# Hard to Be a God by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

4 Hacker News commenters recommended Hard to Be a God by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a brilliant, gorgeous and monumental science fiction novel that is enjoyable and makes readers want to read more by its authors.

## Why people recommend it

- Part of a brilliant series (2 comments): "which are also my favorite books of the series" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49694059)) "These books are brilliant as well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50034966))
- Gorgeous, monumental, unsettling, bordering on madness (1 comments): "It's insane, gorgeous, disgusting, teetering on the edge of madness, and monumental." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46370256))
- Enjoyable; readers want more (1 comments): "I enjoyed ‘Hard to Be a God’ and wish to read more from them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50034846))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir](https://hackerapproved.com/p/project-hail-mary.md): 117 recommend
- [There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/there-is-no-antimemetics-division.md): 98 recommend
- [Blindsight by Peter Watts](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blindsight.md): 96 recommend
- [Dune by Frank Herbert](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dune.md): 82 recommend
- [Accelerando by Charles Stross](https://hackerapproved.com/p/accelerando.md): 71 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0413452603?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780413452603) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Hard to Be a God by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky", https://hackerapproved.com/p/hard-to-be-a-god/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).