There Is No Antimemetics Division cover art

There Is No Antimemetics Division

The thrilling new sci-fi horror novel, 'mind-bendingly brilliant' Guardian

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There Is No Antimemetics Division

By: qntm
Narrated by: Rebecca Calder
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Brought to you by Penguin.

An antimeme is an entity with self-censoring properties. Some are benign; but others, less so…

These entities can feed on your most cherished memories, the things that make you you – and you’ll never even know anything changed.

And they aren’t just feeding on us. They’re invading.

But how do you contain something you can't record or remember? How do you fight 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

'Astonishing' M. R. Carey, author of Infinity Gate

‘Utterly unique, constantly surprising, genuinely unsettling... may very well take its place among the best sci-fi novels of the century so far.' Blake Crouch, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter

© qntm 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

 Best of 2025 Editors Select Hard Science Fiction Horror Science Fiction Scary Mind-bending Thought-Provoking
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Editorial Review

This mind-bending story has taken up permanent residence in my brain
Blossoming out of a collaborative fictional landscape known as the SCP Foundation, whose mission is to "secure, contain, and protect" mankind from a variety of unexplainable entities, this fascinating novel from a British computer programmer contemplates the idea that the world is full of "antimemes." These are entities that by their very nature are impossible to retain or remember. While some are relatively harmless (like giant, gentle creatures who use antimemetic properties as camouflage), the more nefarious antimemes are devouring entire teams of scientists with no one the wiser. Because how do you fight an enemy you aren't even aware exists? The structure of the story—moving back and forth in time and peppered with redacted classified documents—makes room for rich audio elements, while also surfacing compelling and relevant questions around history, memory, and fascism in a world rife with deepfakes and misinformation. —Emily C., Audible Editor

Critic reviews

Astonishing. Pitch-perfect cosmic horror – and the pitch will break all the glass in your brain.
A blisteringly good, genuinely unnerving novel.
The coolest, smartest, mind-blowingest novel to be published this year, and probably for many years to come. It is utterly unique, constantly surprising, genuinely unsettling, and a towering work of speculative fiction that may very well take its place among the best sci-fi novels of the century so far.
Compulsively readable and breathtakingly inventive...this jaw-dropping mind-bender is about as unmissable as sci-fi/fantasy novels get.
No exaggeration, this is the most imaginative novel I have ever read. It's compulsively readable and exquisitely mind-blowing from the first paragraph to the last. I enjoyed every word. Highest possible recommendation.
An addictive, dizzying experience that will make you feel like your brain has been pulled apart and reassembled by a mad scientist. What would be considered a mind-bending twist in another novel happens on every other page of There Is No Antimemetics Division. I've never read anything like it, unless I did and just forgot.
An instant classic of the genre, fusing the bureaucratic sci-fi of Philip K. Dick, the cosmic horror of Lovecraft, and the poetic prose of Emily St. John Mandel. There Is No Antimemetics Division is packed with ideas so potent it feels like one of the story’s own anomalies—I had vivid dreams, my brain unable to put it down even when I was ready to. Blisteringly intelligent, profoundly unsettling, and totally unforgettable. I finished it days ago, and I’m still not done with it.
Unforgettable, mind-bendingly brilliant
A hugely entertaining, super smart, witty novel that is also nerve-shreddingly terrifying… a timely book that is also one for the ages.
A stone cold cosmic horror classic about a department trying to combat anomalous beings whose very nature makes them impossible to see or remember encountering. An incredible read.
All stars
Most relevant
I'm sure I didn't listen to this, but it says "finished" in my library. I have it downloaded, and I've intended to play it multiple times, but when I click "play" it's at the end of the book?

For real, though, this is exactly the kind of book that I love. Unique horror, thought provoking, weird, different.

Unique

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This is an SCP style book. If you have read any SCP story you know there is a lot of [redacted] parts in the story. Author doesnt shy away from using this as well, which is portrayed as an annoying bleeping sound in the audiobook, some parts are unlistenable. Stories are nice, some original, some refined SCP stories. Using [redacted] in a story is a big cop out because of [redacted] [bleeeep]

constant annoying bleeping sound

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These were probably my favourite stories of those I read on the SCP Foundation wiki and I really appreciate them being extracted and refined into this form. Thanks Sam!

Too Special to Contain

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great story, quite difficult to get your head round at times. didn't like the redactions

Bonkers but riveting

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There was so much promise and it just lost its way completely . The redacted sections of the book in audio to do not work, the static sqwark under headphones is painful and the (no spoiler) ending was a reinforcing that this is a waste of time . Maybe it’s me . But I’d like my time back .

Just didn’t get it

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