There Is No Antimemetics Division

by qntm

Synopsis:

Humanity is under assault by malevolent "antimemes" – ideas that attack memory, identity, and the fabric of reality itself – in this wickedly brain-bending tale of science-fiction horror, an entirely reimagined and expanded version of the beloved online novel.

They're all around us, hiding in plain sight. One could be in the room with you, now, just to your left. You could be seeing it right now - but from this second to the next, you'll forget that you did. If you managed to jot down a note, the paper would look blank to you afterwards. These entities can feed on your most cherished memories, the things that make you you - and you'll never even know anything changed. They can turn you into a living ghost – make it so that you're standing next to your spouse, screaming in their ear, and they won't know you're there. They are the perfect predators, equipped with the ultimate camouflage - the ability to wipe out memories of their own existence. And they aren't just feeding on us. They're invading.

But how do you fight an enemy when you can never even know that you're at war? How do you contain something you can't record or remember?

Welcome to the Antimemetics Division.

No, this is not your first day.

I started reading the older version of qntm’s There is No Antimimetics Division, and then found there’s differences between that and the recent edition, so I switched over to that. I’m not sure how different they were overall, but definitely differences in the first chapter or so. So if you’re seeing people talk about character names that are different to the ones you remember, it’s not an antimemetic thing chewing on your brain — it’s different publication histories. Relax!

Anyway, this has a lot of fun with a single idea: what if there are things living alongside humans that we physically can’t remember? They could kill your sibling right now, and you’d never remember that you’d had a sibling: your brain would just adjust completely.

Then… what if people created medication that helped people remember seeing those things, and humanity started a war against them, from the harmful to the ones that only take your memory of how to ride a bicycle? And what if there was a really, really big one, so huge that nowhere in the world is safe from its influence? And the only way to be safe from it is not to know it’s there?

That’s basically this book, digging into the various ramifications of what all of that could mean. There’s not a lot by way of characters to hang on to here, though Marie and Adam come closest (with some genuinely touching scenes about their relationship, even as it falls apart): it’s mostly about the idea, and how to find a way to possibly kill a creature like that.

I’m not 100% sure if I feel it stuck the landing, but I sort of don’t mind anyway. It’s a rare book that’s actual novel-length but had me so riveted I read it all in one go, but here we are. Horror fans will find plenty to like here, while SF fans might be grossed out by some of the creatures and scenarios that ensue — but I think it has cross appeal to both groups.

I did have some truly horrible nightmares after staying up late to finish it, though. Oops.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)