There Is No Antimemetics Division by QNTM

This is the strangest, most thought-provoking piece of speculative fiction I’ve read this year.

It was extraordinary, and a tiny bit unsettling; the sort of book that has you glancing behind you while you’re reading it.

I’d love to tell you what the phenomenal concept behind it, the strange and tortured characters you’ll meet along the way, and the extraordinary nature of the threat they’re facing. … I could tell you, but then in typically dull fictional fashion that no way reflects this outstanding book, I’d have to kill you.

To give you some idea of how much I enjoyed this book, I downloaded the first chapter, read it, then abandoned the book I was currently reading so I could crack on with this one. It is that good. (Though I did go back and finish the first one.)

Stop whatever you’re doing and read it now.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

I’m going to add Emily St. John Mandel to the list of authors I read obsessively. Each one I read always seems to be better than the last. Some authors with this many books under their belt often forget how important it is to be merciless during editing.

Sea of Tranquility

This is one of those books that my wife (along with the Matt Smith) would probably describe as “a bit Sea timey-whimey”.

The book follows the circular rise and fall of Gaspery Jacques-Roberts, a fecklessly unremarkable individual with a high-achieving sister, Zoey. Through his sister’s connection with the Time Institute, and following a rigorous five-year training programme, Gaspery graduates as a field operative: entrusted to travel through time, correcting anomalies that could impact the Institute’s agenda.

The rules of time-travel are strict, and punishment for breaking those rules are harsh and permanent, and that, for Gaspery, is where the trouble starts. …

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