If you're looking for something SCP, this is is. Eerie, engaging, and very entertaining. I absolutely loved this book and hope there's more to come.

As someone who remembers reading throught the SCP files on the wiki, I loved this. It's well-written, well-edited, and has the style of various reports interfiled with narrative storytelling that I love. The horror of the thing that's threatening the world becoming stronger and more threatening because you are aware of it has been done before, but here it is just done fantastically. I read this in 24 hours. We follow Quinn, chief of the anti-memetics division in charge of securing and studying various unknown entities that can't be remembered, seen, or even perceived. The threats you don't know about until its too late. Quinn is losing memories. That's not too bad, she's on antimemetic medication for that reason. But for some reason she can't shake the overwhelming dread she has that she might keep needing to forget the same something to keep herself safe. Highly recommended if you're a fan of Doctor Who's The Silence, or if you're a D&D nerd who loves the idea of a false hydra.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but a book like this could make me one.

I was worried this would be such dense sci-fi that I wouldn't be able to keep up, but it's so readable and engaging that I couldn't put it down. The writing, at different points, reminded me of Douglas Adams' - witty and dry and at the same time relays a message of the importance of humanity and community and collaboration. At the heart of it all, we ought to appreciate that we even HAVE the ability to learn from our history to avoid making the same mistakes.

Reading this in 2025 was wild. Pretty sure the existence of U-3125 would explain a LOT of what's happening globally.

Title: There is No Antimemetics Division
Author: qntm
Genre: Science Fiction
FFO: Jeff Vandermeer, Blake Crouch
Rating: 3.5/5

Been looking forward to reading this book for some time and did enjoy it. From a science fiction standpoint, I am not extremely well-versed, but this immediately gave me Annihilation vibes (Vandermeer) and by the end of the book, it still gave Vandermeer vibes but was more on the "wow this has gotten weird" front. While this is very different from Blake Crouch's books, I did liken this to it because it's a fast-paced, science fiction book and feels like a bit of a race against time. I do think the jumping between characters got to be a bit much and made the narrative a little more jumbled than I would have liked. Overall, I did enjoy this and look forward to reading more and future qntm novels.

It’s one thing to have a great premise; it’s another to execute it so creatively and interestingly. I was glued to this book from beginning to end, and I will be recommending it to literally everyone I’ve ever met.

What a strange little book. I liked it, but it was definitely strange. My students will probably be interested in it, those that like sci-fi at least.

Imagine Christopher Nolan made the Men in Black movies about paradox aliens. If that sounds weird, that’s because it is.

There is No Antimemetics Division is a speculative fiction horror work that deals in surrealist questions about the power and nature of ideas. Like many high concept sci-fi works, the ideas and the explanation of the mystery surrounding them are a little more interesting than the solutions and results that we send come the end of our novel.

Overall, I enjoyed this work, however, I do think it can be a little difficult to follow at points, and that I had very different reactions between the first and second halves of the book. Loved the idea and the existential horror, found myself a little confused and distracted by the surrealist nature of the work.

Early on, I was genuinely hooked — the premise of memory manipulation was so creepy and thought-provoking that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Around the 20–25% mark, I was invested and curious to see where the story would go, as I’d never read anything quite like it before.

As the book went on, though, the style of reading internal reports combined with dense sci-fi jargon lost me. What had felt fresh and eerie at first began to feel confusing and hard to connect with, and I found myself more disengaged the further I read. By the halfway point, I realized I couldn’t push myself past 63% and ultimately chose to DNF.

I also think this might come down to personal taste — I interpreted this as more of a sci-fi horror, and I’ve never read in that subgenre before. It may just not be my vibe, even though I can see how other readers who enjoy that blend of horror and science fiction could find it compelling. The premise is undeniably unique, and I think there’s definitely an audience for it, but it ultimately wasn’t the right fit for me.

I liked this, but it was hard for me to get into. Maybe I just didn’t fully grasp it, but there were moments I enjoyed a lot! It was unique with an interesting premise, but I feel like if I had read it too quickly, I would’ve gotten a headache.

Again, I really loved the concept - ideas that attack people’s memories and a secret government agency. If you like trippy and weird, I would definitely recommend it… just a lil too trippy and strange for my personal taste.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and QNTM for providing me with a free eARC, and I am leaving a review voluntarily.

DNF 53%. If you want to make a screenplay, just do that.

Like if Blake whatshisface and This is How You Lose the Time War had a baby but it ended up with all their bad features.

mind-blowing science-fiction of the highest order – if the central premise was the only interesting idea in here it would still be great, but of course its jam-packed with all sorts of brilliant throwaway ideas that could be whole books on their own. loved the twists and turns of this one. the scope adjustment of the final section is a bit jarring, but really, really fun stuff. Highly recommend.

5⭐

Where do I even begin? First off, thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this as an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I can honestly say I am so excited for this book to be available for purchase so I can forcefeed it to every person I know.

I knew nothing about the SCP project, creepypasta, anything, before I read this. I have, however, played Control by Remedy. Immediately, I found an anchor between the two pieces of media and the vertex was the SCP project. Irrelevant regarding this review but informative to those, like me, who stubbled completely blind into this book.

I adored this from page 1. From the cover. The title. I knew I would love this before I loved it and then I read it and somehow loved it more than I expected. This book fills you with a sense of dread and schadenfreude at the same time as it inspires hope. But most of all, it's great fiction. The good stuff.

I loved the format of the U-documents, along with the shifting narratives. I really appreciated just how much credit qntm gave to his audience. There was no lengthy literalistic plot hand-holding. The story moved through its available vessels and the reader was tasked with keeping up. You felt lost when the story's current container was lost but each time they cracked, you got to keep what you'd learned. A rogue-like but in book format.

The concept of antimemes was immediately fascinating. I loved the varying formats the Unknowns took. Some whimsical, some horrifying. Some both.

The character work was also fantastic. I cared deeply about Marie and Adam of course but even minor side characters. Everyone mattered to the plot and they were all well-defined enough without being absurdly unique. They were mundane in a tangible sense. Office workers and scientists. But discernable in their small ways.

The end felt a bit Akira to me which I always love. It's fun to take a plot and slowly heat it to boiling. There are no barriers in fiction so why stop at comfortable when you can crank it to disturbingly cathartic?

I had to look up what the Noösphere was. I love when science fiction leaves you with things to play with.

Captivating, fascinating, disturbing.

I wanted to like this more than I actually ended up liking it. I would say, if you’re a HUGE SCP fan, and you’re the type of person who loves the lore of the foundation, you’ll really love this. That’s not really my favorite part about it. I am in for the creepiness, and some of that stuff is really in here, but not enough for me.

An entirely novel novel that introduces an impossible possibility. Antimemes are unthinkable thoughts – ideas that erase themselves.

Imagine a global crisis that no one can remember is going on, it is happening everywhere, all the time. Preventing annihilation is a protagonist that can’t quite remember what is happening, except by the absence of what should be.

Rather than reading like a philosophy tract the author weaves complex ideas seamlessly into the plot. The characters are human, the stakes are end of the world, and it will keep you interested until the end.

4/5

ARC provided; opinions are my own.

In a world where the monsters under the bed have teeth and world-altering effects, the Antimemetics Division devotes itself to the scientific classification, containment, and art of securing protection for the unknowing masses. Whether they're cataloging forgotten totems of civilization long gone, impossible mega-fauna, or facing down the end of reality, ten times over, Antimemetics is on the task in a series of events that center quantum entanglement amidst the tragically, and frighteningly, mundane horror of our current reality meeting otherworldly apex predators that warp our understanding of what it means to be human in a world built for the monsters we create, not the monster who break down our doors.

At once heart-wrenching, at once morbidly curious, all parts hopeful even in the face of a yawning eternity cast in ruby red, There is No Antimemetics Division stands as both portal and path to a strong voice in Weird Fiction, ushering in a complex narrative that demonstrates qntm's mental acuity as both author and storyteller, leaving readers to wonder if this is the true universe, or a remnant of a war we'll never remember.

A secret organization combats entities that cannot be remembered.

I read the self-published version of this last year and was very impressed by the concept, even though I thought the execution was a little rough. The revised edition smooths things out and expands parts to add depth to characters and clarity to the story, which is helpful when you're trying to wrap your head around things like asynchronous research and physical manifestations of ideas!

I'd recommend <i>There Is No Antimemetics Division</i> to sci-fi and horror fans who like having their concept of reality messed with.

Four and a half stars.

Rating 3.5

Quick very high level summary.
Marion Wheeler is the head of the SCP Foundation's Antimemetics Division. Antimemes are self-censoring ideas that make people forget their existence, becoming living ghosts. Marion is on a mission to fight against the entities that erase memories and distort reality. As her and her team deep dive Antimemes they have battle to maintain their own memories.

My Take
How do I explain this novel without revealing too much? For being less then 300 pages there is a lot packed into it’s small package. The central concept of the novel focuses on what is called Antimemes and it is fascinating. The idea of self-censoring properties is insanely imaginative yet extremely unsettling at the same time. The descriptions of antimemetic materializations are amazingly vivid moments of terrifying existential horror. Jarring at times and even triggering anxieties and fears that rise from fundamental questions about human existence and ones perception of reality. Now there are moments when things are left a bit abstract and the reader is left with their own interpretations but is that intentional or an accepted accident on the part of the author? Who knows, either way it did not impede my enjoyment of the story in any way. In fact it just left me more pensive. This small book made me question, think, chuckle and at times cringe, what it needed more of was emotion. The characters felt stiff and lacked depth. Overall I enjoyed the read, the horror was written well and the concept behind the book was fascinating.

I thoroughly enjoyed There is No Antimemetics Division. I would now read anything by qntm, but would also like more in this world. Will recommend for library purchase and readers advisory.

I couldn't stop reading. This has the level of invention of a Simon R. Green urban fantasy and is very fast-paced. Picture The Matrix crossed with Inception filtered into the Doctor Who plot arc about the Silence. Very enjoyable (and good title).

I need to find more media like this immediately! I loved the concept and plot for the most part, would have liked a bit more character work since Wheeler and Quinn's relationship is such a big part of the ending. 3125 was sufficiently terrifying for me, the cosmic horror aspect made me want to crawl out of my skin when he was alone with it all! Even though I didn't understand much of the resolution, I really enjoyed the writing style.