Author guide
qntm is the pen name and internet handle of British author and software developer Sam Hughes. He writes short-form and serial speculative fiction, often extrapolating an intriguing scientific or technological premise to extreme consequences. His work includes science fiction, science fantasy, and horror.
Catalog record updated .
short-story-collection · First published 2022
"[D]elivers a refreshing dose of existential despair at the transhuman condition." — Charles Stross This volume collects the highlights of qntm's short fiction, including "The Difference", "I Don't Know, Timmy, Being God Is a Big Responsibility" and the acclaimed "Lena".
Not sure where to begin?
The author's best-known standalone novel and a strong introduction to his science-fiction horror.
The best entry point to his short fiction.
A distinctive standalone science-fantasy novel built around magic treated as an engineering discipline.
Outside the series
novel · 2013
Ed MacPherson is your college whiz-kid hyper-scientist: wormholes, time travel, heavy stellar engineering. When the aliens attack and you need a giant robot to fight them, he's your guy. When a galaxy goes missing, he's the one who…
novel · 2018
Fledgling physicist Ching-Yu Kuang has discovered a Rosetta Stone for all of physics, a treasure trove of advanced scientific breakthroughs beyond all imagination. Exotic energy, teleportation, FTL, parallel universes and near-infinitely…
novel · 2018
Magic is real. Discovered in the 1970s, magic is now a bona fide field of engineering. There's magic in heavy industry and magic in your home. It's what's next after electricity. Student mage Laura Ferno has designs on the future: her…
novel · 2020
They’re all around us, hiding in plain sight. One could be in the room with you now, just to your left. You could be seeing it right now—but from this second to the next, you’ll forget that you did. If you managed to jot down a note, the…
short-story-collection · 2022
"[D]elivers a refreshing dose of existential despair at the transhuman condition." — Charles Stross This volume collects the highlights of qntm's short fiction, including "The Difference", "I Don't Know, Timmy, Being God Is a Big…
chapbook · 2016
qntm is the pen name and internet handle of Sam Hughes, a British computer programmer and science-fiction author. The name is pronounced “quantum.”
Sources: sf-encyclopedia.com (opens in a new tab)penguinrandomhouse.com (opens in a new tab)
Reference sources identify Sam Hughes as born in the United Kingdom in 1983. His publisher biography says he lives in the UK.
Sources: sf-encyclopedia.com (opens in a new tab)penguinrandomhouse.com (opens in a new tab)
He works as a software developer and has maintained a career in computing alongside his fiction writing.
His stated method is to begin with an interesting hypothetical and push it to its breaking point. His fiction is consequently strongly concept-driven, drawing repeatedly on science, technology, and speculative ideas.
Sources: penguinrandomhouse.com (opens in a new tab)sf-encyclopedia.com (opens in a new tab)
Yes. His novel There Is No Antimemetics Division was shortlisted for the 2026 Arthur C. Clarke Award for science-fiction book of the year.
