Book Review: THERE IS NO ANTIMEMETICS DIVISION by qntm

A review of one of my favorite sci-fi books and reflections on the importance and ubiquity of memory

This will be my first book review—I'll decide later if this format "works" or not (if you have opinions, let me know in the comments). If I do write more, it will only be for books that I both loved and that gave me a sense of cognitive wonder. My goal here is to give the standard book review fare of describing what I liked and disliked about the book, but also calling out what it is about the book that gave me a sense of cognitive wonder.

There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm is a blend of "Memento"-style memory manipulation and Lovecraftian horror. It creatively explores memory through three key elements:

1. Antimemes: Entities (think paranormal monsters) erasing knowledge of themselves from minds, including in records. They slip out of memory as soon as they’re out of sight, and information about them becomes corrupted or unintelligible over time.

2. Info/Cognitohazards: Entities dangerous when thought about or perceived. For example, some entities only attack those that see them and ignore everyone else.

3. Mnestic/Amnesic Drugs: Substances to remember the otherwise forgettable (i.e. antimemes) or forget the dangerous (i.e. cognitohazards).

Together, these elements lead to clever, mind-bending, and terrifying situations.

Photo by Fredy Jacob on Unsplash

Memory is so central to our experience we often take it for granted. Basic information we're exposed to is effortlessly recorded and recalled later. It’s actually pretty amazing if you think about it. So much about who we are, the meaning we ascribe to our lives, whether an experience was good or bad, depend on the memory.

The drug Propofol is regularly used to produce amnesia in patients undergoing surgery. The idea is if you don’t remember it, that reduces how bad the experience was. I’ve had pediatricians tell me my child wouldn’t remember a painful procedure done when they were infants as a way of comforting me about the pain they were about to experience. There is a deep connection between memory and the value we ascribe to events.

With all this importance placed on memory, it’s interesting to think about how memory is not a necessary part of reality. It's an active mechanism of our cognitive apparatus. By creating a universe where memory is so readily manipulated—by antimemes and drugs—the narrative of There Is No Antimemetics Division challenges our everyday conception of memory as an inherent aspect of reality.

In one characteristically mind-bending scene, the protagonist learns about a formidable enemy from a video she herself made but can't recall creating due to memory manipulation. She slowly realizes the severity of the issue she is facing—and that she will forget all about it as soon as she leaves the completely isolated room. She needs to make plans for how to make progress rectifying the situation knowing she can only use what's in the room and will forget all about the situation as soon as she leaves—until she re-enters the room.

We see characters reasoning through situations where they know (or determine) their memory has been manipulated based on reasoning about the situation—for example, realizing that the department that they are in is much smaller than they would expect, and therefore something antimemetic must be picking off their coworkers.

By playing with such a core cognitive tool as memory, the author (Sam Hughes, who goes by qntm) underscores our deep dependence on memory for practically all aspects in life. Everything from being able to complete everyday tasks, to who we are and what we care about, rely on memory. By allowing memory to be manipulated so thoroughly, this book forces us to question memory's role in the very nature of our existence.

While I really enjoyed the book, I need to point out the bits that didn't work for me. Overall, I wish the book stayed focused on the three elements defined above, but later new mechanisms were introduced that felt unnecessary. At points, these new mechanisms lowered the stakes of the story (SPOILER: for example, by providing mechanisms for the main character to return from the dead… twice). These other elements certainly added more horror, mystery, and creep factor, so this may come down more to personal preference than anything else.

That said, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. The brilliance of There Is No Antimemetics Division is primarily in its ideas and the clever handling of memory as a central theme, but the writing itself stands on its merits. The narrative remains fast-paced thanks to its concise writing style. The characters receive just enough characterization to give them life without it being bogged down in details. The entities in the book, often otherworldly, are affective at evoking cosmic horror with their antimemetic ability to hide in plain sight.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable read for me. It balances cognitive wonder, clever plot, cosmic horror, and concise writing. You should read it, along with qntm’s other books. Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories is a short story collection packed with fun, clever, and thought-provoking (and cognitive wonder-inducing) tales. Ed is on the more humorous side but is a fun read as well. I haven’t read Ra or Fine Structures, but I’ve heard good things and they are sitting on my To Be Read bookshelf.