It's the little tangents and connections that make Howey's writing special to me. For instance, here in Beacon 23 our protagonist, who mans a "lighthouse in space", studies his favorite picture pasted on wall above a porthole. This picture depicts a keeper standing before a lighthouse (the kind we are all familiar with here on earth), and behind him, a massive wave looms that will certainly wipe the building and the man right out existence. I couldn't help but wonder if this picture hinted at what's to come next. 
 A Spaceman. I've thought about this, and quickly came to the conclusion that I would not make it as an astronaut. Me: "The toilet is what?, and 'Hello, my helmet is fogging up!" NASA: "We never asked you Ron - you pansy". Therefore, I'm the occasional couch astronaut drawn to the "live by the seat of your pants" aspect of a man alone in space. Some of the book was like that, but I will not put in the Mark Watney realm. That's probably an unfair judgment, and not at all what Howey was going for. Beacon 23 consists of 5 parts, originally issued as a serial, and that's pretty much how it reads. Although the story was continuous, each part had a different feel, and separate aspect to it. The 5 pieces did fit together, but the end game is not realized until the final piece is in place. And that end game is? Ideological and political. The author had something to say here which is relevant to humans now and in the future. I was okay with that. The story may not have had everything I expected, but it did have these things: humor, some nail-biting moments, and a pretty good love story. Yeah, I didn't see that coming either. Sometimes the unforeseen becomes the best part of a book. 
 So I didn't say much about the plot or the characters. I think that's how this one should go.