Stand on Zanzibar
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunnerby John Brunner
Shares rank 53 of 179 science fiction novels by recommenders
People recommend it as a prescient, chilling science fiction novel that anticipated the future well. Some readers find it hard to get into and rate it below Dune.
People recommend it as a prescient, chilling science fiction novel that anticipated the future well. Some readers find it hard to get into and rate it below Dune.
11 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 82%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not 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: 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
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 4.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 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
Prescient, feels accurate about the future
“Gibson's world and Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar are imo the most "prophetic" sf books written so far.”
Comment from 9 Jul 2026 in “Meta reuses old RAM in new servers with custom bridge chip” “so prescient it gave me goosebumps when I read it 5 years ago”
Comment from 21 Aug 2026 in “We are living in a version of the future out of J.G. Ballard or William Gibson” Chilling and worth reading
“all of his books are worth reading imho”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Polymarket gamblers threaten to kill me over Iran missile story” “Great, if chilling stories.”
Comment from 23 Aug 2026 in “We are living in a version of the future out of J.G. Ballard or William Gibson”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Hard to get into
“I bought Stand on Zanzibar based on a recommendation from my Dad, but I only got a few pages in”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Polymarket gamblers threaten to kill me over Iran missile story” Not as good as Dune
“It's good, but nowhere close to Dune.”
Comment from 16 Jul 2026 in “Book Prizes Don't Work How You Think”
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 |
| Stand on Zanzibarby John BrunnerThis page | 9 | 2 | 82% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 11 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Great, if chilling stories.”
“so prescient it gave me goosebumps when I read it 5 years ago”
“It's good, but nowhere close to Dune.”
“Stand on Zanzibar (some people might disagree)”
“Gibson's world and Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar are imo the most "prophetic" sf books written so far.”
“all of his books are worth reading imho”
“I bought Stand on Zanzibar based on a recommendation from my Dad, but I only got a few pages in”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.