Del Rey snaps up high concept sci-fi cosmic horror from Sam Hughes

Del Rey has acquired There Is No Antimemetics Division by programmer and author "qntm" aka Sam Hughes, dubbed "a mind-bending science fiction horror".

Kate McHale, editorial director, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in a two-book deal from Caitlin Blasdell at Liza Dawson Associates. North American rights were acquired by Julian Pavia at Ballantine.

Del Ray described the novel as "a mind-bending science fiction horror by a British author with a cult online following".

The blurb reads: "There Is No Antimemetics Division is a thrilling blend of high-concept science fiction and cosmic horror, which follows a shadowy organisation charged with containing ‘antimemes’: ideas that attack memory, identity and the fabric of reality itself. 

"The project began as an ongoing serialised story that Sam Hughes published under the pen name ‘qntm’ on the SCP Foundation wiki, a collaborative speculative fiction website where users contribute to a wider fictionalised universe. There Is No Antimemetics Division has been read many millions of times and is one of the most popular stories ever to exist on the site."

Hughes, known as "qntm", is a software engineer and also the creator of Absurdle, an adversarial version of Wordle, where the word changes as it is played.

McHale said: “I was blown away by this book. It does what the best science fiction has always done: use the power of story to explore the things that shape our reality. But it is also a terrifying page-turner, and one where the horrors keep gnawing at you long after the end. Sam is one of the most exciting SF writers working today.”

Hughes said: “I’m happy to have this opportunity to refine Antimemetics and bring it to a wider audience. I can’t imagine a better creative team than Del Rey to make this happen, and I think SF readers are going to love what we have in store for them.”