Incandescence
Incandescence by Greg Eganby Greg Egan
Shares rank 135 of 179 science fiction novels by recommenders
People recommend it as a hard science fiction novel, comparable to Diaspora, and some count it among their favourite novels.
People recommend it as a hard science fiction novel, comparable to Diaspora, and some count it among their favourite novels.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not 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
Praised as hard sci-fi
“which really struck me as a great piece of hard sci-fi”
Comment from 5 Oct 2026 in “Blindsight (Watts Novel)” Counted among favourite novels
“Taking favourite novels which are within arm's reach”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “Where did all the starships go?” Similar to Diaspora
“several novels which kind of similar to Diaspora”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?”
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 |
| Incandescenceby Greg EganThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“which really struck me as a great piece of hard sci-fi”
“Taking favourite novels which are within arm's reach”
“several novels which kind of similar to Diaspora”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.