Hacker News Reader

Comment by jjice | Hacker News Reader

Damn it, I wish I read this comment before I read the summary. I had chills at the end. Maybe I should read some Asimov...

View on HN

See also “The last answer” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Answer

Full text: https://highexistence.com/the-last-answer-short-story/

These 2 are my favorite Asimov stories.

Thanks. I had read The Last Question already, but am among today's 10_000 for this story.

I have now read it. Interesting. The main theme is not entirely new to me; without spoiling anything, I hope I can say that the long-form, not yet finished web comic Gunnerkrigg Court[0] touches on a very similar idea as one of its main themes.

[0] https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1

he wrote this long time ago...

Yes, obviously if there was any direct influence, it was from Asimov to the web comic author, not the other way round.

Nice xkcd reference.

For completeness, the Xkcd "Isaac in grade school" comic: https://xkcd.com/1448/#isaac

Nah, this story is just exceptionally good. Asimov was a fine writer, but this story was his crowning achievement in short fiction and he knew it too. You can read his other things and none of them will give the same feeling.

Nightfall is a decent story though. But yeah, The Last Question is in a league of its own. It's one of my favorite short stories ever along with The Library of Babel by Borges, The Great Automatic Grammatizator by Roald Dahl, and "Repent, Harlequin!" said the Tick-Tock Man by Harlan Ellison.

If you like these kind of "Mind blown", "Goose bumps" stories, read some Ted Chiang. Really stories that stick with you. I love this whole book: [0]

If you like a bit longer stories, try some Greg Egan. Or, his book with short stories is also really nice: [1]

[0]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223380.Stories_of_Your_L...

[1]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156783.Axiomatic

I want to second or third the recommendation for Ted Chiang. Basically all of Chiang's stories could go on any "best short stories" list.

Thank you for the recommendations! I've read the Borges, but the other two were new to me and were a great way to start my day. The sibling comment also wisely recommends Ted Chiang. "Exhalation" is probably the canonical equivalent to The Last Question.

Yep I enjoyed Exhalation a lot. Good collection and great story.

We’ll maybe you might enjoy listening to Leonard Nimoy reading it: https://youtu.be/8XOtx4sa9k4

You probably won't get chills from anything else he wrote (except, maybe, Nightfall). But you should dip your toe in with some short stories.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com