I am halfway through There is no Antimemetics Division by qntm.
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/ccb69e3a-29e4-4392-b1d2-670eace7aab0
Its right up there with the best science fiction / speculative fiction / call it what you want that I have read.
The number of startlingly original ideas per chapter is incredibly high. Some pages have several startlingly original ideas.
Reading it is like having a whole series of ideas unfolding inside my mind. I swear I could practically feel new synaptic pathways being created in my brain. Which considering what I was reading about is all quite scary.
Its the first novel I have read which really goes into the whole concept of memes and antimemes. Instead of being "I can haz cheezeburger" (I am incredibly old) memes and antimemes are terrifying **entities** which feed on the contents of humans minds. These **entities** have probably been eating our minds and memories for millennia but humans just can't think about these **entities** clearly, if at all. Most humans cannot even conceive of these **entities** without the aid of regular doses of very powerful medication. This medication is excellent at preventing some forms of cancer but it also limits the lifespan of anyone who takes it.
Here are a few of the ideas from the first half of the book.
* How do you contain a **entity** that makes you forget it even exists?
* How do you maintain written records of an **entity** when they all turn to complete gibberish?
* How do you study an **entity** when the act of studying it causes it to vanish and also causes all memories of its existence to completely vanish?
* How do you stop an **entity** that is hell bent on devouring every single thought and memory your mind contains?
* Does a massive basalt column that is over half a mile high exist if no human who is more than a few meters away from it cannot conceive of its existence and therefore cannot see it?
* How do humans fight a war against **entities** that make humans forget that humans are fighting a war against **entities**?
* Is having a "pet" invisible anitmemetic **entity** which you feed on the contents of trivia books that you read really a good idea?
* Just how do you kill an idea?
* This is not your first day at the antimemetics division.
I can see why the heroine protagonist hates the X Files. The things in the X Files are a walk in the park compared to memetic **entities**.
The book will also win Best Pun in a SF Novel at the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards too. It's not often I laugh out loud reading about horrific **entities** but this was one of the best puns I have read in years.
OK so I am on amphetamines for my ADHD but all my dreams last night were heavily influenced by this book. Its literally mind blowing.
#SF #SpeculativeFiction #qntm #Books #Bookstodon #antimemes