Books

I can’t remember if I read Lena before Tycho and Gabe over at Penny Arcade recommended There Is No Antimemetics Division, but since the mind-warping experience of the latter, I’ve consumed everything qntm has published. Most recently, that’s Ra, the final entry in the Tetraquark Bundle.

Ra imagines a world where magic is treated as a hard science—quantifiable, testable, programmable. Universities teach theoretical magic and thaumic engineering. It’s not quite like The Magicians (which I have only watched on TV), but it scratches the same part of my brain that lights up when fiction sets nerds loose on the mystical to make it feel real.

As with much of qntm’s work, things get weird. Settings shift suddenly. Concepts drop in without warning. Some of the worldbuilding is dense enough that I’m still not sure I understand it. I’m undecided if that’s a feature or a bug.

It’s entertaining, ambitious, and fun. While Ra didn’t break my brain open quite how Antimemetics did, it still forced me to consider some previously unimaginable possibilities. It’s a good read.

I didn’t know what the SCP Foundation was when I discovered There Is No Antimemetics Division. I still mostly don’t. It doesn’t matter—this remains the most mind-blowing work I’ve read in years.

We’re constantly inundated with memes. This book explores antimemes, particularly evil ones. That’s all I want to say about the plot because everything within is utterly unimaginable until you read it yourself.

The book is astoundingly creative. Yes, it has flaws. Like other qntm works, it occasionally jumps into new, confusing, seemingly unrelated contexts that feel underdeveloped. Still doesn’t matter. Read it.

I picked this up after seeing mentions on Penny Arcade. From 20+ years following Tycho/Jerry’s writing, I know not everything he recommends works for me, but both he and Gabe highlighted this as one of the few books they’ve ever re-read. I understand why. Until now, the only book I’ve re-read was Infinite Jest (not because I enjoyed it, but because it was the most effective sleep aid I’d found). I plan to revisit Antimemetics later this year when the new version releases (which removes the SCP-related elements to address licensing issues). I’m hoping qntm uses this opportunity to smooth out some of those messy context switches.

I can’t wait to see what’s changed.

A lot of what I know about how to use LLMs has come from following Mollick. His many diverse applications of LLMs have broadened my understanding of what’s possible with current models, and the prompting techniques he shares permeate my usage. This book collects and expands on that knowledge, making it essential for newcomers learning to integrate these tools into their work and daily life. Even for those already familiar with AI, it offers perspective on applications you might not have considered yet. While he certainly has his critics (mostly those skeptical of his exuberance), I’ve found genuine value from his work, and strongly recommend this to anyone new to these tools or those questioning their utility or potential.

You’ve likely seen or heard the phrase “Don’t obey in advance” recently. That is the first chapter of 20 in this book of important lessons on how to act, learned from periods of rising tyranny around the world. Strongly recommended.

I recommended this to a few friends before I’d read it, based on its reputation. Then I recommended it to a partner and decided I should probably read it myself. Lots of valuable information, and worth consuming for the discussion of non-concordance alone.

Published in 1966, but its vision of an AI at the center of a resistance movement feels very contemporary. This is one of a few books that I’ve read at the recommendation of John Carmack on social media. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I don’t ever want to be in a position where having a child isn’t a conscious, intentional decision, nor should anyone else be in that situation who doesn’t want to be. This book is informative if you’re not already well-versed, and includes lots of resources for those who need them.

A collection of short stories by the author of The Three-Body Problem, with some shared universes between a few of the stories. Lots of thought-provoking premises, and some very vivid settings, all through an eastern perspective that may be new for readers of primarily western science fiction.