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  • Beacon 23

  • By: Hugh Howey
  • Narrated by: Peter Ganim
  • Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (21 ratings)

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Beacon 23 cover art

Beacon 23

By: Hugh Howey
Narrated by: Peter Ganim
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Publisher's 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

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What listeners say about Beacon 23

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Not what I expected, but I loved it.

Take a dive into one man’s post war ptsd as he’s self isolating on a lonely space beacon. With each event I couldn’t initially tell if it was real or all in his tortured mind.

Narration was great.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

war vs peace

This felt like an intense head space experience to me as I listened to the thoughts of our intrepid hero. is that all that is required for peace, forgiveness? Nice idea, but I can't think of a better one for the current times we live in.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Shining light

Another fantastic Hugh Howey story. Just like all his other books I just couldn’t put this one down and will listen to it again. Just so beautifully crafted and full of interesting characters, and clever touches and twists and turns. An excellent spin on a very traditional theme of a lighthouse keeper with some delicious sci fi enhancements. Enjoy, I did ;-D

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

worth sticking with

I loved this one. Protagonist had real depth, and made real progress, while the story told through his eyes painted a picture far larger than his little world. the end came with a sudden brevity, Ramifications seemed to evaporate a little on the epilog, but it was overall a satisfying conclusion. I got the sense they persisted, but a little outside of the closing narrative. The over arching theme of a soldier's torment was a bit thick in places, largely thanks to the demands of first person narrative on such themes. You could spend an eternity diagnosing the protagonist, or simply go with the story for what it is - a ripping yarn with a touch of dark humour. The reading style suited the character perfectly.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Enthralling

I listened to this in one day. My family perished from hunger and neglect while I listened. I could have listened to days more if this.
My only complaint was that it ended.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • IRB
  • 05-03-2023

Not a feel good sort of story

In all honesty I cant decide whether I liked this story or not. There a really great chapters which are followed by tedious and depressing ones. Overall, I think I am at best ambivalent about the book as a whole.

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