Washington Post Review

"Three Delightfully Strange New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books: Ma movingly depicts taboo relationships... and dramatizes how fanatical devotion to the government can lure people to their own destruction."

Electric Lit Interview with Lillian Li: "A Future Where Your Memories Can Be Shared—and Banned"

Yiming Ma’s debut novel These Memories Do Not Belong to Us imagines a prescient dystopia of frightening technologies and censorship.

CBC Radio Interview

Yiming was interviewed by Ramraajh Sharvendiran for CBC Radio's Here and Now Tuesday Afternoon Book Club!

Winnipeg Free Press Review

“This may be one of the most important books published this year.”

Spotify Editors' Picks for August!

These Memories has been selected as one of Spotify Editors' Picks for August!

Lit Hub Essay: Yiming Ma on the Benefits of Writing Blind

"Still, it wasn’t until I began writing fiction that I realized that I suffered from another kind of blindness—one in my memories."

PEN Ten: The Keeper of Memories - A Debut Novel on Shared Stories and Resistance

In conversation with Digital Safety & Free Expression Program Coordinator Amanda Wells, Ma discusses writing as resistance, the power of stories and memories, and the ambiguity of censorship.

Writer's Digest Essay

"As an immigrant, I grew up believing that I did not have the privilege to resist against any individuals or institutions that represented authority. In a way, I wrote this book partly to explore what small resistances I could imagine mustering under the most frightening scenarios—whether confronting Artificial General Intelligence, or memory surveillance, or the brutal life of a sumo wrestler—in the hope that it might resonate with others who feel similarly powerless amid overwhelming odds."

Feature Essay on Hodinkee: "Orange is the Color of Her Memory, Her Time"

"That orange was the color of her fire. Every time I wear the watch, I remember her strength and the fact that her memory lives on through us still, her time not yet done."

Interview on SiriusXM: The Breakdown w/ Allison Dore

Yiming Ma guested on SiriusXM: The Breakdown with Allison Dore.

Straits Times Review

“Both in form and substance, [Yiming Ma’s] imaginative dystopian novel is a spirited defence of how stories survive in an age of control and suppression… and is a treat to read.”

CBC's 21 Canadian books for August

We have been chosen as one of CBC's 21 Canadian books to be excited about in August!

Reactor Mag's SFF Books for August

These Memories on the list of Reactor Magazine's August SFF reads.

Foreign Policy's Novels We're Reading in August

These Memories is one of Foreign Policy magazine's Novels We’re Reading in August.

Ms. Magazine's August Reads for the Rest of Us

"In this strikingly reflective debut, Yiming Ma explores the power of memories and what it means when they are censored or banned by the government. A collection of these banned stories forces readers to consider why certain stories are banned, and why it is more important than ever to continue to share them."

Lit Hub's August 2025 Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books

We're one of Lit Hub's August Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books.

Goodreads Readers' Most Anticipated August Books

"This one looks like good cerebral fun: Yiming Ma’s debut sci-fi thriller imagines a totalitarian future where all citizens are fitted with a cranial implant that allows for monitoring, recording, and transferring memories. When one man inherits his mother’s device, he uncovers some dark secrets regarding the new economy known as Memory Capitalism. Underneath it all, author Ma poses some uncomfortable questions about government, media, and collective memory."

NPR Kansas City readers share their top titles for hot summer days

We're one of the top titles selected by readers for KCUR (NPR in Kansas City Roundup).

Debutiful’s Most Anticipated of 2025

“Ma is a brilliant mind with a shining voice. His writing is spellbinding… Reading [“These Memories”] was reminiscent of the first time I read Ted Chiang’s “Story of Your Life.” It made me believe that books can change my brain’s chemistry.”

Indigo Most Anticipated Canadian Reads

Preorder for a 30% discount until July 6th!

Library Journal Review

“A dangerous inheritance upends everything a young man knows in Ma’s timely and impressive debut…Readers of literary dystopian fiction will find much to enjoy in this thought-provoking debut.”

Booklist [Starred Review]

"This novel-in-stories, set in a dystopian future in which memories can be downloaded from one mind to another, asks provocative questions about narrative, humanity, and love… The premise of Ma’s debut novel provides ample opportunity for both metafictional playfulness and deadly serious commentary on our fraught relationship with technology."

Publishers Weekly Review

"A chilling dystopian novel in stories... Ma bravely and lucidly portrays how an authoritarian regime seeks to control people’s minds, and how people’s lives can be commodified by technology. This timely work leaves readers with much to chew on."

Goodreads Most Anticipated Summer Books

"Yiming Ma’s debut sci-fi thriller imagines a future where all citizens are fitted with a skull implant that allows for monitoring, recording, and transferring memories. When one man inherits his mother’s device, he learns some rather upsetting details regarding the new economy known as Memory Capitalism."

Electric Lit Cover Reveal

"The design offers a stunning representation of how memory can be fragmented and manipulated."