Clarke considered the TMA-1 monolith as the final product, and likens the Sentinel to be as just a seed. The shape is changed to a standing rectangle, and its location is set in the Tycho lunar crater. The operation of the monolith is activated when sunlight touches it for the first time after it is dug up. Plot The story deals with the discovery of an artifact on Earth's moon left behind eons ago by ancient aliens. Clarke, written in 1948 and first published in 1951 as 'Sentinel of Eternity', which was used as a starting point for the novel and film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The concept of the sentinel, featured in the 1951 short story, appears in the 2001: A Space Odyssey and in the film adaptation as the TMA-1 monolith. 'The Sentinel' is a short story by British author Arthur C. The narrator suggests that this 'sentinel' was left on the moon as a 'warning beacon' for possible intelligent and spacefaring species that might develop on Earth. The structure may be using 'technology that lies beyond our horizons, perhaps to the technology of para-physical forces.'Įvidenced by dust buildup, the artifact may have been transmitting signals into deep space for millions of years, but it ceases to transmit after it is destroyed 'with the savage might of atomic power'. The object is one of millions that are scattered throughout the known universe. It is located in a lunar mare, presently called Mare Crisium. The structure is found on Earth's moon, but was left behind eons ago by ancient aliens. Clarke’s 1951 short story ' The Sentinel', and was later adapted as a rectangular monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey and its accompanying film.Ī sentinel is an alien artifact made of a polished mineral, is pyramidal ( tetrahedral) in shape, and is surrounded by a spherical forcefield. The Sentinel is one of those all-too-few collections that must be read, re-read, then treasured.A sentinel is an alien artifact that was first discovered on Earth's moon, standing twice the height of a man, but pyramid shaped. The Sentinel-Record requested a copy of the letter, which. From one of the greatest science-fiction writers of all time. A no-contest plea was entered in December 1998, listing a sentence of 20 years to run concurrent with a sentence out of Clark County. Along with other vaulting tales of imagination are fascinating introductions telling the history of each story from conception to completion. Read more is the original version of Clarke's own favourite novel.

`Guardian Angel' is a rarely anthologised work that gave birth to Childhood's End, and `The Songs of Distant Earth'.

The title piece is the story that inspired 2001. Spanning four decades of writing, this book includes many gems of a genius at the height of his powers.

The Sentinel is a magnificent retrospective showcase of Arthur C. Clarke's short fiction, including the stories on which 2001: A Space Odyssey and Childhood's End were based.

The sentinel clarke