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The Mulai
An archaeologist travels to a distant planet to spend time amongst a mysterious community, a people who live in temperature-controlled domes, worship a deity called Dog, and repeat an elliptical phrase from which they draw their mulai, the tree comes.
The descendants of a long-forgotten space mission, the Mulai have abandoned the social norms that once bound them to Earth. Over centuries of isolation, their language has become more about change than stability, and the ways they eat, write, reproduce, bury their dead and understand gender have all transformed into something almost unrecognisable.
As the archaeologist records his attempts to understand their world – a strange negative of our own – questions of translation, meaning-making and the ultimate precarity of civilisation come to the fore.
Drawing on Borges, Le Guin and Calvino, The Mulai is a mind-bending work of metafiction whose interlocking puzzles resound with Munir Hachemi's singularly playful and eclectic style.
The descendants of a long-forgotten space mission, the Mulai have abandoned the social norms that once bound them to Earth. Over centuries of isolation, their language has become more about change than stability, and the ways they eat, write, reproduce, bury their dead and understand gender have all transformed into something almost unrecognisable.
As the archaeologist records his attempts to understand their world – a strange negative of our own – questions of translation, meaning-making and the ultimate precarity of civilisation come to the fore.
Drawing on Borges, Le Guin and Calvino, The Mulai is a mind-bending work of metafiction whose interlocking puzzles resound with Munir Hachemi's singularly playful and eclectic style.
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About the author
Munir Hachemi
16 books63 followersMunir Hachemi (born 1989) is a Spanish writer. He was born in Madrid to an Algerian father and studied Spanish at university.
He also obtained a master's degree in Latin American studies. His fiction appeared initially in fanzines under the aegis of the Escritores Bárbaros collective. His first novel Cosas vivas appeared in 2018.
In 2021, he was named by Granta magazine as one of the most promising young Spanish-language writers in the world.
(source: Wikipedia)
He also obtained a master's degree in Latin American studies. His fiction appeared initially in fanzines under the aegis of the Escritores Bárbaros collective. His first novel Cosas vivas appeared in 2018.
In 2021, he was named by Granta magazine as one of the most promising young Spanish-language writers in the world.
(source: Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 5, 2026
Video review to follow
August 1, 2026
This book was such a weird read
The book is so dis-jointed, strange and weirdly sexual at the same time, it send me for a loop.
While I think I get what the author was trying to communicate, I didn’t enjoy the journey
The book is in different parts either very sexual ( an adult shows a child how to mastubate, a rape, lots of ‘fucking’), very into language ( radicals in the language, the way the mulai language both is and is not) and so on.
Just not my cup of tea…
~ Ali
The book is so dis-jointed, strange and weirdly sexual at the same time, it send me for a loop.
While I think I get what the author was trying to communicate, I didn’t enjoy the journey
The book is in different parts either very sexual ( an adult shows a child how to mastubate, a rape, lots of ‘fucking’), very into language ( radicals in the language, the way the mulai language both is and is not) and so on.
Just not my cup of tea…
~ Ali
August 1, 2026
4.5- I was a bit unsure how I would rate this at first. There is some quite graphic sexual descriptions and abrasive language- so it’s not for everyone. I ultimately am rating this high because it is so inventive and unique. It has my imagination and thoughts going down some new roads that I think I will follow for some time. And that’s the kind of book I always say I want more of.
August 7, 2026
I didn't dread picking this up to continue, but it only had a few moments that were really gripping/moving. I can appreciate what the author was trying to do, but it wasn't a pleasant read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews