# Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

24 Hacker News commenters recommended Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a prescient dystopian novel that people say predicted the present better than 1984. Critics find the writing style hard to get into.

## Why people recommend it

- Prescient, often beats 1984 (5 comments): "BNW has proven to be far more prescient, and insidiously so, than 1984" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46906480)) "just as prescient as "Brave New World" and "1984"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48258485)) "many aspects of Brave New World were prescient" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48259410))
- Worth reading; highly recommended (5 comments): "May I recommend Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" to you?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974983)) "IMO everyone should read it once, alongside with 1984." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46230474)) "I'd also add Brave New World to that list" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46601009))
- Often overlooked, underappreciated classic (2 comments): "For whatever reason the British underappreciate Brave New World." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48423320)) "Brave New World always gets overlooked." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46904833))

## What people warn about

- Stilted, hard-to-follow writing style (2 comments): "I just couldn't hold my attention with his writing style" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48263511)) "it comes across stilted and craftless" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47472235))

## 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
- [Accelerando by Charles Stross](https://hackerapproved.com/p/accelerando.md): 71 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1444474790?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781444474794) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Brave New World by Aldous Huxley", https://hackerapproved.com/p/brave-new-world/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).