# The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/shepherd-s-crown/

3 people recommended The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett in Hacker News comments and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 12 months, in 2 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

2 of the 3 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “I Miss Terry Pratchett”.

**Verdict:** Readers recommend it as a heartbreaking, sad but encouraging farewell to Discworld, unlike Snuff and Raising Steam.

Summary written by Claude from 3 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Emotional farewell to Discworld (3 comments in the sample): "The Sheperd’s Crown is not at all like Snuff and Raising Steam. Please read it, it’s a heartbreaking self send off." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46827828)) "It's a very sad story, but also meant to be encouraging, and clearly intended to be his last book." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48249129)) "I read it, and I cried like a baby.  Still do whenever I reach for it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48247554))

## 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, "The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett", https://hackerapproved.com/p/shepherd-s-crown/ (3 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

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