[[2026 Books and Manga]]  When I read that **The Republic of Memory** was “Arabfuturist” I actually approached it with trepidation. This is going to require a history lesson that most of the crackers reading this are almost definitely unaware of, so I’ll describe it in brief. Being Sudanese, I speak Arabic and am Muslim because of its spread from the north, after the Islamic conquest of Egypt under the government of Amr ibn al-as. As with all relgions and cultures, this has caused a lot of issues, particularly because of the two brotherhoods, the Ansar and the Khatmia, which have made lots of problems for its citizens. Tale as old as time. The point is that I like my culture and the language I speak, but I am fully aware of its baggage — to the point where I bristle when my cousins call us “Afro-Arab[^1]”. I have no love for the Gulf, from Saudi Arabia to Qatar, because they’re also culpable for my home country’s grief. So you can forgive me for not immediately being enthused by an “Arabfuturist” novel at first blush. Thankfully not only were my fears completely unfounded, I ended up getting to read one of my favorite books in a very long time. Mahmud El Sayed doesn’t side-step the history I just brought up: as a British-Egyptian himself, he tackles it full on. The result is seeing myself represented more fully in a novel than I ever have in my life. **The Republic of Memory** is the first novel I’ve ever read that actually has my surname in it, the first one I’ve read that brings up classic food like besboosa and mulah. The book deftly examines the amalgamation of culture and class through the lens of a city ship called the *Safina*, two hundred years into its voyage from the ruins of Earth, towards a new, habitable world. The first half provides the set-up of the ship, its various crew members, and what life is like for generations that have had to toil for its people who are in cryostasis, waiting to wake up once they land. Normally this sort of set-up would bore my ADHD-addled ass, but Sayed keeps it engaging because of how meticulously crafted the world he’s created is. And he gives this exposition whilst still building out the cast of characters and building up to the novel’s turning point. Once that happens, it becomes a more focused, investigative narrative which had me hooked until the end. This book is already a 7/7 for me, but it’s the first of a duology. If it can maintain this quality in the follow-up next year, then it’ll be a top 10 series for me, easily. [^1]: this is putting it lightly by the way, I had a very long discussion about this and curse words may have been involved