A Scanner Darkly
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dickby Philip K. Dick
Shares rank 88 of 179 science fiction novels by recommenders
People recommend it as a tragic, very funny drug-themed novel with a high-concept, ersatz-reality feel, and one commenter singled out the Suntup edition's bindery as exceptional.
People recommend it as a tragic, very funny drug-themed novel with a high-concept, ersatz-reality feel, and one commenter singled out the Suntup edition's bindery as exceptional.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Tragic and very funny
“"Scanner Darkly" is tragic (it's always made me cry) and very funny.”
Comment from 15 Feb 2026 in “The seam through the center of things” High-concept, ersatz-reality storytelling
“If you want the druggy, high-concept, ersatz-reality version go with Philip K. Dick”
Comment from 7 Apr 2026 in “Book Review: There Is No Antimemetics Division” Exceptional Suntup edition bindery
“Another publisher whose bindery is itself a work of art.”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “A Canticle for Leibowitz”
Other science fiction novels people recommend
The four most recommended other science fiction novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project Hail Maryby Andy Weir | 117 | 24 | 83% | 12 | — | Approved |
| There Is No Antimemetics Divisionby qntm | 98 | 34 | 74% | 9 | 1.5 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| Blindsightby Peter Watts | 96 | 27 | 78% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Duneby Frank Herbert | 82 | 25 | 77% | 12 | — | Approved |
| A Scanner Darklyby Philip K. DickThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Another publisher whose bindery is itself a work of art.”
“If you want the druggy, high-concept, ersatz-reality version go with Philip K. Dick”
“"Scanner Darkly" is tragic (it's always made me cry) and very funny.”
“he wrote some real bangers”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.