The Shockwave Rider
The Shockwave Rider by John Brunnerby John Brunner
Shares rank 80 of 179 science fiction novels by recommenders
People recommend it for how realistically it predicts the future decades ahead, and for Brunner being an important author worth reading.
People recommend it for how realistically it predicts the future decades ahead, and for Brunner being an important author worth reading.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 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
Remarkably prescient about the future
“as a guess at what 40-50 years in the authors future would look like, it's almost freakily realistic”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Polymarket gamblers threaten to kill me over Iran missile story” “The Shockwave Rider was also remarkable prescient.”
Comment from 20 Dec 2025 in “History LLMs: Models trained exclusively on pre-1913 texts” Important book by an author worth reading
“It's an important book, and Brunner is amazing if you've never read him before.”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Polymarket gamblers threaten to kill me over Iran missile story” “all of his books are worth reading imho”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Polymarket gamblers threaten to kill me over Iran missile story”
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 |
| The Shockwave Riderby John BrunnerThis page | 6 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
5 of the 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Great, if chilling stories.”
“all of his books are worth reading imho”
“as a guess at what 40-50 years in the authors future would look like, it's almost freakily realistic”
“It's an important book, and Brunner is amazing if you've never read him before.”
“The Shockwave Rider was also remarkable prescient.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.