qntm
Entry updated 10 November 2025. Tagged: Author.
Pseudonym, pronounced "quantum", of UK computer programmer and author Sam Hughes (1983- ), whose first novel Ed (2013 ebook) prefigures his later work in its imprecisely Near Future setting where an exceedingly clever young man, versed in the latest science and Technology, must deal with an Alien incursion (see First Contact). The similar protagonist of Fine Structure (2018 ebook) finds his Invention of a equation or set of equations which will integrate human knowledge not initially of much avail in a universe full of Aliens. In Ra (2018 ebook), that general field theory turns out to be Magic. In There Is No Antimemetics Division (2020 ebook; rev 2025) the presence of "antimemes" (see Meme) – which act to make impossible to Communicate that which should be remembered and passed on – fatally disentangles humans from the complex world which they must defend; Aliens may be involved. [JC]
Sam Hughes
born UK: 1983
works (selected)
All print works by qntm have been iterated in various previous online versions; not all are here registered.
- Ed (no place given: for the author, 2013) [ebook: na/nonpictorial]
- Fine Structure (no place given: for the author, 2018) [ebook: na/]
- Ra (no place given: for the author, 2018) [ebook: na/Cryptovexillologist]
- There Is No Antimemetics Division (no place given: for the author, 2020) [ebook: na/Christopher Balaskas]
- There Is No Antimemetics Division (New York: Ballantine Books, 2025) [rev of the above: hb/]
links
previous versions of this entry