# The Shockwave Rider by John Brunner

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/shockwave-rider/

5 people recommended The Shockwave Rider by John Brunner in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 12 months, in 5 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for how realistically it predicts the future decades ahead, and for Brunner being an important author worth reading.

Summary written by Claude from 5 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Remarkably prescient about the future (2 comments in the sample): "as a guess at what 40-50 years in the authors future would look like, it's almost freakily realistic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47402740)) "The Shockwave Rider was also remarkable prescient." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46334330))
- Important book by an author worth reading (2 comments in the sample): "It's an important book, and Brunner is amazing if you've never read him before." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47401250)) "all of his books are worth reading imho" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47407096))

## Other science fiction novels people recommend

- [Blindsight by Peter Watts](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blindsight/): 78 recommend, 18 mixed, 23 criticize
- [Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/children-of-time/): 64 recommend, 1 mixed, 4 criticize
- [Accelerando by Charles Stross](https://hackerapproved.com/p/accelerando/): 63 recommend, 7 mixed, 8 criticize
- [There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/there-is-no-antimemetics-division/): 57 recommend, 34 mixed, 28 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 Shockwave Rider by John Brunner", https://hackerapproved.com/p/shockwave-rider/ (5 recommend, 1 mixed, 0 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

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