Mahmud El Sayed
A Most Anticipated Book of 2026
Transfer Orbit • CrimeReads • The Bookseller
A Memory Called Empire meets Children of Time in this Arabfuturist debut set on a generation ship on the brink of revolution as its crew begin to ask why they should toil for a people, and an empire, none of them remember.
The Safina is a city ship halfway through its four-hundred-year voyage from the ruins of Earth to a new colony world. Its crew maintain the ship, generation after generation, while protecting their ancestors in cryostasis so that one day they will be able to enjoy a fresh start under clear blue skies.
But when blackouts start, unrest follows.
The ship can only continue running smoothly with the cooperation of the crew. And the crew has had enough. As coordinated acts of resistance coincide with a much more complex conspiracy, a chain of events is set into motion that will change life on the Safina forever.
Inspired by the real-world events of the Arab Spring, The Republic of Memory is a bold interrogation of empire and an energizing portrait of revolution.
