Terra Ignota
Terra Ignota by Ada Palmerby Ada Palmer
Shares rank 80 of 179 science fiction novels by recommenders
Recommended as an ambitious, unique science fiction series that readers call great, with one critic finding the writing did not gel.
Recommended as an ambitious, unique science fiction series that readers call great, with one critic finding the writing did not gel.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not 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.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not 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
Ambitious, unique, extraordinary series
“one of the most unique and extraordinary series I've ever read”
Comment from 15 Sep 2026 in “Writing a better reality: The case for optimistic sci-fi (2022)” “Incredibly ambitious and unique imo- highly reccommend”
Comment from 25 Apr 2026 in “Ada Palmer's "Inventing the Renaissance"” Great read, among the best of the year
“I'm currently reading her Terra Ignota series and it's great”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “the best book I read in 2025”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?”
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 |
| Terra Ignotaby Ada PalmerThis page | 6 | 2 | 75% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I'm currently reading her Terra Ignota series and it's great”
“the best book I read in 2025”
“one of the most unique and extraordinary series I've ever read”
“It takes 'the past is another country' and really sends it forward.”
“At least I managed to finish Terra Ignota.”
“This is one of the things I loved about the series”
“her writing really didn't gel with me”
“Incredibly ambitious and unique imo- highly reccommend”
“even when it's about a Utopia it's mostly about how it crumbles like with the Terra Ignota Series”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.