What do you think?
Rate this book
There Is No Antimemetics Division
An antimeme is an idea with self-censoring properties; an idea which, by its intrinsic nature, discourages or prevents people from spreading it.Antimemes are real. Think of any piece of information which you wouldn't share with anybody, like passwords, taboos and dirty secrets. Or any piece of information which would be difficult to share even if you complex equations, very boring passages of text, large blocks of random numbers, and dreams... But anomalous antimemes are another matter entirely. How do you contain something you can't record or remember? How do you fight a war against an enemy with effortless, perfect camouflage, when you can never even know that you're at war? Welcome to the Antimemetics Division. No, this is not your first day.This ebook is an official release by me, qntm from the SCP Foundation wiki! PM me if you require confirmation. This ebook collects all of my Antimemetics Division SCP-055, SCP-2256 and the complete serials There Is No Antimemetics Division and Five Five Five Five Five.
220 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 8, 2020
1221 people are currently reading
20525 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,393 reviews
July 15, 2020
I'm resisting the urge to write any sort of in-universe or knowing wink of a review, and you should too. It would be like whipping out your recorder and tooting along to a symphony orchestra.
This is a fantastic exploration of a particular SF/horror subgenre by the master himself. There are precursors and adjacent fiction - Langford's BLIT, the concept of "infohazards", The Laundry Files - but this is just on a different level.
Partly thanks to its origins on the web via the SCP Foundation project, the story is told in a series of vignettes, requiring the reader to deduce and piece together the whole story in their mind (until they can dimly perceive the vast outlines of...)
The text is philosophically interesting and narratively engaging. The horror will hit you in the guts, but also eat away slowly at your mind as you puzzle away at the implications (Thomas Ligotti retire binch!)
To say this is just typical of a qntm production is only to point out that he's consistently excellent.
It's only 200-odd pages long and a couple of quid on Google Play. In terms of various ratios (enjoyment/page, enjoyment/price, mindblows/page) this is probably the best book I've read this year. Go buy it!
This is a fantastic exploration of a particular SF/horror subgenre by the master himself. There are precursors and adjacent fiction - Langford's BLIT, the concept of "infohazards", The Laundry Files - but this is just on a different level.
Partly thanks to its origins on the web via the SCP Foundation project, the story is told in a series of vignettes, requiring the reader to deduce and piece together the whole story in their mind (until they can dimly perceive the vast outlines of...)
The text is philosophically interesting and narratively engaging. The horror will hit you in the guts, but also eat away slowly at your mind as you puzzle away at the implications (Thomas Ligotti retire binch!)
To say this is just typical of a qntm production is only to point out that he's consistently excellent.
It's only 200-odd pages long and a couple of quid on Google Play. In terms of various ratios (enjoyment/page, enjoyment/price, mindblows/page) this is probably the best book I've read this year. Go buy it!
November 12, 2020
These stories scared the crap out of me. I think the idea of memes that are self-camouflaging, that eliminate their own traces, reflects a deep existential unease and questions about epistemological uncertainty, in a moment when 40% of Americans are lost in conspiracy theories, compounded by the near certainty of a future in which we will be able to manipulate perception and memory in a far more profound way. How do we fight an enemy that denies its own existence?
January 1, 2021
As a premise, fantastic. Full of interesting ideas and some great storytelling, especially when focusing on human interactions. However, in broad sweep a disappointing book. If you start from an interesting logical premise, then add a shaky idea on top, then continue stacking shaky ideas one after the other, then eventually you get to a point where anything is true, and any statement you make about the storyline can possibly be true as well - but you have no way of knowing.
A great idea, pushed too far.
A great idea, pushed too far.
February 11, 2021
This book reads like the Laundry Files weird older sibling.
Time jumps and memory gaps are used effectively to convey the struggle against inhuman threats to memory and identity.
The plot spirals inward, sprinkling clues like breadcrumbs for you to piece together. If you like that kind of thing (as I do) it's great. But if you are looking for a fast-paced read with spoon-fed information, then this is not the tale you are looking for.
Time jumps and memory gaps are used effectively to convey the struggle against inhuman threats to memory and identity.
The plot spirals inward, sprinkling clues like breadcrumbs for you to piece together. If you like that kind of thing (as I do) it's great. But if you are looking for a fast-paced read with spoon-fed information, then this is not the tale you are looking for.
May 3, 2021
The idea is absolutely brilliant. Its implication on the story are refreshing and very amusing. The story gets mind-bending and the twists are pure pleasure. Honestly "The is no ..." is the most refreshing SF story I've read in a long time. At least the initial 50-60%. The final part gets very abstract - it's not a real world with a crazy twist anymore - the implications of the changes introduced by author are so deep and far-going that it pretty much loses the connection with the reality we can and that makes the book even more abstract. In my case it made me lose my interest.
Nevertheless, I recommend this one wholeheartedly:
* it's short, pure meat
* it's cheap
* it's unique
* it's brilliant
Very good stuff.
4.2 stars.
Nevertheless, I recommend this one wholeheartedly:
* it's short, pure meat
* it's cheap
* it's unique
* it's brilliant
Very good stuff.
4.2 stars.
March 15, 2023
“There is No Antimemetics Division” by qntm is the best kind of science fiction. It’s the kind that asks a smart question about the way the world could be and then answers it. It explores consequences – turning complicated scenarios into narratives that leap off of the page and bury themselves at the back of your mind and the bottom of your gut.
It’s also deliciously gross and horrific, and oddly touching. It’s not a book without faults (the ending got a little out-there, even for me), but a perfect book to me, is a book that I finish and then want to read again. This is a story that's interested in the human ramifications of a smart problem and it hopes the audience is too. It was a thrilling, refreshing, and thought-provoking ride.
It’s also deliciously gross and horrific, and oddly touching. It’s not a book without faults (the ending got a little out-there, even for me), but a perfect book to me, is a book that I finish and then want to read again. This is a story that's interested in the human ramifications of a smart problem and it hopes the audience is too. It was a thrilling, refreshing, and thought-provoking ride.
March 20, 2024
This was a constant challenge to wrap my head around conceptually, as well as follow the disjointed narrative structure. The concepts here are mind bending to the point of making my head hurt, akin to falling into the rabbit hole of a deep time travel paradox. The loosely stitched narrative, with frequent time jumps and memory gaps, feels like a trail of breadcrumbs that's been scattered by the wind, both compelling and confounding in turn. With effort at piecing the bits together, eventually a picture emerges of an epically bizarre struggle against apocalytpic, Lovecraftian horrors that threaten to usurp our reality by means of devouring human memory and identity. The challenge seems insurmountable. How do you combat enemies that actively eradicate all knowledge of themselves? Places and things that defy perception, manifesting as gaps in reality. The thrills and chills reflect a deep existential unease.
Lying somewhere in the hinterland between sci-fi and cosmic horror, this is far from a perfect novel, despite my five star rating. It is patchy and fragmented. Perhaps intentionally so, in fitting with the theme. Info dumps abound, and character development is scant. Nothing is spoon fed to the reader. It exacts a price, and is most certainly not for everyone. Yet the payoff is rewarding, as far as I can recall...
Lying somewhere in the hinterland between sci-fi and cosmic horror, this is far from a perfect novel, despite my five star rating. It is patchy and fragmented. Perhaps intentionally so, in fitting with the theme. Info dumps abound, and character development is scant. Nothing is spoon fed to the reader. It exacts a price, and is most certainly not for everyone. Yet the payoff is rewarding, as far as I can recall...
May 12, 2021
What Sci-Fi was made for.
Suffers a little due to its structure and method of creation, and its goodness is heavily front-loaded, but still warrants a 5 due to extreme creativity and mind-fuckery.
Suffers a little due to its structure and method of creation, and its goodness is heavily front-loaded, but still warrants a 5 due to extreme creativity and mind-fuckery.
April 27, 2024
Truly original science fiction is rare, but somehow qntm has struck on a whole vein of new ideas. This antimemetics concept is brilliant. There is a Lovecraftian element here, sure, and a whole host of other influences, but the way this narrative is told, and the intellectual core of it is really something that I've never encountered before.
This is a story about creatures that feed on information and memories, such that half of this novel is about people trying to guard their own memories - they are constantly remembering and forgetting. The plot is necessarily fragmentary to accomodate this. At first this book felt more like a collection of short stories than a novel, but that feeling didn't stick around. This is a novel, and all the little details are relevant.
I had never heard of qntm before I bought this book yesterday. To my shame, I just picked it up because I liked the cover and the title sounded cool. It's good to take a chance on something now and again. But in the end, I was really surprised. This is some of the best science fiction that I've read in a long while.
This is a story about creatures that feed on information and memories, such that half of this novel is about people trying to guard their own memories - they are constantly remembering and forgetting. The plot is necessarily fragmentary to accomodate this. At first this book felt more like a collection of short stories than a novel, but that feeling didn't stick around. This is a novel, and all the little details are relevant.
I had never heard of qntm before I bought this book yesterday. To my shame, I just picked it up because I liked the cover and the title sounded cool. It's good to take a chance on something now and again. But in the end, I was really surprised. This is some of the best science fiction that I've read in a long while.
January 8, 2025
Surprisingly good. Easily the best work of fiction related to SCP, which is mostly mediocre Reddit-teenager creepypasta, though maybe there are some gems out there that I'm not aware of. In this sense, Antimemetics Division is reminiscent of Kane Pixels taking the Backrooms and making actual art out of it.
Anyway, Hughes’s book is good for sci-fi, less impressive as actual literature, but I've slowly learned to lower my standards and just go along for the ride, when possible; the prose is just good enough to not be distractingly bad, and for a self-published $0.99 Kindle novel . . . I mean, I'll take it.
The idea/non-idea of antimemetics has been addressed before — in the Laundry Files and other middling-at-best SF, and most memorably in one of my favorite short stories of all time (Rick Moody's 2003 "The Albertine Notes") — but Antimemetics Division takes the concept in a clever Lovecraftian pop-SF direction.
2025 edit: Reread four years later . . . this book is seriously good, slightly better than I'd remembered, the main thing is that Hughes just needed an editor. The prose is actually not as bad as I'd vaguely recalled; the issue is that it's just first-draft-ish? The writing itself isn't weak, rather it's vaguely . . . untidy. And yeah I dunno man, purely as speculative fiction, this book is 9 out of 10, Hughes could easily be another Ted Chiang in the near future.
Anyway, Hughes’s book is good for sci-fi, less impressive as actual literature, but I've slowly learned to lower my standards and just go along for the ride, when possible; the prose is just good enough to not be distractingly bad, and for a self-published $0.99 Kindle novel . . . I mean, I'll take it.
The idea/non-idea of antimemetics has been addressed before — in the Laundry Files and other middling-at-best SF, and most memorably in one of my favorite short stories of all time (Rick Moody's 2003 "The Albertine Notes") — but Antimemetics Division takes the concept in a clever Lovecraftian pop-SF direction.
2025 edit: Reread four years later . . . this book is seriously good, slightly better than I'd remembered, the main thing is that Hughes just needed an editor. The prose is actually not as bad as I'd vaguely recalled; the issue is that it's just first-draft-ish? The writing itself isn't weak, rather it's vaguely . . . untidy. And yeah I dunno man, purely as speculative fiction, this book is 9 out of 10, Hughes could easily be another Ted Chiang in the near future.
March 25, 2022
The scary thing about this book is that I'm not entirely convinced that it's fiction.
This will undoubtedly be haunting my nightmares for years to come.
So yes, it is scary.
However, it is also excellent. Intriguing, fast paced, surprisingly well written for the length/pace/genre.
The opening 5 chapters are the best by far.
I don't want to tell you anything, just go read it. Not before bed though.
My brain is still reeling.
I'm going to go shelve this somewhere outside of my direct eyeline. Out of sight out of mind?
This will undoubtedly be haunting my nightmares for years to come.
So yes, it is scary.
However, it is also excellent. Intriguing, fast paced, surprisingly well written for the length/pace/genre.
The opening 5 chapters are the best by far.
I don't want to tell you anything, just go read it. Not before bed though.
My brain is still reeling.
I'm going to go shelve this somewhere outside of my direct eyeline. Out of sight out of mind?
May 22, 2021
The idea was indeed brilliant but because of it's scattered structure and intentional plot holes I had trouble immersing in it. Each time things started to line up and make sense, author jumped elsewhere in time/memory space therefore it was exploited too far up to a point where unfortunately I didn't care too much about the characters or the plot.
October 22, 2023
3.0 Stars
This is a unique science fiction story. It started out as a fun ride, reminiscent of something Peter Clines might write, but then evolved into something more serious.
I’m honestly not entirely sure I “got it” but I enjoy the pieces of the story. I’m always on the lookout for unique stories and this one certainly fits that bill. I would recommend it to fellow sci-fi readers looking for a different kind of story. It might have been a little too weird for my personal tastes.
This is a unique science fiction story. It started out as a fun ride, reminiscent of something Peter Clines might write, but then evolved into something more serious.
I’m honestly not entirely sure I “got it” but I enjoy the pieces of the story. I’m always on the lookout for unique stories and this one certainly fits that bill. I would recommend it to fellow sci-fi readers looking for a different kind of story. It might have been a little too weird for my personal tastes.
February 1, 2024
Welcome to the Antimemetics Division! This is your first day. Or is it?
"But if we have learned nothing else, we have learned this: humans can walk away from, and forget, anything. Civilization can go back to 'normal' after anything."
I’ve rated this story a 5/5, not because the plot was devoid of holes or the characters were perfectly fleshed out, but because it was so damn fun.
I rarely give out 5 stars if the above quota isn’t met, but this rating is based on pure emotion only, fuck logical reasoning. My arms were full of goosebumps the entire time I’ve been reading this book and that honestly tells me enough (I recall shivering once every 5 minutes, at least). The SCP’s were exceptionally creepy and mysterious, and the story, while short, was jam packed with action.
The sci-fi was hand-wavy at times (how are amnestic and mnestic drugs even made/what do they actually do to warrant their brain chemistry altering abilities? What the fuck are the germs the Foundation members seem to be carrying with them?) and the characters could have all been named Marion and I wouldn’t have noticed a difference in their dialogue and mannerisms, but my god was I having a blast through it all. Plot holes weren’t non existent either, but who cares! I was actually physically disturbed during my read and that’s rare for me.
I can’t disclose much more because everything I want to say feels like a spoiler. Go into this blind. Don’t read about SCPs if you haven’t yet (I certainly never knew of them before this novel), just open the book and let yourself get swept up. Happy reading!
Song on loop: ЧЕРНОЕ ЛЕТО - The Toxic Avenger - I’m giving this song partial credit in evoking the chills, it fit so fucking good.
"But if we have learned nothing else, we have learned this: humans can walk away from, and forget, anything. Civilization can go back to 'normal' after anything."
I’ve rated this story a 5/5, not because the plot was devoid of holes or the characters were perfectly fleshed out, but because it was so damn fun.
I rarely give out 5 stars if the above quota isn’t met, but this rating is based on pure emotion only, fuck logical reasoning. My arms were full of goosebumps the entire time I’ve been reading this book and that honestly tells me enough (I recall shivering once every 5 minutes, at least). The SCP’s were exceptionally creepy and mysterious, and the story, while short, was jam packed with action.
The sci-fi was hand-wavy at times (how are amnestic and mnestic drugs even made/what do they actually do to warrant their brain chemistry altering abilities? What the fuck are the germs the Foundation members seem to be carrying with them?) and the characters could have all been named Marion and I wouldn’t have noticed a difference in their dialogue and mannerisms, but my god was I having a blast through it all. Plot holes weren’t non existent either, but who cares! I was actually physically disturbed during my read and that’s rare for me.
I can’t disclose much more because everything I want to say feels like a spoiler. Go into this blind. Don’t read about SCPs if you haven’t yet (I certainly never knew of them before this novel), just open the book and let yourself get swept up. Happy reading!
Song on loop: ЧЕРНОЕ ЛЕТО - The Toxic Avenger - I’m giving this song partial credit in evoking the chills, it fit so fucking good.
January 4, 2024
I did not know this would be a book inspired by (?) the SCP Foundation project and I admit my knowledge about it is limited. I have never read the SCP creepy pasta stuff, but I have played SCP-inspired video games like Lobotomy Corp so I am to a degree familiar with the whole ‘anomalies’ and their files and the vignette-style story telling in-between containment breaches and so forth.
I thought the writing was merely okay, the characters really didn’t work for me (and honestly, calling people by their last name only when you have a married couple is annoying), and the story didn’t provide anything new. If I was less familiar with SCP crazyness, then maybe, but I’ve had so many situations and anomalies causing chaos in my Lobotomy Corp facility to know how things go down. I did think some of the anomalies sounded really cool and I wish we had had more files to just read and other anomalies present.
2.5 rounded down because it just didn’t do anything for me and I skimmed quite a bit at the end because I was getting an aneurysm trying to put things together. I do get that anomalies messing up with reality can be hard to write, but this confused me to a point I didn’t understand why I was reading anything, someone would die, then that someone would be alive but not the other person, then that person would not be there but be alive, etc.
I thought the writing was merely okay, the characters really didn’t work for me (and honestly, calling people by their last name only when you have a married couple is annoying), and the story didn’t provide anything new. If I was less familiar with SCP crazyness, then maybe, but I’ve had so many situations and anomalies causing chaos in my Lobotomy Corp facility to know how things go down. I did think some of the anomalies sounded really cool and I wish we had had more files to just read and other anomalies present.
2.5 rounded down because it just didn’t do anything for me and I skimmed quite a bit at the end because I was getting an aneurysm trying to put things together. I do get that anomalies messing up with reality can be hard to write, but this confused me to a point I didn’t understand why I was reading anything, someone would die, then that someone would be alive but not the other person, then that person would not be there but be alive, etc.
January 5, 2025
Reread 2025: I stand by everything I said. Still a brilliant unique book.
Science fiction stories can be eerie at times, but this one was beyond terrifying. Brilliant concept, commendable execution. Reading it felt like a fever dream. I found myself rereading just after completing it almost compulsively. This is a unique novel with an unconventional style of writing and a plot on a different level of inventiveness. Five stars for blowing my mind out of the water.
Science fiction stories can be eerie at times, but this one was beyond terrifying. Brilliant concept, commendable execution. Reading it felt like a fever dream. I found myself rereading just after completing it almost compulsively. This is a unique novel with an unconventional style of writing and a plot on a different level of inventiveness. Five stars for blowing my mind out of the water.
May 10, 2024
Oh man, what a trip! I heard it was weird, but I didn’t expect this level of weirdness. The Antimemetics Division is one of the SCP departments that deals with "antimemes." Huh? Essentially, “antimemes” are information black holes that prevent any knowledge about them from being retained or communicated.
Getting the hang of it requires a lot of mental gymnastics, but once you get past the beginning, everything becomes... Nah. Who am I kidding? It’s dizzyingly complex but also kind of fascinating.
It reads like a unique blend of weird fiction, sci-fi, and cosmic horror, told in a non-linear and scattered way. I found the book fascinating because of its weirdness and cool take on a cosmic horror. Objectively speaking, though, the prose is rather subpar and the characters flat. If you're looking for a great literary experience, this isn't it. If you're here to dig into a very interesting mythos handled uniquely, then you will love this.
Read it for fun and only if you’re okay with being confused most of the time :)
Getting the hang of it requires a lot of mental gymnastics, but once you get past the beginning, everything becomes... Nah. Who am I kidding? It’s dizzyingly complex but also kind of fascinating.
It reads like a unique blend of weird fiction, sci-fi, and cosmic horror, told in a non-linear and scattered way. I found the book fascinating because of its weirdness and cool take on a cosmic horror. Objectively speaking, though, the prose is rather subpar and the characters flat. If you're looking for a great literary experience, this isn't it. If you're here to dig into a very interesting mythos handled uniquely, then you will love this.
Read it for fun and only if you’re okay with being confused most of the time :)
October 8, 2022
Aaa, kaip seniai taip PRAMOGAVAU, skaitydama knygą! Susiskaito vienu prisėdimu (kuris gali išsitęsti iki paryčių, žiūrint, kada pradėsi), stilius kaip iš "nosleep" subreddito, o prielaida baisiai įdomi.
Įvelka į tą pasaulį nuo pirmų skyrių, kurie pristato ir personažus, ir grėsmes, su kuriomis jie susiduria. O grėsmės yra IDĖJOS, t.y. kitokį egzistavimo būdą turinčios esybės, kurios pasireiškia kaip sparčiai plintantys parazitai, kaip atminties valgytojai, ar galų gale kaip kolosalus priešas, su kuriuo reikia kovoti ne tik jo nematant, bet ir nesuvokiant - nes vos suvokus, kad jis egzistuoja, jis suvokia ir tave (na, ir iškart užmuša, aišku).
+labai faina pagrindinė veikėja!
Lovecraftian horror, bet visąlaik kažkaip smagu ar net juokinga, toks jausmas, kad autorius(-ė) linksminosi rašydama(s).
Įvelka į tą pasaulį nuo pirmų skyrių, kurie pristato ir personažus, ir grėsmes, su kuriomis jie susiduria. O grėsmės yra IDĖJOS, t.y. kitokį egzistavimo būdą turinčios esybės, kurios pasireiškia kaip sparčiai plintantys parazitai, kaip atminties valgytojai, ar galų gale kaip kolosalus priešas, su kuriuo reikia kovoti ne tik jo nematant, bet ir nesuvokiant - nes vos suvokus, kad jis egzistuoja, jis suvokia ir tave (na, ir iškart užmuša, aišku).
+labai faina pagrindinė veikėja!
Lovecraftian horror, bet visąlaik kažkaip smagu ar net juokinga, toks jausmas, kad autorius(-ė) linksminosi rašydama(s).
June 24, 2024
well, that was like nothing else i've ever read. utterly fascinating. falls apart a bit at the end.
one thing: when they're looking at the giant rock, they see the phrase "We thought ourselves a powerful culture." this is one of the recommended long term nuclear semiotics:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-te...
* This place is a message... and part of a system of messages... pay attention to it!
* Sending this message was important to us. We considered ourselves to be a powerful culture.
* This place is not a place of honor... no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here... nothing valued is here.
* What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us. This message is a warning about danger.
* The danger is in a particular location... it increases towards a center... the center of danger is here... of a particular size and shape, and below us.
* The danger is still present, in your time, as it was in ours.
* The danger is to the body, and it can kill.
* The form of the danger is an emanation of energy.
* The danger is unleashed only if you substantially disturb this place physically. This place is best shunned and left uninhabited.
that doesn't really explain anything, but is good to know (i've got the "this place is not a place of honor..." on a nice sampler in my condo)
review minimized to avoid spoilers of this extraordinary novella.
one thing: when they're looking at the giant rock, they see the phrase "We thought ourselves a powerful culture." this is one of the recommended long term nuclear semiotics:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-te...
* This place is a message... and part of a system of messages... pay attention to it!
* Sending this message was important to us. We considered ourselves to be a powerful culture.
* This place is not a place of honor... no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here... nothing valued is here.
* What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us. This message is a warning about danger.
* The danger is in a particular location... it increases towards a center... the center of danger is here... of a particular size and shape, and below us.
* The danger is still present, in your time, as it was in ours.
* The danger is to the body, and it can kill.
* The form of the danger is an emanation of energy.
* The danger is unleashed only if you substantially disturb this place physically. This place is best shunned and left uninhabited.
that doesn't really explain anything, but is good to know (i've got the "this place is not a place of honor..." on a nice sampler in my condo)
review minimized to avoid spoilers of this extraordinary novella.
August 23, 2024
Yet another instalment of the long running antimemetics series. I’ve followed the series through the films, tv shows, comics and collectibles for most of my life.
Of course I’m on a strong dose of mnestic drugs that allow me to remember it all; the rest of the world may see the movies or read the books but are unable to remember any of it as soon as they look away.
Oh well, antimemetics is a bitch.
This was a cool concept with a bit of a Phillip K Dick vibe going on. What if there are ideas so infectious that they could cause a worldwide epidemic overnight. How can you fight something that your mind refuses to acknowledge, your eyes refuse to focus on, when having any knowledge of it is a death sentence.
I can see how some readers might not be able to fully engage with a book like this where everyone keeps forgetting and remembering and forgetting to remember to forget, but I have ADHD and that’s just my everyday experience so I was like: finally, a book for ME! A book that speaks to ME!
May 26, 2024
Just before the end it becomes apparent that the fiction in this speculative fiction is disappointingly normal. It's a story with heroes, helpers, a monster, a love interest, and maybe a happy ending. This spoiler is a public service, because if this had been apparent a lot earlier it would have been easier to read. I can imagine a lot of readers will not finish this, which would be a shame because the speculation does not disappoint.
The last chapter of The Selfish Gene introduced the world to memes, more lately defined as "a piece of thought copied from person to person". The real world science of memetics "attempts to apply conventional scientific methods...to explain existing patterns and transmission of cultural ideas". Along this line, for adventurous linguists, I can strongly recommend Selfish Sounds and Linguistic Evolution: A Darwinian Approach to Language Change: it attempts to explain variation in the pronunciation of English vowels. There is no Wikipedia entry for antimemetics, so this must be where the speculation begins.
It worth reminding ourselves that memes, like genes, are selfish, they pursue their own interests not those of their hosts (us), antimemes are still memes in this respect. They have discovered that their own interests are best served by avoiding becoming pieces of our thought completely by avoiding our perception of them, or by obscuring our awareness of them by selectively manipulating our memory of them. The discovery of antimemes has led to the development of antimemetic technologies, for example architectural - developing prisons for things that evade our perception, or pharmaceutical, - developing drugs that enhance, protect and purge our memories.
This is all highly plausible but difficult to grasp because the science of antimemetics is not explicated but elicited through dialogue between characters. This is a short book, and the reader doesn't get many iterations of the key concepts before they are expanded and the narrative moves on. The book takes memory manipulation seriously so this world is revealed to us by characters whose memories have been manipulated. This adds another layer of difficulty in grasping what this story is about.
I found this novel fascinating, but it took me an age to read, there was so little to hang on in terms of coherent character development, so when I put the book down to think, there was little to make me pick it up again. When I finally got there the conventional plot seemed too little reward for so demanding a read.
The last chapter of The Selfish Gene introduced the world to memes, more lately defined as "a piece of thought copied from person to person". The real world science of memetics "attempts to apply conventional scientific methods...to explain existing patterns and transmission of cultural ideas". Along this line, for adventurous linguists, I can strongly recommend Selfish Sounds and Linguistic Evolution: A Darwinian Approach to Language Change: it attempts to explain variation in the pronunciation of English vowels. There is no Wikipedia entry for antimemetics, so this must be where the speculation begins.
It worth reminding ourselves that memes, like genes, are selfish, they pursue their own interests not those of their hosts (us), antimemes are still memes in this respect. They have discovered that their own interests are best served by avoiding becoming pieces of our thought completely by avoiding our perception of them, or by obscuring our awareness of them by selectively manipulating our memory of them. The discovery of antimemes has led to the development of antimemetic technologies, for example architectural - developing prisons for things that evade our perception, or pharmaceutical, - developing drugs that enhance, protect and purge our memories.
This is all highly plausible but difficult to grasp because the science of antimemetics is not explicated but elicited through dialogue between characters. This is a short book, and the reader doesn't get many iterations of the key concepts before they are expanded and the narrative moves on. The book takes memory manipulation seriously so this world is revealed to us by characters whose memories have been manipulated. This adds another layer of difficulty in grasping what this story is about.
I found this novel fascinating, but it took me an age to read, there was so little to hang on in terms of coherent character development, so when I put the book down to think, there was little to make me pick it up again. When I finally got there the conventional plot seemed too little reward for so demanding a read.
March 20, 2024
How does mankind fight an enemy that eradicates all knowledge of themselves? Welcome to the Antimemetics Division! This is your first day.
This is *kind of* a mix of X-files...with more paperwork, cosmic horror, and weird timey wimey travel paradoxes. You're not going to understands some or most of it. It's filled with intentional plot holes and the loose narrative that comes together in the end barely holds things together. I could see this potentially being frustrating, but a genuinely interesting premise holds everything together pretty well, even if certain elements are always threatening to fall out of your grasp.
This is one of those books that's easy to lose yourself in. You're first pulled in by the mystersy -honestly, what the hell is the Foundation, and why does everyone seem to think it's their first day - then by the threats they're fighting. And the threats are actually creepy for a book that learns into hard sci-fi at times.
I slowed myself down several times because I liked being stuck in this weird little word with agents trying to fight a war they can't remember they're fighting and really hope we get another chance to explore it more..
This takes places in the broader SCP universe, but don't have to know what that means to dive into this book. It's fun knowlege to have though, but you can easily sink into that rabbit hole once you've finished.
This is *kind of* a mix of X-files...with more paperwork, cosmic horror, and weird timey wimey travel paradoxes. You're not going to understands some or most of it. It's filled with intentional plot holes and the loose narrative that comes together in the end barely holds things together. I could see this potentially being frustrating, but a genuinely interesting premise holds everything together pretty well, even if certain elements are always threatening to fall out of your grasp.
This is one of those books that's easy to lose yourself in. You're first pulled in by the mystersy -honestly, what the hell is the Foundation, and why does everyone seem to think it's their first day - then by the threats they're fighting. And the threats are actually creepy for a book that learns into hard sci-fi at times.
I slowed myself down several times because I liked being stuck in this weird little word with agents trying to fight a war they can't remember they're fighting and really hope we get another chance to explore it more..
This takes places in the broader SCP universe, but don't have to know what that means to dive into this book. It's fun knowlege to have though, but you can easily sink into that rabbit hole once you've finished.
July 30, 2020
Originality is off the chart, storytelling is a little thin in places. Hard to comprehend parts which could only be described in metaphor.
June 22, 2023
what a wild book full of mindfucks!! i was super hooked in the beginning but it went a little over the top towards the end imo. or maybe my brain just couldn't handle it lol.
Read
June 29, 2024Достаточно гнетущее чтение, но сверх этого я затрудняюсь сказать кокого хуя это вообще было.
March 25, 2023
Overall this is a great novel. It's confusing at times but it's awesome.
This novel is linked to SCP foundation project (it's basically a a non-official shared world with no marketing value but have countless writers and stories witin). Each SCP is mystery, something odd, a monster and problem to humanity and the Foundation work it out.
This novel deals with antimemetics and although they try to explain several times in the end I can't even understand fully. You have to read it to understand. BTw, the novel is divided in two parts, I prefer the first part. The second part is a bit confusing and I kept losing myself on what was happening. The main issue is the situation of memory loss, memory gain, then after all are fake memories and so so, and you keep failing to understand what is real or not.
I will buy more from this author. They are cheap books. this guy is not interested in money to publish. He wants the books out.
This novel is linked to SCP foundation project (it's basically a a non-official shared world with no marketing value but have countless writers and stories witin). Each SCP is mystery, something odd, a monster and problem to humanity and the Foundation work it out.
This novel deals with antimemetics and although they try to explain several times in the end I can't even understand fully. You have to read it to understand. BTw, the novel is divided in two parts, I prefer the first part. The second part is a bit confusing and I kept losing myself on what was happening. The main issue is the situation of memory loss, memory gain, then after all are fake memories and so so, and you keep failing to understand what is real or not.
I will buy more from this author. They are cheap books. this guy is not interested in money to publish. He wants the books out.
August 16, 2023
Best book I've read in last twelve months. It's rare for something to seem fresh to me, where I feel like anything could happen (and be justified), but this book did that.
The structure seems fragmented throughout, more cameos and short stories, but they do join into a bigger thing when you step back and look at the pieces - a form which exactly matches the theme and contents of the book. Form matching theme isn't easy to pull off, but it works here. So, when I finished the book, I immediately skipped through it all again, clarifying my understanding of how everything interconnected. That's a worthwile endeavour, because at times you may feel slightly lost and confused (just like the characters), especially when there is a shift of time or perspective and you wonder what order things occur in. But even if you just go with it, you will be entertained. Trust that it all makes sense.
There is economy here. Both in the writing (which conjures up pictures without needing heaps of description) but also in the revelations. We're often dropped into a key moment, it resolves, then it moves on to something new. Nothing outstays its welcome. A lesser author would oversalt the stew, but not here. An epic war against an incomprehensible threat is described in bite-size pieces.
I had never heard of qntm.
So far I am only halfway through this book, and my opinions may change, but I'm impressed because it feels fresh and exciting - the concepts are interesting, the structure is unconventional, work is required by the reader to understand some of it, writing is precise and cut back.
Hold on, didn't I finish the book already? I feel like something's missing.
After buying this on Gumroad, I also downloaded a number of short stories from qntm's website. Really short, but many great ideas in there, things that made me excited about fiction, and how quickly threat can scale up.
I'm about to start this book.
I have never heard of qntm.
The structure seems fragmented throughout, more cameos and short stories, but they do join into a bigger thing when you step back and look at the pieces - a form which exactly matches the theme and contents of the book. Form matching theme isn't easy to pull off, but it works here. So, when I finished the book, I immediately skipped through it all again, clarifying my understanding of how everything interconnected. That's a worthwile endeavour, because at times you may feel slightly lost and confused (just like the characters), especially when there is a shift of time or perspective and you wonder what order things occur in. But even if you just go with it, you will be entertained. Trust that it all makes sense.
There is economy here. Both in the writing (which conjures up pictures without needing heaps of description) but also in the revelations. We're often dropped into a key moment, it resolves, then it moves on to something new. Nothing outstays its welcome. A lesser author would oversalt the stew, but not here. An epic war against an incomprehensible threat is described in bite-size pieces.
I had never heard of qntm.
So far I am only halfway through this book, and my opinions may change, but I'm impressed because it feels fresh and exciting - the concepts are interesting, the structure is unconventional, work is required by the reader to understand some of it, writing is precise and cut back.
Hold on, didn't I finish the book already? I feel like something's missing.
After buying this on Gumroad, I also downloaded a number of short stories from qntm's website. Really short, but many great ideas in there, things that made me excited about fiction, and how quickly threat can scale up.
I'm about to start this book.
I have never heard of qntm.
December 19, 2022
The events that led me to this book can be considered disturbing, to say the least. I don't have any regrets though, only some doubts that I'm trying to forget.
The book can be considered mind-altering, that is, if you believe in concepts such as "self" and a singular "mind". Some parts of it read like a postmodern H. P. Lovecraft, during which I struggled to keep my grasp of the reality.
I keep on wondering about the blackened, or should I say "censored", parts. Maybe it's in everyone's interest that those parts never enter our consciousness. Memory is a strange thing, sometimes very fragile.
I feel like I've been scooped for the second time this year. Maybe that's a good thing.
The book can be considered mind-altering, that is, if you believe in concepts such as "self" and a singular "mind". Some parts of it read like a postmodern H. P. Lovecraft, during which I struggled to keep my grasp of the reality.
I keep on wondering about the blackened, or should I say "censored", parts. Maybe it's in everyone's interest that those parts never enter our consciousness. Memory is a strange thing, sometimes very fragile.
I feel like I've been scooped for the second time this year. Maybe that's a good thing.
June 4, 2022
I’m a massive fan of sci-fi and an occasional, casual fan of cognitive science, so this book was basically Anna-catnip. Like Greg Egan meets Charlie Stross.
October 28, 2022
Fresh sci-fi ideas. Enjoyable read.
Recommended for those seeking tripping-hard-sci-fi
Recommended for those seeking tripping-hard-sci-fi
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,393 reviews