The Sentinel is a sci-fi book by Michael Wallace, it is the first in a trilogy.
This was an okay book, I’ve read much better, but I’ve seen a lot worse too.
The plot follows the crew of the Sentinel, a defensive space station for lack of a better term, build by a human space power which is descended from humans from Earths Singapore region. It was built to defend their home world from avian invaders. They have been cut off from everyone for eleven years as they were ordered to keep radio silence.
It also follows the ship HMS Blackbeard from the Dutch space kingdom, which is now also fighting the same avian invaders.
It’s fairly straightforward here, except the people on the Sentinel are divided between helping the HMS Blackbeard and blowing them up to remain hidden.
Possible spoilers ahead!
What ends up happening is basically civil war on the Sentinel, the crew of the Blackbeard end up taking over the station and the big battle against the avian forces is about to begin…. and that’s the end of the book, very little is decided and only a few enemy ships are destroyed in battle.
Pros:
Well written, well edited and fairly well developed characters.
Final thoughts:
It’s not a bad book on its own, but it really just sets things up for the rest of the trilogy, I can’t even say it ends with a cliffhanger because nothing is really going on.
Would I read this book again? Maybe, if I didn’t have anything else to read.
Would I read the rest of the trilogy? Maybe, again it depends on if I have anything else to read.
Would I recommend it to others? Not really, only if you want a sci-fi story set in space without much space combat. There are too many better books out there to read.
Colin's Critiques 