of street dialect for some of the characters to speak, and it was at times very hard to figure out what the characters were saying as it wasn’t usually explained. Other than that, this book was so hard to put down and I loved it! I can definitely see myself reading the sequel.

4 stars

[Dan (ThatBookIsOnFiyah) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review: Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed

4.5/5 stars, rounded down. I have read three debut novels so far this year, and Republic of Memory is far away the best of the three. Sayed’s writing is crisp and flows very nicely. There are multiple points of view, and I enjoyed reading all of them. There was never a moment where I was bored with one of the POVs and anxious to get back to another.

I was invested in every part of this story about a revolution on a generation ship that has left a dying Earth, headed to a new planet 400 years from Earth. I like the way Sayed set up the story with a large group of individuals asleep in cryostasis and an even larger group of their family’s descendants making up the crew. It was interesting to see the interactions of the various groups, all defined by the language that they speak. The author also presents a realistic view of the jealousy among the crew members regarding the people in stasis. The belief among some of the crew that the ‘ancestors’ have gotten free travel while the crew has slaved and died in their service for 200 years, with 200 more years to go. A key point of the civil unrest that leads to revolution.

Sayed tells his story from an Arabfuturist point of view, with religious references that feel perfect for the story and include multiple religious perspectives. This story tells the story of humanity – the good and the bad. Sayed is definitely a writer to keep an eye on.

Highly recommended!! #NetGalley #RepublicofMemory #MahmudElSayed