# Lena by qntm

16 Hacker News commenters recommended Lena by qntm and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a short, dark science fiction story about whole brain emulation that readers find brilliant and unsettling. Some say it reads as dated now.

## Why people recommend it

- Dark, unsettling and terrifying (3 comments): "the cold but ominously normalizing one of Lena" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47229898)) "is both a wonderful story and terrifying" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46379908)) "Super dark, super brilliant." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47883318))
- Favourite quick read (2 comments): "One of my favourite reads for sure" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47000606)) "Well worth the quick read" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47880947))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Last Question by Isaac Asimov](https://hackerapproved.com/p/last-question.md): 50 recommend
- [There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury](https://hackerapproved.com/p/there-will-come-soft-rains.md): 27 recommend
- [They're Made Out of Meat by Terry Bisson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/they-re-made-out-of-meat.md): 17 recommend
- [The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster](https://hackerapproved.com/p/machine-stops.md): 15 recommend
- [The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges](https://hackerapproved.com/p/library-of-babel.md): 11 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Lena by qntm", https://hackerapproved.com/p/lena/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).