Product Description

The best collection ever of Arthur C. Clarke's short fiction, including the stories on which 2001: A Space Odyssey and Childhood's End were based. The Sentinel is a magnificent retrospective showcase of Arthur C. Clarke's finest shorter fiction. Spanning four decades of writing, this book includes many gems of a genius at the height of his powers. The title piece is the story that inspired 2001. 'Guardian Angel' is a rarely anthologised work that gave birth to Childhood's End, and 'The Songs of Distant Earth' is the original version of Clarke's own favourite novel. Along with other vaulting tales of imagination are fascinating introductions telling the history of each story from conception to completion. From one of the greatest science-fiction writers of all time. The Sentinel is one of those all-too-few collections that must be read, re-read, then treasured.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #114451 in Books
• Published on: 1991-09-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
This version of The Sentinel is subtitled the 2001 Anniversary Edition, and to be pedantic one might ask, what anniversary? Rather more accurately, this is an edition for the intersection of the calendar with SF history, the most memorable date in fiction since 1984. "The Sentinel" is a short story, written in 1948 and only 11 pages long, renowned for providing a starting point for the greatest science fiction film ever made, Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey:

So they left a sentinel, one of millions they have scattered throughout the Universe, watching over all the worlds with a promise of life.

There are eight other stories, each introduced by the author, who also contributes a substantial forward. The tales, illustrated with 11 excellent full-page black and white drawings by Lebbus Woods, span the length of Clarke's career as a professional short story writer, from 1945's "Rescue Party" to 1971's Nebula Award-winning "A Meeting With Medusa". This story forms a bridge of sorts between 2001 and 2010: Odyssey Two, which was as Clarke writes, "in some ways ... also a sequel to this story". As a wonder-filled tale of a meeting with the truly alien in the clouds of Jupiter it is unsurpassed. The book concludes with the original outline for a possible second SF film with Stanley Kubrick. The film wasn't made, but the outline became one of Clarke's most beautiful novels, The Songs of Distant Earth. This is essential reading, though dedicated fans will probably opt for the complete Collected Stories. --Gary S. Dalkin

Review
'Clarke is one of the greatest imaginative writers of hard science fiction' New Scientist 'Arthur Clarke is one of the true geniuses of our time' Ray Bradbury 'Arthur C. Clarke is the prophet of the space age' The Times 'A one-man literary Big Bang, Clarke has originated his own vast and teeming futurist universe' Sunday Times '3001 is not just a page-turner, plugged in to the great icons of HAL and the monoliths, but a book of wisdom too, pithy and provocative' New Scientist 'Arthur C. Clarke is blessed with one of the most astounding imaginations ever encountered in print' New York Times 'One of the truly prophetic figures of the space age! the colossus of science fiction' New Yorker

From the Publisher
An original collection of classic Arthur Clarke's short stories re-issued in a special low-priced hardback edition by Barnes & Noble. Imaginatively illustrated throughout.

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Customer Reviews

Thought Provoking and Intelligent
It's been a long while since I have read Arthur C. Clarke's work and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy his style of writing is to get back into. I think The Sentinel offers a great deal in its short pieces for a wide variety of readers who like the genre. Clarke writes with humour, imagination and intelligence and has a flair for technical detail that adds to the tale (without requiring the reader to be a scientist to follow it) whilst often making you sit and think 'this could happen' in even the most fantastic pieces. The fact that many of these stories are aged only seems to add to Clarke's ability to do this when comparison is made to events and technology since they were penned. The story introductions are a bonus and allow any interested reader an insight into how they came about as well as offering a brief snippet of the man behind them. In my humble opinion this modest book offers a good opportunity for anyone coming back to this genre / writer (like myself) or those new readers of Clarke, to settle in for a journey of imagination. The stories themselves are excellent and some of the ideas therein are evidently used as a base for other, much more widely known work making it as good a place to begin your travels as any.

Outstanding, Memorable, Seminal.
It is a selection of short stories with fascinating introduction by Clarke before each story and at the start. That makes it a collector's item; a real gem. Here you stand right next to the spring that widened to the fountain of hope in Childhood's End (Guardian Angel), the mystery and quest in 2001, a Space Odyssey (The Sentinel) and the leap of faith in the Songs of Distant earth; written in 1957, a full six months before Sputnik I.

Then there is Breaking Starain', a 1948 classic about two astronauts in a spaceship hit by a meteorite that leaves just enough air for ONLY ONE to reach safety. 'Rescue Party'(March 1945), Clarke's first story sold for publication about aliens attempting to rescue earthmen after the Sun turns Supernova and 'a meeting with Medusa', Clarke's last short story written in 1971 about the first manned(?) exploration of Jupiter.

Read it. Treasure it. You will enjoy it mpre with every re-reading.

A good read
If you're a classic sci-fi fan you'll like this collection of short stories. Some of them manifest themselves into other Arthur C Clarke books and the others work well on their own. As usual the author gives his characters enough of a background for the reader to get to know them. I've passed round to my family and all have enjoyed this book.