How do we find our own reflection in a history that was never fully written?

In Astrolabe and Mirror (Usturlap ve Ayna), Kübra Acar Pehlivan weaves a rich tapestry of historical fiction and intellectual inquiry. Set during the dawn of the Islamic Renaissance, the novel follows Ahmet, a translator of Aristotle in Al-Kindi's circle, as he attempts to record the unwritten history of his grandfather, Ulaş of Fergana.

Witnessed through Ahmet’s pen and the voices of those he encounters, the narrative unfolds in a capital rising under the shadow of the Abbasid Caliphate. It is a world where power clashes with conscience, and reason struggles against dogma. As Ahmet looks back at his grandfather’s life, he searches for a reflection not just of the past, but of his own turbulent times.

Bridging the gap between two calendars and two eras, the novel illuminates the "gray, misty" parts of history often left in the dark. From the streets of Baghdad to the steppes of Central Asia, characters like Yıla, Togay, and the mathematician Al-Khwarizmi come alive, asking the ultimate question: twelve hundred years from now, how will we be remembered?