Seveneves
Seveneves by Neal Stephensonby Neal Stephenson
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 33 of 179 science fiction novels by recommenders
Admired for its ambitious scope and detailed engineering; critics cite loose science, slow pacing and an ending that arrives too late.
Admired for its ambitious scope and detailed engineering; critics cite loose science, slow pacing and an ending that arrives too late.
21 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 6
- approval share
- 71%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 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
Detailed technical worldbuilding
“At one point he spends about 30 pages describing in loving detail the tech behind a high-atmosphere human glider suit. Really cool stuff.”
Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]” “the first part is slowly getting into the plausible tech realm”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “New 'super ice' 10 times stronger, bringing it close to the strength of concrete” Ambitious scope worth overlooked flaws
“the overall scope and ambition is so awesome I was able to forgive the poor editing”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “New 'super ice' 10 times stronger, bringing it close to the strength of concrete” “the stories in both cyrptonomicon and seveneves were absolutely worth the bit of extra detail in between”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Neal Stephenson responds with wit and humor (2004)” Fun, well-liked overall
“I didn't hate the book at all. It was otherwise fun to read.”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Neal Stephenson responds with wit and humor (2004)” “I really liked Seveneves and Termination Shock as well”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Neal Stephenson on AI and What Comes Next [video]” “Seveneves is probably my favourite”
Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “Writing by Hand is Good for your Brain”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Slow, slog-like pacing
“because it felt like such a drag”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “New 'super ice' 10 times stronger, bringing it close to the strength of concrete” “Seveneves to be a bit of a slog”
Comment from 3 Jun 2026 in “Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min” “They slogged for me a bit.”
Comment from 3 Jun 2026 in “Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min” Hand-waved, implausible science
“I liked it, overall, but each of these yanked me out of my suspension of disbelief.”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Neal Stephenson responds with wit and humor (2004)” “the half-arsed handwavy gibberish about biology”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Neal Stephenson responds with wit and humor (2004)” Ending comes too late
“seveneves had an entirely separate novella for an ending”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min” “Seveneves DID end 2/3rds of the way through!”
Comment from 28 Sep 2026 in “Neal Stephenson responds with wit and humor (2004)” “it should have ended 2/3 of the way through”
Comment from 28 Sep 2026 in “Neal Stephenson responds with wit and humor (2004)”
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 |
| Sevenevesby Neal StephensonThis page | 15 | 6 | 71% | 8 | — | Approved |
What people said
20 of the 23 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I really liked Seveneves and Termination Shock as well”
“because it felt like such a drag”
“the first part is slowly getting into the plausible tech realm”
“the overall scope and ambition is so awesome I was able to forgive the poor editing”
“the stories in both cyrptonomicon and seveneves were absolutely worth the bit of extra detail in between”
“I didn't hate the book at all. It was otherwise fun to read.”
“the half-arsed handwavy gibberish about biology”
“I liked it, overall, but each of these yanked me out of my suspension of disbelief.”
“Seveneves DID end 2/3rds of the way through!”
“it should have ended 2/3 of the way through”
“I never finished the book because I felt it was depressingly realistic.”
“Seveneves is probably my favourite”
“almost captured these but not quite”
“seveneves had an entirely separate novella for an ending”
“I'd argue that Anathem and Seveneves had actual conclusions.”
“Seveneves to be a bit of a slog”
“They slogged for me a bit.”
“I found the second part of Seven Eves to be a surreal experience.”
“followed closely by _Seveneves_.”
“At one point he spends about 30 pages describing in loving detail the tech behind a high-atmosphere human glider suit. Really cool stuff.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.