Diaspora
Diaspora by Greg Eganby Greg Egan
Hacker ApprovedRanked 20 of 179 science fiction novels by recommenders
Recommended for its ambitious, mind-expanding take on post-singularity humanity and uploading. Critics say it is very dense and hard to follow.
Recommended for its ambitious, mind-expanding take on post-singularity humanity and uploading. Critics say it is very dense and hard to follow.
27 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 23
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 85%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 23 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.8 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
Favorite Greg Egan novel for readers
“i got so inspired by reading diaspora this year”
Comment from 2 Jul 2026 in “The Fall of the Theorem Economy” “Easily one of my favorite sci-do books to date”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” “Basically anything by Egan is gold, IMO.”
Comment from 6 Apr 2026 in “Book Review: There Is No Antimemetics Division” - Comment from 5 Oct 2026 in “Blindsight (Watts Novel)”
Mind-expanding ideas about post-singularity humanity
“one of the best explorations I know for the fates of various humanity factions in the age following a technological singularity”
Comment from 28 Sep 2026 in “An Antidote to Roko's Basilisk” “Diaspora is mind-blowing, yet highly improbable and speculative”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “"They're made out of weights"” “maybe the two most stimulating scifi novels I have ever read”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” Thoughtful take on uploading identity
“The whole birth of an virtual identity part is so dense, I didn't understand half of what was "explained".”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “MMAcevedo aka Lena by qntm” “Both having slightly different takes on uploading.”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “MMAcevedo aka Lena by qntm”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Very dense, hard to follow
“The whole birth of an virtual identity part is so dense, I didn't understand half of what was "explained".”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “MMAcevedo aka Lena by qntm” “Egan is always dense. It's some mind bending physics/comp sci, but all cooked up in his brain so doesn't really apply to anything productive.”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “MMAcevedo aka Lena by qntm”
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 |
| Diasporaby Greg EganThis page | 23 | 4 | 85% | 10 | — | Approved |
What people said
23 of the 30 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the directions to install are fairly straight forward and the community is really helpful”
“He tells Vinge to hold his beer and follows those threads where he thought they might lead.”
“I find them more compelling and interesting than the old "don't play god or bad things happen" narratives.”
“100%, also: Diaspora. <3 Greg Egan.”
“one of the best explorations I know for the fates of various humanity factions in the age following a technological singularity”
“is a good book related to some of the themes I see in the comments”
“Friendica and Diaspora both have the same problem, and to my knowledge don't have a good solution for it.”
“i got so inspired by reading diaspora this year”
“Diaspora is mind-blowing, yet highly improbable and speculative”
“under-delivering federated systems such as Gemini (the lightweight Web protocol, not Google's AI) or Diaspora*”
“you might enjoy the first chapter of Diaspora by Greg Egan”
“Basically anything by Egan is gold, IMO.”
“on third-party threads the blocks don't work”
“Diaspora* (dying its slow death, but something I'll still check into a few times a year)”
“The platforms I mention also largely lack agency, which as you note is quite refreshing.”
“they couldn't stop talking about how people can run their own servers”
“I found it beautiful and moving.”
“Egan is always dense. It's some mind bending physics/comp sci, but all cooked up in his brain so doesn't really apply to anything productive.”
“The whole birth of an virtual identity part is so dense, I didn't understand half of what was "explained".”
“Both having slightly different takes on uploading.”
“Easily one of my favorite sci-do books to date”
“maybe the two most stimulating scifi novels I have ever read”
“they really make you think”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.