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John Tesh #2
Socrates and the Sentinel
This is an alternate cover edition for B00MW1R0P8
The year is 2048 AD. The Iona Corporation has ended the Global Energy Crisis thanks to their revolutionary renewable energy technology - the Flux Cell. It not only made them the richest private entity on the planet but it allowed them to annex the city of Sydney and declare it the sovereign city-state of Iona. Instituting a Ruling Council, along with the Sentinels, an elite crime fighting unit, the Iona Corporation provides a high standard of living to its citizens. When one of those citizens is found murdered, John Tesh, Sentinel and his android partner, Socrates, begin an investigation that takes them behind the public façade of the Iona Corporation and reveals the ultimate truth behind the saviour of mankind.
The year is 2048 AD. The Iona Corporation has ended the Global Energy Crisis thanks to their revolutionary renewable energy technology - the Flux Cell. It not only made them the richest private entity on the planet but it allowed them to annex the city of Sydney and declare it the sovereign city-state of Iona. Instituting a Ruling Council, along with the Sentinels, an elite crime fighting unit, the Iona Corporation provides a high standard of living to its citizens. When one of those citizens is found murdered, John Tesh, Sentinel and his android partner, Socrates, begin an investigation that takes them behind the public façade of the Iona Corporation and reveals the ultimate truth behind the saviour of mankind.
- GenresScience Fiction
286 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 19, 2014
16 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Fay
14 books5 followersThomas Fay is a science fiction and fantasy author. Originally from Warsaw, Poland he now lives and writes in the beach side haven of Bondi in Sydney, Australia with the support and encouragement of his amazing wife and mischievous cockalier puppy.
Thomas discovered a love of science fiction early on, perhaps something to do with the dystopian society he grew up in. Bleak concrete apartment blocks situated in a field of grass, against the backdrop of the Chernobyl disaster—will make for a great opening of a book he’ll write one day.
For now, he focuses on writing science fiction detective novels, inspired by his early reading of Asimov and Phillip K. Dick, along with sweeping space operas and the occasional journey into the realm of fantasy.
Thomas discovered a love of science fiction early on, perhaps something to do with the dystopian society he grew up in. Bleak concrete apartment blocks situated in a field of grass, against the backdrop of the Chernobyl disaster—will make for a great opening of a book he’ll write one day.
For now, he focuses on writing science fiction detective novels, inspired by his early reading of Asimov and Phillip K. Dick, along with sweeping space operas and the occasional journey into the realm of fantasy.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 2, 2014
"Socrates and the Sentinel" is a thoroughly enjoyable Sci-Fi/crime story.Set in the mid-21century,at the time of a global-wide petrol crisis.Like in one of his short stories from "A mind supreme" collection, the author takes us to Sydney, the city not only controlled by the powerful Iona Corporation, but also renamed Iona.The fast action and a very intriguing plot kept me reading until the very end.I strongly recommend this book.
November 4, 2014
Socrates and the Sentinel is a futuristic thriller set in Iona City - Sydney, controlled by the energy giant, Iona Corporation. The story follows a murder investigation, which quickly leads to uncovering of a city-wide conspiracy.
I loved it! The book reads like the Bladerunner movie, in the best possible way. Thomas Fay does a great job of keeping the story fast-paced, dynamic, and very stylish. He also keeps the mystery and suspense until the very end, and boy does it pay off! The finale got me super excited and left me wishing to know more about this world the author had created!
It did feel sometimes feel like the dialogue could be a bit stronger, and the overall story could benefit from a bit more exposition to get the reader a better feeling of the world.
That being said, I enjoyed the book immensely. It is a must read for both fans of good thrillers and sci-fi! I hope to see further adventures of Socrates and the Sentinel!
I loved it! The book reads like the Bladerunner movie, in the best possible way. Thomas Fay does a great job of keeping the story fast-paced, dynamic, and very stylish. He also keeps the mystery and suspense until the very end, and boy does it pay off! The finale got me super excited and left me wishing to know more about this world the author had created!
It did feel sometimes feel like the dialogue could be a bit stronger, and the overall story could benefit from a bit more exposition to get the reader a better feeling of the world.
That being said, I enjoyed the book immensely. It is a must read for both fans of good thrillers and sci-fi! I hope to see further adventures of Socrates and the Sentinel!
March 13, 2015
This is a fast, fun read! John Tesh is a "Sentinel," i.e. a super-cop, in a future Sydney which has been renamed Iona and is now ruled by the all-powerful Iona Corporation, which saved the world from peak oil with their flux cell technology. This is NOT a dystopia! In fact many of mankind's problems seem to have gone away. Not all though, and when Tesh gets drawn into a murder investigation with connections to the Ruling Council of Iona, shootouts and car chases ensue. The plot is deftly developed, leading up to an ending that I did not see coming at all.
The great strength of this book is its genre-bending prestidigitation. You think you're reading a police procedural set in the future, and then Fay pulls the rug out from under you. That ending really is awesome.
One star off for a little less character development than I would have preferred, otherwise a solid read.
The great strength of this book is its genre-bending prestidigitation. You think you're reading a police procedural set in the future, and then Fay pulls the rug out from under you. That ending really is awesome.
One star off for a little less character development than I would have preferred, otherwise a solid read.
September 15, 2014
I read this piece during a longish wait for my connecting flight at an airport lounge and recommend it to anyone, not necessarily being in a similar situation. Socrates and the Sentinel is an entertaining story set in a not-so-distant-future where bitcoin is the official currency (!) and a world-wide fuel crisis had been averted by an enigmatic Iona Corporation that is the sole distributor of a mysterious energy-producing device. It is basically a fast-paced action thriller with Asimov-like SF motives …… and Asimov-inspired jokes. In its core it is about the choices humanity has to make to survive, although I wouldn’t mind this part to be better developed. The main characters are lively and the depiction of the Iona City, based on Sydney, adds a realistic background to the story.
November 21, 2014
Interesting plot concept of advanced future with a corporation running what was Sydney. Lone policeman supported by android working through a case with the usual mish-mash of supporting characters with variable back stories never fully developed but hinted at. I enjoyed it overall but felt it was missing something. Finale was too well signposted for my liking - what else could it be. I think it needed more of an adult edge to make it really good, but a pleasant read none the less
October 5, 2018
LOved the characters.the book is a quick fun read. John Tesh is great lead character.
October 29, 2015
They arrived at dawn. These four words started this story. There seemed to be so much meaning behind these words—who are they, where have they arrived and why at dawn—that they in themselves were almost the story. From there it evolved. The concept of one of the detectives being an android, perhaps something to do with the fact I had just finished re-reading Isaac Asimov’s ‘The Caves of Steel’. Then the easy reference to Philip K. Dick’s masterpiece ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’. Again, I had just finished reading two of his books while on vacation. So I had my two main characters.
For some reason the name Iona was just there, at the back of my mind. And here came the difficult part—how could I write about a city I live in and know well, Sydney, while at the same time setting the story in the fictional city of Iona? This part took a while to reason through but I finally came up with the idea of a global energy crisis which is solved by a private entity, the Iona Corporation, who ultimately takes over the city of Sydney.
Now a lot of people may argue that this simply wouldn’t happen. But—perhaps? If the world truly were desperate enough for an alternative fuel source and the price was the sovereignty of a single city of six million people—would this really be too high a price to pay? For most people life would be no different other than the global meltdown would have been avoided. A fictional scenario certainly but is it really that far-fetched in today’s world of multi-national corporations and our dependence on fossil fuels?
From there it was easy. I let the characters tell the story; how they reacted, how they felt, what they said. What I thought would originally be a short story or perhaps a novelette at best, has ended up at more than 50,000 words. And it was fun to write.
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.
For some reason the name Iona was just there, at the back of my mind. And here came the difficult part—how could I write about a city I live in and know well, Sydney, while at the same time setting the story in the fictional city of Iona? This part took a while to reason through but I finally came up with the idea of a global energy crisis which is solved by a private entity, the Iona Corporation, who ultimately takes over the city of Sydney.
Now a lot of people may argue that this simply wouldn’t happen. But—perhaps? If the world truly were desperate enough for an alternative fuel source and the price was the sovereignty of a single city of six million people—would this really be too high a price to pay? For most people life would be no different other than the global meltdown would have been avoided. A fictional scenario certainly but is it really that far-fetched in today’s world of multi-national corporations and our dependence on fossil fuels?
From there it was easy. I let the characters tell the story; how they reacted, how they felt, what they said. What I thought would originally be a short story or perhaps a novelette at best, has ended up at more than 50,000 words. And it was fun to write.
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.
August 11, 2015
A very good enjoyable book that is based off of police procedures with a mix of sci Fi thrown in. The characters are well developed and the action is non stop. There is even a little romance thrown in for good measure. Be prepared for a couple of abrupt changes/shifts in the direction of the storyline.
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December 23, 2017Could not put this book down, thoroughly entertaining read - Great fast paced action with very interesting plot and characters, I particularly liked the strong female protagonists. I hope there will be more in the series.
February 6, 2017
Fast read, interesting but not particularly complicated plot with likeable characters. A little predictable but a nice twist ending. A decent first in a series.
January 29, 2019
Mostly Science-Fantasy With Secondary Murder Mystery
After I suspended disbelief, I rather enjoyed this quick-read science-fantasy/crime fiction hybrid. The story is well-plotted with a fast-pace throughout and a fun protagonist and his sidekick. This is a good first entry to what seems be a new series.
When Socrates began revealing his capabilities, the storyline began morphing from science-fiction to fantasy with the possibility of the supernatural. As the storyline progressed, I suspended disbelief, and went with the story. Although the Sentinels wore gray suits, I kept visualizing Men In Black without the dark glasses. Not to mention thinking of Data, the ST:TNG android. Anachronisms stopped me several times, including medical sciences that were stuck in the late 20th century.
I was disappointed that the murder mystery was subsumed by the greater mystery, which dealt with politics and a powerful character’s intricate machinations. Halfway through the book, the direction of the non-mystery storyline became clear, as were the various denouements possible.
I’m in the minority of reviewers at Amazon and Goodreads, so if you like action-oriented science-fantasy, you’d probably enjoy this book more than I did.
PS
The author should get an editor to help with grammar and punctuation problems.
After I suspended disbelief, I rather enjoyed this quick-read science-fantasy/crime fiction hybrid. The story is well-plotted with a fast-pace throughout and a fun protagonist and his sidekick. This is a good first entry to what seems be a new series.
When Socrates began revealing his capabilities, the storyline began morphing from science-fiction to fantasy with the possibility of the supernatural. As the storyline progressed, I suspended disbelief, and went with the story. Although the Sentinels wore gray suits, I kept visualizing Men In Black without the dark glasses. Not to mention thinking of Data, the ST:TNG android. Anachronisms stopped me several times, including medical sciences that were stuck in the late 20th century.
I was disappointed that the murder mystery was subsumed by the greater mystery, which dealt with politics and a powerful character’s intricate machinations. Halfway through the book, the direction of the non-mystery storyline became clear, as were the various denouements possible.
I’m in the minority of reviewers at Amazon and Goodreads, so if you like action-oriented science-fantasy, you’d probably enjoy this book more than I did.
PS
The author should get an editor to help with grammar and punctuation problems.
June 9, 2018
Well-written with a fun plot. A bit too much of making John Tesh the smartest man in the room in order to move things along but overall a good read. Look forward to more in the series.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews