Plot of the book COMPLETELY junked Quite literally, the only thing this "show" has in common with the book is a) it takes place on a Beacon numbered 23 and b) they both have the infamous (real) photo of a man in a lighthouse. That's it.
Literally everything is different - the names of the characters, the personalities and backstory, layout, plot, the AIs, EVERYTHING is just some made-up hokum conceived of by some very untalented writers. You know, the same folks who can't think of a name for magic, plot-centric rocks other than "rocks" that do nothing but clink around in a cheap net bag LOL
Nonsensical stuff abounds in this show, including a man who gets stabbed and then magically heals himself a moment later, a marauder who carries around a giant drill bit (that does nothing), the beacon sends out some kind of useless rotating light, a female AI who can somehow holographically project herself anywhere that the plot finds it convenient to do so, and some bizarro biological computer interlink that comes out of a guy's chest - WTF?
Meanwhile, everyone is spouting cryptic stuff about a company called QTA and some made-up agency called ISA, an AI that isn't supposed to be able to talk and yet does, and people magically enter airlocks while wearing spiky helmets. Sigh... the list goes on and on of how ridiculous this show is, including the kid in episode #2 who just calmly kills his mother for a handful of cash and the main character calmly killing her girlfriend in episode 3.
Sure... meanwhile, we're supposed to believe that something "mystical and spiritual" is connecting all of this together, VIA THE SPECIAL SUPER DUPER ROCKS, which, by the way, look like a cheap 1980s prop, oozing neon blue glow-in-the-dark juice.
The book had a tight, logical, and very touching human story. Why throw it all away for this crap? I'll never understand the modern TV landscape. And they did the exact same thing with the author's other story (Silo) over on another network. It's bananas on top of cuckoo craziness.
Avoid this show like the plague unless you think living on some sterile space station where it's always nighttime and people talking gibberish is your idea of cool.