Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial

Hardcover
from $200.00

Paperback
$10.49

Learn more

Read for Free

OR

Print List Price:	$18.99
Kindle Price:	$6.99 Save $12.00 (63%)
Sold by:	Amazon.com Services LLC

Promotions apply when you purchase

Add an

audiobook with Audible narration for $7.49

Read with our free app

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Follow the author

Hugh Howey

Follow

Beacon 23: The Complete Novel Kindle Edition

by Hugh Howey (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.2 8,804 ratings

Goodreads Choice Award nominee

See all formats and editions

[This work contains the five Beacon 23 stories, originally released in serialized form. The full novel costs 4 cents more than the set of five stories, but saves you 4 extra clicks of the mouse. I hope you enjoy.]

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 23rd 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.

Print length

258 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

September 6, 2015
File size

1797 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
See all details

Hugh Howey
9,566
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $2.99
Hugh Howey
1,381
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $14.49
Hugh Howey
5,290
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $12.99
Hugh Howey
532
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $6.99
Hugh Howey
922
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $14.99
Hugh C. Howey
1,887
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $2.99

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A remarkably compassionate and forward-looking story of war and mass murder." — Warren Ellis, author of Gun Machine

“[Beacon 23]—originally published as a series of e-books—is the perfect blend of a fast-paced action coupled with a psychologically insightful portrait of loneliness, of the little idiosyncrasies we develop when living on our own, and how we crave companionship.” — Washington Post

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

“Junk food, but not the kind you feel guilty about.” —Warren Ellis, author of Gun Machine

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.

With Beacon 23 best-selling author Hugh Howey delivers white-knuckle suspense, with aliens, war, and madness all combining in a story of one man living aboard a beacon and his battle against the solitary blackness of space.

HUGH HOWEY is the author of the award-winning Molly Fyde saga and the New York Times and USA Today best-selling Silo trilogy (Wool, Shift, and Dust). The Wool Omnibus won Kindle Book Review's 2012 Indie Book of the Year Award and has been translated in forty countries.

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0151HYRCS
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Broad Reach Publishing (September 6, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 6, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1797 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 258 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #6,537 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #24 in Hard Science Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #46 in Military Science Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #55 in Hard Science Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.2 8,804 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Hugh Howey

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Hugh Howey is New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of WOOL, MACHINE LEARNING, SAND, BEACON 23, and many others. His works have been translated into over 40 languages with millions of copies sold around the world. WOOL has been adapted into Silo, a TV show from AppleTVPlus. A show based on BEACON 23 is due out in 2023 from AMC. Hugh lives between New York and the UK with his wife, Shay.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

8,804 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all photos

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Chauma Smith Guss

Beautifully written

Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2023

Verified Purchase

The pacing is steady, and the contrast of sanity vs reality is poignant. There are no wasted words, and the question of whether the narrator is trustworthy is moot.

Read this.

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2023

Verified Purchase

Not gonna lie, I was maybe 25% of the way through before I realized this had nothing to do with the Silo series. Great quick read.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

CMan

Forgiveness

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2023

Verified Purchase

Do the Cosmos breathe? A new - yet, a long existing - way to see the struggle with life, told through a story of one person’s trauma and way towards understanding. What can lead to choosing? Insanity? Anger? Pain? Love? Yes.

Helpful

pablo paz

To Get Away from It All +3.5*

Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2023

Verified Purchase

This novel is not about PTSD, because the protagonist has specifically asked for an assignment beyond the beyond nowhere just to avoid it. So it's also not about war & peace and those ancient primal subjects and noble objects, because the protagonist has explicitly fled becoming a war hero by going as far as he can get and still have life support in the most neglected arm of the Galaxy. So out there it's also not about power, or policies or politics or value decisions, let alone conflicts of interest or priorities or philosophies of life. That means this novel isn't about 87.39% of what most novels are about, and being so far away from everyone else, it also can't be a romance. What does that leave for a novel to be about?
There's always outer space, the dark and the glistening stars; or the sci-fi stock standard: how do you engineer human life in the unruly and unwelcoming cosmos? You could lie for hours with your head stuck in a beacon signal generator that supposedly has zero effect on you and think about all the things the novel's not about. Just because the novel is not about them and the author and the protagonist are in denial about them doesn't mean they can't show up anyway.
So there you have it; this novel is about nothing and everything and about saving the cosmos on the side, with a loving relationship between the unwilling hero and his pet, which is half Lab and half angry pit viper.... Oh yes! Hollywood: a HEA ending. How can you resist? Read it!

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Andrew Sisson

A bittersweet end

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2023

Verified Purchase

My second book by Howey
The galaxy is at war.
A beacon keeper is at the front.
Can he save us from invasion?

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2023

Verified Purchase

Well like I told you officer the tree totally hit the car. Uh and that’s all that happened. The End. 🤔

Helpful

Atlanta Reader

Howey's take on war is worth the read

Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2016

Verified Purchase

Some background: I decided to read Howey’s “Wool Omnibus” after reading about how he became a phenom as an indie author. I have to admit reading a book that was written and published in installments was a bit frustrating. Just as I was latching onto the main character, that character died. Just as I was latching onto the second main character, that character died. I was about ready to give up when I finally reached the woman who would be the MC for the rest of the story. A heroine I really liked, by the way, and a riveting tale.

I picked up “Beacon 23” when Howey put it on sale for .99. Once again, his writing is excellent. He’s definitely got a way with description, characterization and philosophizing. But this, too, was written in installments – as short stories – which were then put together as a novel. At least, the protagonist in THIS book remained the same from beginning to end. Whew!

I found it to be a memorable story of a future soldier suffering from PTSD who has basically allowed himself to be isolated at a space lighthouse as the war continues, with billions of humans and aliens dying in what seems a never-ending cycle. His suffering and isolation are well-drawn. There is enough humor to lighten it a bit. And while the transitions from chapter to chapter sometimes felt rather abrupt (because they were written on the “installment plan,” I guess,) I wanted to find out what happened. And there is a rather surprising ending that some may find hard to swallow. The horrors of war are brought home through this character and his experiences, without showing actual battles, as in so many other depictions of war. And for me, the take-away is that war should be avoided. Of course, the irony is that to end the war in this novel, a whole lotta people have to die.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

kathcaid

Great read

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2023

Verified Purchase

Hugh Howey never disappoints. Strong characterizations, unique plot lines, makes you think and feel. I’ve enjoyed every book of his so far.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

dragonsmama

Excellent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 10, 2022

Verified Purchase

Excellent book, 'proper' science fiction, and I was captivated by this unusual novel from start to finish. And, although there was a very good and conclusive ending, I wanted more!
I don't think I would have been so happy if I had read it in the original shorter parts, but having it together like this was really good. Covering tricky subjects like PTSD and isolation was both well done and rather compelling, and the ending was in no means predictable or signposted along the way.
I was very happy reading this novel, which is almost science fiction at its purest, with a hint of the legacy of military science fiction. Very cleverly done indeed. Oh, and I loved Rocky.

Oscar

Gran título para amantes de la ciencia ficción

Reviewed in Mexico on January 28, 2018

Verified Purchase

Excelente libro de in gran autor, en general todas las publicaciones de Hugh Howey son recomendables, pero esta en particular es muy buena. Vale la pena si te gusta el género de ciencia ficción.

Translate review to English

pauline roods

once again 5 star!

Reviewed in Australia on August 26, 2023

Verified Purchase

Hugh Howey does it again! Challenging our thought process. A thriller that builds a twisting story, and you question “what is broken who is broken? “ and then a climax you don’t see comming!

Miguel Angel Alonso Pulido

Ciencia ficción de la buena

Reviewed in Spain on August 5, 2018

Verified Purchase

Beacon 23 me ha encantado. Comienza como la historia de un veterano de guerra que mantiene un faro estelar en el espacio profundo y poco a poco se convierte en una increíble parábola sobre la violencia, el odio, el amor y el valor de ser el primero en bajar los brazos. Tiene además momentos muy potentes emocionalmente como la historia del padre del protagonista, y otros que te hacen sonreír mucho como los capítulos en los que aparece Rocky. Muy recomendable.

Translate review to English

Paul Ogilvie

Fun reading

Reviewed in the Netherlands on July 13, 2017

Verified Purchase

I won't tell you what the book is about. It is too much fun reading it and discovering how the stories build up. The book is well-written with many more philosofical theme lines. I enjoyed it and recommend it. (But if you are looking for hard SF, then don't bother.)

OR

Buy for others

Buying and sending eBooks to others

Image Unavailable

Follow the author

Beacon 23: The Complete Novel Kindle Edition

Customers who bought this item also bought