The Dark Side of the Sun
by Terry Pratchett · first published 1976
71% recommend29% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Pratchett's early science fiction offers a lighter take on space adventure, delivered with his usual wit. It is a fun, easy read and a change of pace from his Discworld novels, especially for sci-fi fans.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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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 the first time. Already mentioned:…
on “Ask HN: What are the best Sci-Fi books you've ever read?” ↗…than did almost any part of Raising Steam. I have fond memories of the ascendant of the Discworld series, Strata, which is IMO better than the book it’s riffing on (Ringworld). Likewise I enjoyed The Dark Side of the Sun, which riffs off a different theme from Known Space (though I don’t recall any of that theme ending as a theme in Discworld). Good Omens was also another fantastic collaboration, between Terry Pratchett…
on “Discworld on Page and Screen, Part 1: Serious Comedy” ↗…personal favourites that might not already be on everyone else's lists: Fiasco - Stanisław Lem This is how you lose the time war - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone Feersum Endjinn - Iain Banks The Dark Side of the Sun - Terry Pratchett (yes, that one) Blindsight - Peter Watts Bloom - Wil McCarthy Good luck!
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗Indeed. As an example, it's important they don't read David Brin's Uplift series, or Terry Pratchett's excellent The Dark Side of the Sun.
on “They're Made Out of Meat (1991)” ↗…book I've read that has a weird pixie dust immortality treatment that seems incongruous with the rest of the technology level. Matter by Iain M. Banks. Culture again after Algebraist. Still good. 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.…
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?” ↗Well, if you want stand-alone + sci-fi, try "the Dark Side of the Sun". Otherwise, you can pick up any first book from one of the Discworld story arks. Personally, I'd go with "Wyrd Sisters" (witches story ark) and the City Watch story ark. Although the first book in…
on “Ask HN: What are the best Sci-Fi books you've ever read?” ↗The need for the bracelet makes this a lot less attractive than it could be. I've been waiting for ring-based UIs since Pratchett's The Dark Side Of The Sun. For example: contactless smart cards. Put them in ring form. Then you just have to wave your hand at the reader for them to work.
on “Nokia Nenya - control your cellphone by a ring on your finger” ↗There's Pratchett's book The Dark Side of the Sun, in which one of the alien races, the Jokers, is known only by the artefacts they've left behind. These include fossils from the future, monomolecular towers, and ring stars.
on “Planar Choreographies: odd orbital mechanics” ↗Semi-off topic, I suspect someone's a Pratchett fan: 'Correct. The Bank is now in orbit forty million miles out beyond - what's the name of your outermost world?' 'Far Out,' said Tarli. -- 'The Dark Side of the Sun', Terry Pratchett
on “ “Farout”, the Farthest Object Ever Seen in the Solar System” ↗