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Beacon 23

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Beacon 23

By: Hugh Howey
Narrated by: Peter Ganim
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Summary

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
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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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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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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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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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