“[…] the gem of the Arabic literature of dissent.” — The New Yorker
“Brimful of magic, Sarmada is a book to be swallowed in rapturous gulps. It’s beautifully written and, save the rare plunge into cliché, beautifully translated by Adam Talib.” — The Independent
“Sarmada by Fadi Azzam is a unique and audacious book by pretty much any measure: drawing heavily on the both Scheherazadian tradition of stories within stories, and elements of magical realism” — Eleutherophobia
“Sarmada is a remarkable book, a story that draws readers’ attention, not simply to a plot, but more importantly into a society that might otherwise be deemed too alien to enter, let alone to understand. Fadi Azzam has crafted a brilliant narrative rendered beautifully into English by Adam Talib.” — University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee