Title: The Republic of Memory
Author: Mahmud El Sayed
Pages: 480
Series: The Song of the Safina #1
Release: May 5, 2026

A fantastic conceit, executed beautifully. A generation ship, halfway through a 400-year voyage to a new habitable planet, shepherding the last holdouts from Earth in cryostasis while their descendants man the ship, is hit with a power outage that ignites a tinderbox of factionalism and distrust in the ship’s leadership and way of life.

Mahmud El Sayed has crafted an expansive, living tapestry of cultures that span the Safina. Striated by language, there are a head-spinning number of factions, sectors, and POVs to keep straight, but El Sayed does an admirable job keeping everything on the rails. Some may be frustrated by sections written entirely in Nupol, an underground improvised Spanish-English hybrid introduced early on, but it’s used sparingly enough that it never becomes a major issue.

As dense as the book is, it feels like it has only scratched the surface of what’s possible in future installments. With plenty of runway ahead, I’m excited to see where things go next. It’s a terrific start to the series.

★★★★½

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.