[craigr1972]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nine_Billion_Names_of_God

..they notice that "overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out."

[bloopernova]

I very much like the 2 part epic space opera "Pandora's Star" and "Judas Unchained" by Peter F Hamilton.

In it, an Astronomer spots a star that disappears. This star is 1,500 light years away. He travels to another star system (Humanity is a multi-system species) and observes the star again, at just the right moment to see the light from its disappearance. It disappears within a couple of seconds, as does a nearby star. But its infrared output is undimmed.

This kicks off an epic, and I really do mean epic, space opera. Peter F Hamilton is really great at such stories, and I love this pair of books so much that I've read them about a dozen times each.

Highly recommended!

[iamrecursion]

I’ll echo this recommendation. Peter F. Hamilton is firmly my favourite sci-fi author, and that’s a hard spot to take.

The Commonwealth Saga (mentioned by the parent) is followed by The Void Trilogy and then The Chronicle of the Fallers, all set in the same Commonwealth universe. It’s some of the most evocative writing I’ve ever heard the pleasure to read, and the stories told are massive in scale but without seeming lacking as a result.

My e-reader says that my most recent read-through was my 9th, so add that to a number done with physical books and it should give some idea of how good I consider these books!

[guscost]

Yes, it’s a really fun space opera, with lots of silly figures of speech and cringy tropes/stereotypes. The story and world are great enough to recommend it even if you have a hard time with the writing.

And my favorite sci-fi authors are Heinlein and Lem, so calibrate accordingly.

[Joe-Z]

Hi! On Wikipedia it says it‘s a trilogy [0], Misspent Youth being the one you didn‘t mention. Would you recommend starting with the 2nd book in the series?

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_F._Hamilton_bibliograp...

[ryanmercer]

I love Hamilton's science fiction, consider this another recommendation folks!

[cbsks]

Here's the text of that short story. It's a quick read. I highly recommend it! https://urbigenous.net/library/nine_billion_names_of_god.htm...

[cpound]

I agree, and I'd also recommend Vajra Chandrasekera's story that responds to it and reframes it in postcolonial terms:

"The Negation of the Negation of the Negation" ( http://www.bigecho.org/the-negation-of-the-negation-of-the-n... ).

[kryptn]

A book that also uses this theme which I enjoyed a lot: Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/910863.Spin

[e40]

I love that book. RCW is one of my favorite authors.

[egdod]

My favorite book of the last 5 years or so.

[teekert]

Yeah, that is a nice one indeed!

[chmod775]

In Alastair Reynold's "House of Suns" an entire galaxy goes dark, though that happening is not even the main driver of the story.

[renke1]

Theories about the galaxy going dark were also traded as some kind of currency in the story. Definitely one of my favorite books.

[thelazydogsback]

He has a new book coming out next month I believe -- one of the few authors I pre-order from...

[davedx]

Just read that book earlier this year. Wish there were more like it!

[ljm]

The Outer Wilds, an indie game released this year, has quite the take on that. Which is about as much as can be said without spoiling it.

[anigbrowl]

Another enjoyable literary excursion on this theme: https://english.lem.pl/works/novels/the-cyberiad/146-how-the...

[tandr]

Thank you -- that was the first thing I thought of when I saw the headline...