Daemon
Daemon by Daniel Suarezby Daniel Suarez
Hacker ApprovedRanked 15 of 179 science fiction novels by recommenders
Readers call Daemon a fun, prescient techno-thriller that feels topical with today's agentic AI. One critic found the writing hard to read.
Readers call Daemon a fun, prescient techno-thriller that feels topical with today's agentic AI. One critic found the writing hard to read.
31 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 30
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 97%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 20 years
Median of the 3 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it carries the badge
- 30 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 30 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 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
Predictions feel prescient and topical
“a decent example of starting with somewhat realistic tech (well, maybe realistic to a non-expert like me) and extrapolating it exponentially”
Comment from 8 May 2026 in “Rumors of my death are slightly exaggerated” “The 2006 book 'Daemon' is a fascinating/terrifying look at this type of malicious AI.”
Comment from 12 Feb 2026 in “An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me” “He completely nails the technological capability / potential of an autonomous ChatGPT”
Comment from 26 Oct 2026 in “Eunice is almost here” - Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “Daemon (Novel) [2006]”
- Comment from 5 Mar 2026 in “Daemon (2006)”
- Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “Daemon (2006)”
- Comment from 24 Aug 2026 in “Everything I own, owned”
Fun, enjoyable read
“I've been re-reading a couple of Daniel Suarez's books (Daemon & Freedom) and enjoying them immensely.”
Comment from 11 Mar 2026 in “Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?” “the novel is awesome! Recommended for sure!”
Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “Daemon (Novel)” “Daemon is one of my favorite books.”
Comment from 5 Mar 2026 in “Daemon (2006)” - Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?”
- Comment from 28 Nov 2025 in “Voyager 1 is about to reach one light-day from Earth”
- Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me”
Lasting impact, reread with pleasure
“I've been re-reading a couple of Daniel Suarez's books (Daemon & Freedom) and enjoying them immensely.”
Comment from 11 Mar 2026 in “Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?” “Having just reread Daemon by Daniel Suarez this hits differently.”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “AgentFM – A single Go binary that turns idle GPUs into a P2P AI grid” “left quite an impact way back then”
Comment from 5 Mar 2026 in “Daemon (2006)”
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 |
| Daemonby Daniel SuarezThis page | 30 | 1 | 97% | 9 | 20 yrs3 owners | Approved |
What people said
20 of the 31 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I found Daemon rather unreadable. Both in writing and the content.”
“He completely nails the technological capability / potential of an autonomous ChatGPT”
“Unbelievably prescient novel.”
“a decent example of starting with somewhat realistic tech (well, maybe realistic to a non-expert like me) and extrapolating it exponentially”
“Having just reread Daemon by Daniel Suarez this hits differently.”
“Daemon was such a fun read for me”
“I've been re-reading a couple of Daniel Suarez's books (Daemon & Freedom) and enjoying them immensely.”
“the accuracy of his predictions from this book, and Daemon too”
“left quite an impact way back then”
“Daemon is one of my favorite books.”
“It feels so topical with the rise of agentic AI”
“The book daemon explored an interesting concept.”
“I really enjoyed that book.”
“I liked Daemon and completely missed Freedom”
“The 2006 book 'Daemon' is a fascinating/terrifying look at this type of malicious AI.”
“It's *twenty* years ahead of it's time. Well done Daniel Suarez.”
“the novel is awesome! Recommended for sure!”
“The daemon(8) wrapper is neat to integrate pre-existing servers into rc.d”
“Very much reminded of "Daemon" by Daniel Suarez, where the system is watching the news to find out when people were dead, etc.”
“I loved Daemon, and FreedomTM.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.