Brave New World
Brave New World by Aldous Huxleyby Aldous Huxley
Hacker ApprovedRanked 19 of 179 science fiction novels by recommenders
Recommended as a prescient dystopian novel that people say predicted the present better than 1984. Critics find the writing style hard to get into.
Recommended as a prescient dystopian novel that people say predicted the present better than 1984. Critics find the writing style hard to get into.
25 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 24
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 96%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 24 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 24 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 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
Prescient, often beats 1984
“BNW has proven to be far more prescient, and insidiously so, than 1984”
Comment from 5 Feb 2026 in “CIA suddenly stops publishing, removes archives of The World Factbook” “just as prescient as "Brave New World" and "1984"”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Artificial egg hatched 26 healthy chickens” “many aspects of Brave New World were prescient”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Artificial egg hatched 26 healthy chickens” - Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Stop Flock”
- Comment from 17 Apr 2026 in “George Orwell Predicted the Rise of "AI Slop" in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)”
Worth reading; highly recommended
“May I recommend Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" to you?”
Comment from 20 Jul 2026 in “AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decision-Making” “IMO everyone should read it once, alongside with 1984.”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “If You Quit Social Media, Will You Read More Books?” “I'd also add Brave New World to that list”
Comment from 13 Jan 2026 in “The UK is shaping a future of Precrime and dissent management” - Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “Ants: Who looks after the injured in a colony?”
- Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Artificial egg hatched 26 healthy chickens”
Often overlooked, underappreciated classic
“For whatever reason the British underappreciate Brave New World.”
Comment from 6 Jun 2026 in “GrapheneOS user reported to authorities for using GrapheneOS” “Brave New World always gets overlooked.”
Comment from 5 Feb 2026 in “CIA suddenly stops publishing, removes archives of The World Factbook”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Stilted, hard-to-follow writing style
“I just couldn't hold my attention with his writing style”
Comment from 25 May 2026 in “Artificial egg hatched 26 healthy chickens” “it comes across stilted and craftless”
Comment from 21 Mar 2026 in “Books of the Century by Le Monde”
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 |
| Brave New Worldby Aldous HuxleyThis page | 24 | 1 | 96% | 10 | — | Approved |
What people said
20 of the 26 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“The list of books that are gripping from the start”
“books I liked more when I reread them as an adult”
“May I recommend Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" to you?”
“A very good read I highly recommend.”
“makes a lot more sense as a book for that age range”
“For whatever reason the British underappreciate Brave New World.”
“does a good job describing the conflict between happy and enslaved and free but struggling”
“I just couldn't hold my attention with his writing style”
“many aspects of Brave New World were prescient”
“the books themselves are brilliant”
“just as prescient as "Brave New World" and "1984"”
“Perhaps you should read Brave New World instead?”
“I read all four, and while I enjoyed the first three”
“Brave New World is the most prophetic.”
“It predicted the future better than 1984”
“it comes across stilted and craftless”
“BNW has proven to be far more prescient, and insidiously so, than 1984”
“Brave New World always gets overlooked.”
“I'd also add Brave New World to that list”
“IMO everyone should read it once, alongside with 1984.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.