Reviews

A collection of novellas about an ex-soldier on a one man navigational beacon deep in outerspace while a war rages between aliens and earth. The soldier was broken by his encounter with an alien and just wants to be alone. We learn more about why he wants to be alone as the stories unfold.

Not as good as the Wool trilogy, which I gather was written the same way, as a set of novellas. Unlike Wool, Beacon 23 feels like a set of novellas.

The book is being made into a series with Lena Headey in the lead, but unless they change the main character to a female or start the series halfway through the novellas, Lena is not going to make an appearance until well into the series.

mekachudrago's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

franklyfrank's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-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

3.5

emmaccate's review

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

8yalan8's review against another edition

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5.0

Wow! I didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much! One of the best sci – fi books I’ve read this year! A future society is at war, a lighthouse (in a space) keeper is dealing with PTSD, there’s philosophical thoughts about what is right, the fear of the unknown, how to trust and love. I enjoyed the vibe of the book, the story flowed effortlessly. I’m going to watch tv show asap.

andyslibrary42's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

4.0

I think this read very similar to the Silo series, so if you enjoyed the way those were written I think you’ll like this. I won’t say too much because this is extremely short, and I don’t want to spoil it, but this story brings a lot of different elements to it that I really like. There were serious moments with our main character dealing with PTSD, loneliness, consequences of war and decisions for humanity. However, there were also some unserious moments where our main character made me laugh too! I love books that make me reflect on everything, and this one definitely does that.

angus_mckeogh's review against another edition

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3.0

I liked it well enough and thought it was pretty good but it certainly didn’t blow me away. Too up and down. Started out on a screamer. Nearly lost me entirely on a ridiculous sequence where the protagonist talked to an alien rock for way too long before it was revealed he was just inside his own head. Then heated up again only to sort of peter out at the end with a deflating conclusion. All that being said, I’ll probably read another of his books at some point.

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