Echopraxia
Echopraxia by Peter Wattsby Peter Watts
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 44 of 179 science fiction novels by recommenders
Recommended as a sequel to Blindsight for its inventive ideas on consciousness and intelligence; critics find it rushed, under-edited and hard to follow in places.
Recommended as a sequel to Blindsight for its inventive ideas on consciousness and intelligence; critics find it rushed, under-edited and hard to follow in places.
15 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 73%
Recommended in 7 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: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 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
Strong follow-on to Blindsight
“It complements Blindsight by following the implications of a world where non-conscious intelligence engines outperform conscious humans.”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What fiction books would you recommend for programmers?” “Echopraxia is just as wonderful as Blindsight, highly recommend.”
Comment from 9 Mar 2026 in “Rendezvous with Rama” “The sequel, Echopraxia, is also excellent; it is very different”
Comment from 4 Oct 2026 in “Blindsight (Watts Novel)” - Comment from 4 Oct 2026 in “Blindsight (Watts Novel)”
- Comment from 9 Mar 2026 in “Rendezvous with Rama”
Ideas on consciousness and intelligence
“It complements Blindsight by following the implications of a world where non-conscious intelligence engines outperform conscious humans.”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What fiction books would you recommend for programmers?” “sketch a pretty convincing argument that consciousness may be an evolutionary disadvantage”
Comment from 19 Sep 2026 in “GPT-6 Astra Solves a WWI German Radio Cipher” “it felt rushed and under-edited, but the ideas were spectacular”
Comment from 7 Apr 2026 in “Book Review: There Is No Antimemetics Division” - Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “Why Vampires Live Forever”
Story about characters and trade-offs
“I liked that the main character was the least super empowered of any of the characters though.”
Comment from 12 Feb 2026 in “Why Vampires Live Forever” “spins a good story about the trade offs of a terrible reaction to right angles”
Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “Why Vampires Live Forever”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Felt rushed or under-edited
“it felt rushed and under-edited, but the ideas were spectacular”
Comment from 7 Apr 2026 in “Book Review: There Is No Antimemetics Division” “It felt rushed or under-implemented.”
Comment from 5 Oct 2026 in “Blindsight (Watts Novel)” Disappointing, weaker than Blindsight
“Echopraxia suffers from this even more than Blindsight already did”
Comment from 5 Oct 2026 in “Blindsight (Watts Novel)” “When I first read it, I was actually pretty disappointed overall”
Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “Why Vampires Live Forever” Loses readers at points
“Echopraxia lost me at numerous points”
Comment from 5 Oct 2026 in “Blindsight (Watts Novel)” “Echopraxia lost me at some point”
Comment from 18 May 2026 in “Accelerando (2005)”
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 |
| Echopraxiaby Peter WattsThis page | 11 | 4 | 73% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
18 of the 19 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It felt rushed or under-implemented.”
“I still didn't like Echopraxia though.”
“Echopraxia lost me at numerous points”
“Echopraxia suffers from this even more than Blindsight already did”
“The sequel, Echopraxia, is also excellent; it is very different”
“Second book echopraxia is good too”
“sketch a pretty convincing argument that consciousness may be an evolutionary disadvantage”
“Both really ahead of their time.”
“Echopraxia lost me at some point”
“it felt rushed and under-edited, but the ideas were spectacular”
“the excellent sequel, Echopraxia”
“Echopraxia is just as wonderful as Blindsight, highly recommend.”
“I liked that the main character was the least super empowered of any of the characters though.”
“Echopraxia is possibly the more inventive one.”
“When I first read it, I was actually pretty disappointed overall”
“spins a good story about the trade offs of a terrible reaction to right angles”
“was a bit disappointed as it didn't seem to be as closely related as I wished it to be”
“It complements Blindsight by following the implications of a world where non-conscious intelligence engines outperform conscious humans.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.