# Accelerando by Charles Stross

71 Hacker News commenters recommended Accelerando by Charles Stross and 8 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 20 years (4 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Readers praise its prescient ideas about digital minds, space travel and the future. Critics most often say the characters feel thin or unlikeable.

## Why people recommend it

- Prescient, eerily accurate predictions (3 comments): "Not only did I find it quite engaging and thought-provoking, it is also proving rather prescient" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49137863)) "those predictions are eerily accurate and describe the real mechanics pretty well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48168172)) "Accelerando has prophecies that are coming true and it's scary." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48160113))
- Mind-blowing ideas about uploads and time (3 comments): "I love this book! The part about the implication of digitized minds and long distance space travel was really eye-opening." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48159525)) "the one idea from Accelerando that has stuck with me the most over the 20 years since I first read it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46903197)) "The entire thing is an amazing exploration of how the concept of time becomes a bit meaningless" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48161220))
- Fun, engaging, well-written read (3 comments): "Not only did I find it quite engaging and thought-provoking, it is also proving rather prescient" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49137863)) "love Accelerando , unsure what I was missing; feels like a well-written self-contained story." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46359495)) "Accelerando is a particularly fun and worthwhile read" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46446635))
- Feels like exploring a strange future (3 comments): "Accelerando and The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi (and that series as a whole) are the best examples of how weird the future is going to get I’ve read." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48160588)) "Familiar world, and yet everything is very, very different so you feel more like an explorer than anything else." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47055340)) "I would certainly rather live in a world with access to the technology they have than our own." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49136153))

## What people warn about

- Characters feel thin or unlikeable (3 comments): "They are annoying one dimensional stereovtypes of ideologic representations more interested in preaching through cliched interactions" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48168268)) "the human relationships portrayed appeared a bit off to me, but much less than in many, many other SF stories" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48162044)) "The main character is so unlikeable and the weird sex stuff was too repulsive." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48160825))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir](https://hackerapproved.com/p/project-hail-mary.md): 117 recommend
- [There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/there-is-no-antimemetics-division.md): 98 recommend
- [Blindsight by Peter Watts](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blindsight.md): 96 recommend
- [Dune by Frank Herbert](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dune.md): 82 recommend
- [Hyperion by Dan Simmons](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hyperion.md): 66 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0748124128?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780748124121) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Accelerando by Charles Stross", https://hackerapproved.com/p/accelerando/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).