THE SENTINEL

I am an avid science fiction reader and ordered The Sentinel “blind” based solely on the numerous positive reviews. In short, I uncovered a gem! T.M. Haviland tells a gripping story and is an accomplished world-builder in the tradition of great science fiction.The Sentinel is an amazing first novel. Haviland sets his story in a grounded, science-based world. He has a clear understanding of physics, geo-politics and high-finance. He uses this knowledge to propel the story’s forward and never gets bogged down in unnecessary minutia - a trap I see in many new authors.He has created a great premise to launch the novel: two mysterious objects are found. One is buried deep in the frozen Arctic and an identical one is found buried in the red dust of Mars. They are not from this world.., and they have a “mission” yet fulfilled.The story unfolds as scientists, governments, industrialist and the militaries of the world jostle to understand, exploit and control the objects. Haviland populates the story with characters with unique, believable personalities with that push the story forward. The twists and turns kept me turning the pages.I hope Haviland considers turning The Sentinel into a series. While the ending is solid and complete, there is clearly more to explore in this story.While I loved the book, I will say it is a slow buildup. This is not a problem for me as I think this was purposeful decision designed to show the slow, unfolding realization of the characters slowly accepting the unthinkable- highly advanced objects made by an unknown and ancient alien intelligence. I do, however, want to call this out for those considering the book.All and all, this was a great read and I highly recommend it to fans of science fiction and great story-telling.

This seems to be an interesting idea for a novel, but I could only get about 1/3 of the way through it because of the poor science. From the degrees the author has, he certainly should be familiar with basic science and have some familiarity with scientists. This makes the situation far worse. I can only think the intrinsic lack of scientific understanding and context in this story stems not from the authors ignorance, but rather from the ignorance he expects in his audience. No scientist thinks they might discover a new element in Antarctica or anywhere else. The stable elements are all known and if there was a stable region of very high atomic number, that would be so surprising that no scientist would even speculate that it might happen. On the other hand, if a large impermeable mass seemed to be producing energy from nowhere, it would be immediately recognized as something special - certainly more important than a dinosaur fossil. However, any paleontologist would be ecstatic to find a near complete large pterosaur and they certainly wouldn't "expect" to find a new species, and the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event didn't destroy all life or we wouldn't be here. The author doesn't seem to know how to talk about science. You don't need a distinguished astrophysicist from the Sorbonne to make a graph of temperature versus time, and a programmer doesn't think about algorithms used in AI. That's the nature of AI, you don't know exactly how the conclusions are reached. These are not nitpicky errors incidental to the plot, but rather provide the context and motivations of the characters in the story, most of whom are scientists. I can't read a story about scientists who don't know science.

Totally enjoyed, the story was well written and I loved the characters as for the ending I was hoping things would have been left alone but leave it to man to screw it up

When I read, I dislike “stupid” characters who get faced with an unknown and messes with it and sees it as a threat instead of letting “smarter”people study it and if they learn nothing about it, they leave it alone.That’s not what they did and while the actions by key characters were predictable - you just knew something bad was going to happen - I didn’t see most of humanity being eradicated coming. This book speaks to mankind’s destructive and tribal behaviors and how they really screwed up and a lesson we need to,learn in real,life… just in case we’re being watched by a Sentinel.This is a good read and now I wanna know what the Sentinel on Mars is going to do… and what humanity does after the events of this book!

This is a well written, intelligent and thought provoking novel. It reminded me a bit of Arthur C. Clarke’s writing, which is a huge compliment from me. Highly recommended.

Some readers, like myself, may not be drawn to science fiction. But what if that science fiction is descriptive of society and relationships as they exist today, read in the manner of a retrospective documentary? It is easy, through the fine motion detail in the paragraphs of this book, to visualize walking down hallways, into underground areas, on space flights, and surviving a trek across grueling terrains. The Sentinel narrative rolls through the mind as if on screen.The Sentinel by T.M. Haviland could be used as a training manual on world politics, corporate morality and behavior, and surprises that can happen when we fail to foresee the unintended consequences of our actions. The author’s grasp on so many aspects of how our civilization is organized and run, told in a way that is easy to comprehend, are two of the best reasons for reading this book.

A new voice, new old questions , well written and with lots of what if …makes you think, I hope if this ever happens we will be prepared

Right from discovery you know it is going to turn out bad for humanity. Good character development with lots of science but never really gets to create an sense of adventure with regard to finding a buried mystery