Beacon 23

Darker than the Void

Review by: The Audiobook ReviewI remember reading this in episodic form when it first came out, so jumped at the chance to listen from start to finish in one sitting when I saw this. Although, I came very close to passing it up because as much as I remembered enjoying the story, the narration felt WAY too slow.

BUT! Rather than give in, I tried playback at a slightly higher speed and the narration came alive. Nothing against Ryan McCarthy, but I think if I listen to anything he reads in the future I'll need to speed it up a little.

Set in the future where mankind has explored and (trying to) conquer the known universe, our protagonist mans a "beacon"... a lighthouse for faster-than-light ships so they don't smash into asteroid fields at eleventy-billion miles per hour.

He's alone there, and is slowly going mad... or is he?

This was a cracker of a story, which even when sped up was dark and moody and intense by a master of the written word. Howey rarely disappoints. I'm knocking a star off the performance because it was too slow at normal speed. Otherwise, top-notch.