Reviews

Beacon 23 by Hugh Howey

annekaethe's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

witchery's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

matt12's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

zombiecats's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

4.25

zamyatins_fears's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

gorseyhorsey's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The glib style can be a little grating at times, but overall I found this very enjoyable. It reads more like a novella - it would have been interesting to see this character and world fleshed out into a meatier book - but is interesting nonetheless. The ending is a little too neat for my taste.

eefmaoam's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I picked this up as a little pallet cleanser, since I liked the Wool-series but wasn’t expecting that level of intensity and investment in this novel; boy was I wrong. 

At first the first-person POV and episodic nature of this story through me off a little, but it soon started to feel a bit like blogposts which fit within the storyline quite nicely. I wasn’t expecting too much from the premise of this novel since I’m often not that interested in space travel and SF, but it turned out to be a beautiful portrayal of the harm we cause ourselves and others and a shared morality and humanity needed to overcome it. 
Some bits were a bit silly, a little too repetitive or a bit too abrupt, but this book still very much delivers and some parts will haunt me for the coming days, in the best way possible. Especially as someone with PTSD some things the main character thinks/experiences hit close to home… 

Can highly recommend this if you liked other Hugh Howey novels, but want a different setting and approach. Or if you’re just down for a story about a lonely guy in a lighthouse in space ;) 

jacobimerman's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

squidbillyinvictus's review

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

morninglightmountain's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0