Beacon 23 cover art

Beacon 23

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Beacon 23

By: Hugh Howey
Narrated by: Peter Ganim
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About this listen

For centuries, men and women have manned lighthouses to ensure the safe passage of ships.

It is a lonely job and a thankless one for the most part. Until something goes wrong. Until a ship is in distress. In the twenty-third century, this job has moved into outer space. A network of beacons allows ships to travel across the Milky Way at many times the speed of light.

These beacons are built to be robust. They never break down. They never fail.

At least, they aren’t supposed to.

©2015 Hugh Howey (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing Hard Science Fiction Military Science Fiction Fiction Transportation

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All stars
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Exciting, witty, imaginative and compassionate. A wonderful author’s voice and the perfect reader to embody that voice. Thanks for a great listening experience!

Exciting, witty & compassionate

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I’ve tried to get though it but just don’t have the patience for the story as it unveils itself s o o s l o o w w l y.

Giving up on this one

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I really liked the beginning of this, but the wreckers, etc. were never followed up. I found all the introspection a bit tiresome.I loved the Wool series, but this was a bit disappointing by the end.

Ok - a bit disjointed

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I have very much enjoyed Howey's writings in the past with their powerful imagery of settings, futuristic and often bleak. But I wasn't expecting what is here. A lone man in what must be one of the loneliest of jobs, a sort of space lighthouse keeper, alone apart from a dog (and a rock) in beacon 23, to signal danger to space traffic, in particular the war fleet. Memories of the act pervade his thoughts and he has to also face the future. A simply stunning book, both philosophical, sad and brave, beautifully written, and superbly performed in the first person by narrator Peter Ganim. With a brief after note by the author, this is a book I cannot recommend more highly

"To forgive rather than escalate"

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I’m a Howey fan and a fan of space books but I was disappointed by this book

Underwhelming

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Like many people I picked this up due to the Wool series. Unfortunately this book is slooooow and is frankly hard work to complete. The constant introspection had me lost and bored at times. The message the book is portraying is a good one but I wasn't really a fan of this.

Very slow and hard work

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Not quite a classic but still a very good listen. I guess that there are only so many angles to the "alone in space" theme but Howey tells a compelling tale.

The Plus Catalogue has been very generous to us lately with titles like this and the excellent The Founder Effect and the Red Mars Trilogy. Makes Audible great value for money.

Definitely worth a read

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Largely a good book, but what on earth was going on with that ending? No foreshadowing? No hint of that break-neck change of direction?

It felt like we were going somewhere but then suddenly we're massacring thousands of friendly forces?

And somehow this massacre ends the war?

What?

I'm left confused and kind of upset.

Bungled ending

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we could all learn a little something from Howey's message about war, retaliation and the mindlessness of violence. 🍉

a message about war

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A bland story. Only bought it because I enjoyed the TV series, but the book has no connection other than the concept of the purpose of the Beacons. A couple of episodes of the TV series has more breadth than this book.

Disappointing

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