The Republic of Memory

'This political sci-fi mind-stretcher is destined to be a classic' NICHOLAS BINGE 'A breathtaking, textured, wildly imaginative tapestry ... I loved every moment of it' ALIETTE DE BODARD * * * * * 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 an ambitious work of Arabfuturism, and is perfect for fans of The Expanse, A Memory Called Empire or Children of Time. * * * * * 'Those who love the depth and wonder of language, and who see it as the seed of revolution, will find this an essential contribution to the canon' BETHANY JACOBS 'Brilliant, timely, and incisive ... This is science fiction at its finest and not to be missed' M.H. AYINDE 'A riveting and deeply thoughtful book ... A thrillingly intricate epic - a book to feed the soul' LORRAINE WILSON 'Science fiction as it's meant to be - big ideas, big politics and amazing characters' STEWART HOTSTON 'THIS is why we read science fiction' SAM J. MILLER 'A novel of astounding scale and ambition - an instant classic that deserves to be spoken of in the company of Iain M. Banks' Culture series' GAUTAM BHATIA 'Utterly original, full of thrilling plot twists, deeply wise and politically nuanced ... I loved this book with my brain and my heart' ANNALEE NEWITZ

Mahmud El Sayed is a British-Egyptian SFF writer and translator. He lives in East London where he spends his time pondering linguistic oddities and running story ideas by his cat. A former journalist, he covered 'serious' Middle Eastern politics until he had enough of chasing people up for boring quotes and decided to write about generation ships, sentient libraries and memory taxes instead. He won the prestigious 2023 Future Worlds prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour and his work focuses on Arabic and Islamic-inspired themes in a genre he is calling Arabfuturism.