Signal to noise
by Eric S. Nylund · first published 1999
56% recommend44% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Science fiction featuring a convincing villain and a plausible explanation of the Fermi paradox. The book is strange and great, and it has a sequel, A Signal Shattered.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Having cheated his way into the elite Academe of Pure and Applied Sciences, Jack Porter finds his chance for tenure threatened by a rival before receiving a message from the stars that entangles him in a web of deceit and betrayal.
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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Lot's of my favorites already listed Some more good ones: Ilium/Olympos - Dan Simmons Centuries - A. A. Attanasio Callahan's Crosstime Saloon - Spider Robinson Signal to Noise - Eric Nylund
on “What are your favourite sci-fi books?” ↗The book is Signal to Noise and its sequel A Signal Shattered by Eric S. Nylund. A personal favorite of mine! Wheeler is such a convincing villain, and the existence of such a character as an explanation of the Fermi paradox is…
on “Frosted glass from games to the web” ↗There was a decent science fiction serris based on this premise: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/700919.Signal_to_Noise https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/737628.A_Signal_Shattere...
on “Can Earth's rotation generate power? Physicists divided over controversial claim” ↗…wrecking Earth-Moon orbital stability with their reckless energy extraction. In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I will merely advise anyone interested in a story with similar themes and content to read Signal to Noise and its sequel A Signal Shattered by Eric S. Nylund. You may know him from his work on the Halo franchise or other popular games. I don’t really know his other work, since I first discovered him via his…
on “Underwater turbine spinning for 6 years off Scotland's coast is a breakthrough” ↗In a thematically similar but very different vein, Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time series was an enjoyable read. I also recommend Eric Nylund's work, specifically Signal to Noise and A Signal Shattered. Edit: Well, there you go, Children of Time had 23 mentions now that I've read down further. Disappointed to see Eric Nylund's work fade into obscurity, I rate him up with Neal…
on “Show HN: Books mentioned on Hacker News in 2025” ↗I haven't been able to find Eric Nylund's "Signal to Noise" and sequel "A Signsl Shattered" in ebook format. But they are strange and great.
on “Show HN: Books mentioned on Hacker News in 2025” ↗Toss "Signal to Noise" and "A Signal Shattered" both by Eric S. Nylund into the pot - interesting conceptual things around biotech/selfmodification singularities in addition to the more common computational singularities.
on “Accelerando (2005)” ↗…http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66657.Magic_for_Beginners (4.01) Pirate Cinema http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13539171-pirate-cinema (3.82) extras Old Man's War http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51964.Old_Man_s_War (4.18) Signal to Noise! http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/166570.Signal_to_Noise (3.88)
on “Humble eBook Bundle” ↗I don't think that was the premise at all; what you're describing sounds closer to "Signal to Noise" [1], another book that covers a lot of the same themes as Three Body Problem (first contact, the dark forest hypothesis, etc.) [1]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/700919.Signal_to_Noise?f...
on “The Hunt for Aliens Is a Grassroots Movement Funded by Billionaires” ↗That would be Signal to Noise by Eric Nylund. Yeah, I've been thinking the same thing recently.
on “Spain threatened with trade blacklist for not passing SOPA style law” ↗Eric Nylund's "Signal to Noise" and "A Signal Shattered" posits something similar - they're out there, and they're out to get you - but FTL communications exist and the others are more rabidly mercantile than invasive. (To be fair,…
on “Transit Detection of a Starshade at the Inner Lagrange Point of an Exoplanet” ↗Eric Nylund: Signal to Noise, A Signal Shattered
on “Sci-fi books that you may never have heard of, but definitely should read” ↗