# Drood by Dan Simmons

3 Hacker News commenters recommended Drood by Dan Simmons and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Readers enjoyed this historical novel even without a deep Dickens background, praising its fantastical bent and its tone and style, which convincingly match Dickens and Collins.

## Why people recommend it

- Enjoyable without prior Dickens knowledge (1 comments): "I really enjoyed it! So I'd say it's worth checking out even if you're not a big Dickens reader." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47186290))
- Tone convincingly matches Dickens and Collins (1 comments): "his tone and style match that of Dickens and Collins so convincingly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47184018))
- Historical fiction with a fantastical bent (1 comments): "My favorites were his historical fiction that contained a fantastical bent" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47186626))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian](https://hackerapproved.com/p/aubrey-maturin-series.md): 18 recommend
- [The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas](https://hackerapproved.com/p/three-musketeers.md): 12 recommend
- [The MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut](https://hackerapproved.com/p/maniac.md): 12 recommend
- [I, Claudius by Robert Graves](https://hackerapproved.com/p/i-claudius.md): 11 recommend
- [Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian](https://hackerapproved.com/p/master-and-commander.md): 7 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316007021?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780316007023) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Drood by Dan Simmons", https://hackerapproved.com/p/drood/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).