Beacon 23 by Hugh Howey is about a modern day lighthouse keeper but instead of on the ocean, it is in space and called a beacon. This is my second novel by Hugh Howey after reading Wool which see’s survivors living in missile silo after Armageddon. The author clearly has a thing for isolation themed stories. This novel is close to as mind blowing as Wool but Howey manages to ask and answer tough questions. This novel like Wool and his other Novels are told like a serial releasing them over time and this is the complete set of 5 short stories coming together to tell a larger story all involving Beacon 23.

The Plot – A man with no name, a former war hero suffering from PTSD chooses a post of isolation in Beacon 23 on the far reaches of space. The beacon is like that of a lighthouse, and there’s lots of parallels, instead of the lighthouse warning ships of the rocky shore, the beacon has a gravity field that keeps ships from crashing into an asteroid field close by. The man is confronted by former commandos, hallucinations, scavengers, and the war he wanted to get away from.

What I Liked: For a story about isolation and almost one character it moves pretty well and you can feel the isolation. The questions the novel ask are really big and ambitious, I don’t feel it answers them as well as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s The Watchmen who ask similar questions about war. Cricket the labrador crossed with a leopard alien creature who is an empath of emotion was really cool and my favorite character. There’s a twist involving the war that I really liked.

What I Disliked: The story has you questioning so much what is real and what is hallucinations, it loses the impact when real things would happen because I would be questioning if if this was really real or not. At the end all is revealed but lost impact. The relationship was too fast and I felt no connection there.

Recommendations: I would recommend this if you have already read the excellent Wool, but if not pease read Wool for the full existent of what this author can do. I might have been hoping for that magic too much to really enjoy this one. This story is just okay, where Wool leaves your mouth on the ground with it’s twist and turns. I rated this book 3 out of 5 stars, there’s still something refreshing about how Howey writes that I will keep reading his stuff.