Strata
by Terry Pratchett · first published 1981
38% recommend63% neutral
Un monde plat tel qu'on se le représentait au Moyen Âge. Qui avait pu inventer une pareille planète? Pour en avoir le coeur net, Kin Arad n'a qu'une solution : partir à la recherche des maîtres du Disque, direction le centre du monde, un gigantesque dôme de cuivre incrusté dans une île de sable noir.--[Memento].
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2010–2026The Dark Side of the Sun
Terry Pratchett
Recommended by 5 · mentioned by 75 recommend · 7 mention5 recommend · 75 recommend
2007–2026Ringworld
Larry Niven
Recommended by 51 · mentioned by 15951 recommend · 159 mention51 recommend · 15951 recommend
2007–2026Book of the New Sun
Gene Wolfe
Recommended by 64 · mentioned by 9364 recommend · 93 mention64 recommend · 9364 recommend
2009–2026Mistborn
Brandon Sanderson
Recommended by 94 · mentioned by 15994 recommend · 159 mention94 recommend · 15994 recommend
2007–2026Hyperion
Dan Simmons
Recommended by 154 · mentioned by 245154 recommend · 245 mention154 recommend · 245154 recommend
2008–2026Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Philip K. Dick
Recommended by 66 · mentioned by 19566 recommend · 195 mention66 recommend · 19566 recommend
2008–2026Diaspora
Greg Egan
Recommended by 131 · mentioned by 184131 recommend · 184 mention131 recommend · 184131 recommend
2010–2026Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Recommended by 170 · mentioned by 301170 recommend · 301 mention170 recommend · 301170 recommend
I highly recommend the novel Strata by Terry Pratchett, to anyone who is tickled by this question.
on “Could an Industrial Civilization Have Predated Humans on Earth?” ↗Fun, light-hearted and enjoyable === Terry Pratchett. Strata and the Dark Side of the Sun if you’re looking specifically for Sci-fi. But if you haven’t read the Diskworld series, I envy you! I’d give anything to re-live the sheer ecstasy of reading Pratchett for…
on “Ask HN: What are the best Sci-Fi books you've ever read?” ↗If you enjoy that kind of thing then you might like Terry Pratchett's early SF work "Strata" that riffs heavily on this idea (on a less parochial scale) while also enjoyably sending up Niven's Ringworld and a few other tomes.
on “Silurian Hypothesis” ↗…alternative is bleak: if writers are not supported via royalties, then the only financially viable "art" will inevitably be mass-produced, mass-marketed pablum. That's a depressing prospect. > To me, Strata by Terry Pratchett is clearly derivative of Ringworld by Larry Niven. I'd say it's not just good, entertaining, interesting, but also that it's superior to the original… and yet, still derivative. I…
on “The Cost of Good Movies” ↗I always thought the most plausible explanation is one developed Terry Pratchett in "Strata": If you are going to create a planet (or universe) from scratch to be the home of an intelligent species, including a realistic history is critical to give that species sufficient historical context…
on “The FPGA Designer Who Didn't Get the Job” ↗…writers are capable of producing material that's good, entertaining, interesting, moving. That's a rare talent, and it's not derivative. I think we must be using the word "derivative" differently. To me, Strata by Terry Pratchett is clearly derivative of Ringworld by Larry Niven. I'd say it's not just good, entertaining, interesting, but also that it's superior to the original… and yet, still derivative. From…
on “The Cost of Good Movies” ↗Made me think of Terry Pratchett's Strata: "Kin's flyer circled the low offices and headed northward to the big complex on W- continent. It skirted the bulk of what had been Hendry's machine, its new pilot now laying down a pattern of offshore…
on “Elon Musk - The Future of Energy and Transport [video]” ↗…integrated circuit. Only this was a valve such as might be built by someone who had never developed the transistor, so that more and more ingenuity had been devoted to perfecting the existing technology." -- Strata, Terry Pratchett.
on “Nanoscale Vacuum-Channel Transistor” ↗…the machinery of the world breaking down, where those things are “the Ringworld”, Luis Wu, superconducting wire destroyed by a synthetic microbe, and Boosterspice; but that didn’t stop Pratchett writing Strata with “the flat world”, Kin Arad, general entropy, and Days.
on “All sound recordings prior to 1923 will enter the US public domain in 2022” ↗…search and replace could already do it. If you mean something more transformative, did Yudkowsky get a licence for HPMOR? Did Pratchett (he might well have) get a licence from Niven to retell Ringworld as Strata? I don't know how true it is, but it's widely repeated that 50 Shades of Grey was originally a fan fiction of the Twilight series. Etc., but note that I'm not saying "no".
on “Many AI safety orgs have tried to criminalize currently-existing open-source AI” ↗…irrelevant when AI can also create new works. If you want to set a bar for creativity high enough that current AI can't reach it, I suspect quite a lot of human works also fail, e.g. that Pratchett's Strata is obviously Ringworld, and that you would exclude from copyright all parts of The Lion King that are based on Hamlet. > I would still oppose the use of the natural vs. unnatural distinction as the basis…
on “Meta's Llama 3.1 can recall 42 percent of the first Harry Potter book” ↗There's something a little like this in Strata by Pratchett (which is lightly sending up Niven's Ringworld and a non-robot-related but similar idea there).
on “Profession by Isaac Asimov” ↗…The Dark Side of the Sun by Terry Pratchett. Finally got around to reading this one. Was surprisingly fresh. It would have been interesting to see Pratchett write more science fiction after this and Strata around 30 years ago. The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke. Another old SF book. This one wasn't very fresh, seemed like two or three different novels stapled together, with bits and pieces that…
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?” ↗