What if a creature were so dangerous that it was impossible to perceive it? That sounds like the idea behind Doctor Who villain the Silence, but There Is No Antimemetics Division takes a similar starting point and pushes that concept into vast, mind-boggling territory.
Originally published online in serial format as part of collaborative project the SCP Foundation, this story has been revised by author qntm (the pen name of Sam Hughes) and his editors at Del Rey, now seeing new life as a hardcover book.
The Antimemetics Division of the Unknown Organisation catalogue and investigate creatures who, by their very nature, cannot be known about. With some of these weird and wonderful beings, even reading about them is futile, as you’ll instantly forget everything you’ve learned. Some of them will eat away at your other memories. And some antimemes are much more dangerous in their own bizarre ways.
Marie Quinn and her team have many tricks to deal with this, from memory-enhancing drugs to bombs capable of destroying ideas. But this brain-bending work is taking its toll on them, and the Division itself seems to be more and more understaffed…
qntm eases his readers into this world, with the first third of the book reading like a series of short stories, each of them following a tense encounter with a new antimeme and introducing new facets of the Division’s work and history.
But as the story goes on, the true Lovecraftian horror of the mysterious creatures is revealed, and the narrative leads off a cliff into an epic, apocalyptic tale. Only halfway through the book, you’re left wondering how many more tricks the author can pull, but this twist into a somewhat slower but nonetheless imaginative tone works well, and gives chance for a little character development.
The eventual conclusion may be a little too abstract for some readers, but is entirely fitting for a story that playfully pushes the boundaries of recognisable sci-fi tropes to craft something quite unlike any book we’ve read before.
THERE IS NO ANTIMEMETICS DIVISION is available now from all good bookstores.
