# There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury

27 Hacker News commenters recommended There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended for its vivid, unsettling story of a smart house that keeps running after its family is gone; critics find the prose flowery and the predictions now dated.

## Why people recommend it

- Haunting, unsettling ending imagery (3 comments): "The paragraph about the stove making dozens of breakfasts as the house collapses at the climax of the story is what always stuck with me most." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46905650)) "This story is one of only a couple sci-fi short stories to creep me out enough that I still remember them vividly decades later." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49171418)) "The bird scene at the end where it repeatedly smashes into the window really hit me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49170260))
- Lasting favorite for many readers (3 comments): "I like "There Will Come Soft Rains" better." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50206610)) "probably my favorite Bradbury short" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49164358)) "It remains one of my favorites." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46904696))
- Adaptations add to the story (3 comments): "This adaptation is heavily modified, but I think it adds to the whole thing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49168642)) "Soviet era animation was creepy in its own right. This adaptation doubly so." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49169743)) "My favorite rendition of this aired on X-Minus One" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49178057))
- Vivid rocket and nature writing (2 comments): "No sci-fi writer could describe the launch of a rocket any more poetic than Ray Bradbury." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49164990)) "Bradbury wrote rockets the way other writers wrote sunsets" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49165014))

## What people warn about

- Flowery, dull writing style (2 comments): "Ray Bradbury has some great ideas, but I hate his writing style. It's far too flowery" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49163668)) "Growing up, I hated this guy. Boring! Now, I can recognize writing talent." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49168706))
- Predictions now dated or wrong (2 comments): "It seems quaint now, but it's astonishing how much the fear of war affected mid-century fiction." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49169991)) "Fun to witness all the things it got right, which we can now remark wasn't close at all." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49169817))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Last Question by Isaac Asimov](https://hackerapproved.com/p/last-question.md): 50 recommend
- [They're Made Out of Meat by Terry Bisson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/they-re-made-out-of-meat.md): 17 recommend
- [Lena by qntm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lena.md): 16 recommend
- [The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster](https://hackerapproved.com/p/machine-stops.md): 15 recommend
- [The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges](https://hackerapproved.com/p/library-of-babel.md): 11 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/089598962X?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780895989628) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury", https://hackerapproved.com/p/there-will-come-soft-rains/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).