# Orbital by Samantha Harvey

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/orbital/

5 people recommended Orbital by Samantha Harvey in Hacker News comments and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 12 months, in 4 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** A reader calls it one of the few books they would recommend without qualification. Its slow surface hides a lot going on underneath.

Summary written by Claude from 7 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 5 of those comments still count.

## Other novels people recommend

- [Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/crime-and-punishment/): 32 recommend, 7 mixed, 9 criticize
- [Moby-Dick by Herman Melville](https://hackerapproved.com/p/moby-dick/): 18 recommend, 3 mixed, 9 criticize
- [The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/brothers-karamazov/): 18 recommend, 9 mixed, 7 criticize
- [Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blood-meridian/): 16 recommend, 1 mixed, 3 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Orbital by Samantha Harvey", https://hackerapproved.com/p/orbital/ (5 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.