NOMINATED FOR THE PRESTIGIOUS INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR ARABIC FICTION (THE ARAB BOOKER) 2025 & BY SAWIRIS AWARD WINNER AHMED AL-MALAWANY.
In an unnamed authoritarian state responding to severe economic crises, citizens are implanted with microchips that force half the population into a comatose sleep while the other half wakes to conserve resources. The protagonist is devastated when assigned a waking schedule diametrically opposed to his wife, allowing them to meet only in state-sponsored artificial dreams. Sweet Dreams is a terrifying, emotionally resonant dystopian masterpiece exploring totalitarian state control, the loss of bodily autonomy, and the relentless fight for human love.