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The Sentinel Trilogy #1
The Sentinel
The humans on the sentinel battle station have waited more than a decade in silence for their enemy’s return, a merciless, bird-like alien species known as Apex, who are bent on exterminating all other sentient life in the quadrant. But when a strange warship appears, the crew is thrown into chaos as one faction is desperate to communicate with the newcomers, and the other will kill to keep their mission a secret.
For the crew of HMS Blackbeard, a battered Royal Navy warship light years from home, the battle station may prove their salvation. But they must first overcome the reactionary forces on the station who would see them destroyed, and then team up with the survivors before the arrival of a menacing Apex fleet.
The first book of the new sci-fi trilogy by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Michael Wallace, The Sentinel is an exciting, action-packed space opera for both new readers and fans of the bestselling Starship Blackbeard series alike.
For the crew of HMS Blackbeard, a battered Royal Navy warship light years from home, the battle station may prove their salvation. But they must first overcome the reactionary forces on the station who would see them destroyed, and then team up with the survivors before the arrival of a menacing Apex fleet.
The first book of the new sci-fi trilogy by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Michael Wallace, The Sentinel is an exciting, action-packed space opera for both new readers and fans of the bestselling Starship Blackbeard series alike.
232 pages, Paperback
First published May 13, 2016
246 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
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Michael Wallace
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
August 13, 2016
The Sentinel is the first in a trilogy set in a future where humanity has splintered into largely ethnic factions, so that the English have settled several planets, centuries ago, and the Chinese, and so on. Most have lost touch with their roots. There are aliens in this universe and they have found allies with one such species. However, another – the Apex – is a buzzard-like bird species whose only goal is the eradication of all other sentient species. And when they attack ships, settlements, worlds, etc., they feast on their prey, horrifying those being attacked as they’re eaten alive.
Now, I’ve got to be truthful. The Apex are truly silly, as written. Many aliens are in sci fi. Sometimes you really have to stretch your imagination to buy into the worlds the author is painting for you. But this beats it all. These chickens have great technology, awesome starships, great armor and weapons, better comm technology than any species in the universe, and in order for them to power their ships, they have computers, thousands, perhaps millions, of years in the future. With keyboards, not voice recognition technology. Keyboards. Thousands of years in the future. Right. And they use their beaks and claws to tap the keys on the keyboards. OK, how fucking stupid is that? We’re under attack, Queen Apex Chicken! Let me peck some defensive commands into the computer to launch our missile counterattacks. Oops, took too damn long to peck those commands. We’re blown up. Sorry. See how stupid that is? Couldn’t the author have done something, anything better, more creative than that to make it moderately more believable, if spacefaring, warring buzzards are believable at all?
Anyway, the Singaporeans have their own world and fought off the Apex many years ago and established silent Sentinel forts throughout the various wormhole galaxies to guard against Apex attacks over a decade ago. Sentinel-3, led by Commander Li, has been lying silently in wait for 11 years. And it has become factionalized over time, with nearly half wanting to remain silent and complete their mission, even if that means staying until old age and death, while the others want to reach out and contact someone, anyone, thus giving away their position and risking Apex attack. Li is going crazy trying to hold the place together.
Along comes HMS Blackbeard, a beat up Albion Royal Navy warship. The Chinese don’t even know of this world and they are prepared to destroy it, but there are Apex hiding there who attack the ship and the fortress opens fire and between the fort and the ship, they destroy seven of the eight Apex ships, knowing one got away to warn other aliens, who will likely come attack.
The captain and crew of the ship are hoping for help repairing and restocking their ship, but they are caught in a tether and reeled into the fortress, where Li’s crazy sister has taken over with the hardliner’s, who decide to board the ship in an effort to kill most of them and take some of the crew to press them into service. They are repelled. Meanwhile, Li sides with the other group, retakes command of part of the fortress, and watches while members of the ship invade his fortress and take over his command and much of the fortress, leaving him to surrender.
There’s more action and, yes, the Apex return in force. What will happen? That’s why there’s a sequel, and yes, a trilogy. These damned new military sci fi writers keep shortening their full length books into trilogies, forcing us to buy several mini-length books at a time, just to read the whole story, because truthfully, the stories are honestly often so good, that I’ve just got to buy and continue. I’ve got to know what happens next! And that’s what I’ve done with this book. I’m halfway through with the next book.
I loved the plot. The writing is decent. The editing could have been better, but among the new breed of self-published or micro published sci fi books out there, it’s one of the better-edited books. It didn’t seem to have nearly as many typos or grammatical mistakes as many of these books do. That usually annoys the hell out of me. As mentioned, the climax is left to the next book, but then all of the current military sci fi authors are doing that lately, so you just have to accept that. And these Kindle books are so cheap, it’s really no big deal. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s not the best book I’ve ever read, so four stars, but certainly recommended.
Now, I’ve got to be truthful. The Apex are truly silly, as written. Many aliens are in sci fi. Sometimes you really have to stretch your imagination to buy into the worlds the author is painting for you. But this beats it all. These chickens have great technology, awesome starships, great armor and weapons, better comm technology than any species in the universe, and in order for them to power their ships, they have computers, thousands, perhaps millions, of years in the future. With keyboards, not voice recognition technology. Keyboards. Thousands of years in the future. Right. And they use their beaks and claws to tap the keys on the keyboards. OK, how fucking stupid is that? We’re under attack, Queen Apex Chicken! Let me peck some defensive commands into the computer to launch our missile counterattacks. Oops, took too damn long to peck those commands. We’re blown up. Sorry. See how stupid that is? Couldn’t the author have done something, anything better, more creative than that to make it moderately more believable, if spacefaring, warring buzzards are believable at all?
Anyway, the Singaporeans have their own world and fought off the Apex many years ago and established silent Sentinel forts throughout the various wormhole galaxies to guard against Apex attacks over a decade ago. Sentinel-3, led by Commander Li, has been lying silently in wait for 11 years. And it has become factionalized over time, with nearly half wanting to remain silent and complete their mission, even if that means staying until old age and death, while the others want to reach out and contact someone, anyone, thus giving away their position and risking Apex attack. Li is going crazy trying to hold the place together.
Along comes HMS Blackbeard, a beat up Albion Royal Navy warship. The Chinese don’t even know of this world and they are prepared to destroy it, but there are Apex hiding there who attack the ship and the fortress opens fire and between the fort and the ship, they destroy seven of the eight Apex ships, knowing one got away to warn other aliens, who will likely come attack.
The captain and crew of the ship are hoping for help repairing and restocking their ship, but they are caught in a tether and reeled into the fortress, where Li’s crazy sister has taken over with the hardliner’s, who decide to board the ship in an effort to kill most of them and take some of the crew to press them into service. They are repelled. Meanwhile, Li sides with the other group, retakes command of part of the fortress, and watches while members of the ship invade his fortress and take over his command and much of the fortress, leaving him to surrender.
There’s more action and, yes, the Apex return in force. What will happen? That’s why there’s a sequel, and yes, a trilogy. These damned new military sci fi writers keep shortening their full length books into trilogies, forcing us to buy several mini-length books at a time, just to read the whole story, because truthfully, the stories are honestly often so good, that I’ve just got to buy and continue. I’ve got to know what happens next! And that’s what I’ve done with this book. I’m halfway through with the next book.
I loved the plot. The writing is decent. The editing could have been better, but among the new breed of self-published or micro published sci fi books out there, it’s one of the better-edited books. It didn’t seem to have nearly as many typos or grammatical mistakes as many of these books do. That usually annoys the hell out of me. As mentioned, the climax is left to the next book, but then all of the current military sci fi authors are doing that lately, so you just have to accept that. And these Kindle books are so cheap, it’s really no big deal. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s not the best book I’ve ever read, so four stars, but certainly recommended.
November 6, 2020
The second trilogy in the series starts off on a space station with a crew discussing the Apex. They are in complete hiding, and have been hiding for some time. The crew stations crew have split into factions during this time. Those that want to remain hidden, and those that want to try and contact the outside world. Of course their mission is to hide and protect the area unless they find Apex, and then destroy them, as they are protecting this particular quadrant of space.
You wonder if you have the right book for a while as there is no mention of our heroic crew or the Blackbeard or anything else for some time, until eventually, Jess Tolvern and Blackbeard are back, of course heavily damaged and on the run from Apex, because when is Jess not in a heavily damaged ship.
This series is set some time after the events of the first series, the Hroom Empire is still trying to pull itself together from sugar addiction, even though they have the cure, not everyone wants it. They also have Apex running through their territory destroying them at every opportunity. Humanity has come together under a new King, with Drake as the military leader aboard Dreadnaught, and as mentioned, Jess is Captain of the Blackbeard, with Capp, Carvolo, Nyb Pym and the rest of the main characters.
Whilst there is a sort of peace between the Hroom and the Humans, the threat now is Apex, this predatory Bird like species that hunts its prey and then kills them in very gruesome and graphic ways, generally whilst they are still living. If you are a bit squeamish, there are parts of this book that you are not going to want to read.
This was a real step up for Wallace, the next evolution in the series, in which we went from simple human vs human vs Hroom battles and nothing to grisly about it, to now Apex who like to ritualistically capture, cut up and eat their captives (the higher ranked the better as more power is obtained (they believe).
Wallace has created this rather incredible species with a deeply involved background. The only disappointing thing is that we end up learning a lot more about Apex than we do about the Hroom, even after 5 books, we still have not really learnt a huge amount them, their culture etc. It would have been interesting to have this developed a little more.
The story focusses a lot on the new Sentinel Station crew, and as stated earlier, the various factions that have developed during their extended isolation, and the resultant power plays that are occurring as a result. The discussion of the Sentinel crew and their original mission is rather interesting as it provides some rather interesting background into what happened when humanity originally left Earth.
The Second trilogy has moved more away from Pirates, and regaining respect and lost careers, and has moved towards bloodthirsty Avian’s that are hell bent on conquering the galaxy at any cost, you will certainly have a much healthier respect for larger birds after reading this series!.
This is a great first book in the next Trilogy following on from the Blackbeard series.
You wonder if you have the right book for a while as there is no mention of our heroic crew or the Blackbeard or anything else for some time, until eventually, Jess Tolvern and Blackbeard are back, of course heavily damaged and on the run from Apex, because when is Jess not in a heavily damaged ship.
This series is set some time after the events of the first series, the Hroom Empire is still trying to pull itself together from sugar addiction, even though they have the cure, not everyone wants it. They also have Apex running through their territory destroying them at every opportunity. Humanity has come together under a new King, with Drake as the military leader aboard Dreadnaught, and as mentioned, Jess is Captain of the Blackbeard, with Capp, Carvolo, Nyb Pym and the rest of the main characters.
Whilst there is a sort of peace between the Hroom and the Humans, the threat now is Apex, this predatory Bird like species that hunts its prey and then kills them in very gruesome and graphic ways, generally whilst they are still living. If you are a bit squeamish, there are parts of this book that you are not going to want to read.
This was a real step up for Wallace, the next evolution in the series, in which we went from simple human vs human vs Hroom battles and nothing to grisly about it, to now Apex who like to ritualistically capture, cut up and eat their captives (the higher ranked the better as more power is obtained (they believe).
Wallace has created this rather incredible species with a deeply involved background. The only disappointing thing is that we end up learning a lot more about Apex than we do about the Hroom, even after 5 books, we still have not really learnt a huge amount them, their culture etc. It would have been interesting to have this developed a little more.
The story focusses a lot on the new Sentinel Station crew, and as stated earlier, the various factions that have developed during their extended isolation, and the resultant power plays that are occurring as a result. The discussion of the Sentinel crew and their original mission is rather interesting as it provides some rather interesting background into what happened when humanity originally left Earth.
The Second trilogy has moved more away from Pirates, and regaining respect and lost careers, and has moved towards bloodthirsty Avian’s that are hell bent on conquering the galaxy at any cost, you will certainly have a much healthier respect for larger birds after reading this series!.
This is a great first book in the next Trilogy following on from the Blackbeard series.
August 24, 2018
Crazy Killer Chickens
I had high hopes for this. Certainly, the cover art promised a lot and Wallace structures his action well, including a number of satisfying plot twists, but ultimately I came away feeling a little disappointed . There’s just no escaping the fact that structurally, as the first book in a trilogy, what we have here is pure exposition: setting up the main characters and their situations without giving them much to actually do.
The star of the show is undoubtedly the Apex aliens - crazy killer chickens whose goal is to wipe out all of humanity. There is a kind of campy fun to be had from reading about Ak Ik, the queen commander, a raging sociopath whose daughters are genetically programmed to overthrow her. Problem is that she and her brood are pretty much sidelined throughout most of this book.
The bulk of the action then revolves around the clash between the piratical HMS Blackbeard crew and the miserablists aboard the Sentinel itself. While the Blackbeard sailors wouldn’t look out of place in a Flash Gordon strip, the Sentinel crew hale from a much darker dystopian future – think of the silo dwellers in Hugh Howey’s ‘Wool’ and you won’t be too far off the mark.
The story of the Sentinel crew is by far the more interesting of the two storylines. Left for over a decade manning a failing battle station, they are divided about whether they should break radio silence and contact their superiors or blindly continue doing their duty. Inevitably, the various factions start to turn against one another.
Unfortunately, the reader is left with the distinct impression that these guys wouldn’t last five minutes going up against those crazy killer chickens, which is a problem since that was always where this particular story was headed. Cue the arrival of the Blackbeard crew because, no matter what level of knockabout silliness is about to ensue, you know that these guys will always come out smiling – though invariably with a Cosplay cutlass clenched between their teeth.
Wallace writes well and his mismatched characters are often engaging but there’s no escaping the sense that we’re just marking time here ‘til the story proper kicks off with Book 2.
I had high hopes for this. Certainly, the cover art promised a lot and Wallace structures his action well, including a number of satisfying plot twists, but ultimately I came away feeling a little disappointed . There’s just no escaping the fact that structurally, as the first book in a trilogy, what we have here is pure exposition: setting up the main characters and their situations without giving them much to actually do.
The star of the show is undoubtedly the Apex aliens - crazy killer chickens whose goal is to wipe out all of humanity. There is a kind of campy fun to be had from reading about Ak Ik, the queen commander, a raging sociopath whose daughters are genetically programmed to overthrow her. Problem is that she and her brood are pretty much sidelined throughout most of this book.
The bulk of the action then revolves around the clash between the piratical HMS Blackbeard crew and the miserablists aboard the Sentinel itself. While the Blackbeard sailors wouldn’t look out of place in a Flash Gordon strip, the Sentinel crew hale from a much darker dystopian future – think of the silo dwellers in Hugh Howey’s ‘Wool’ and you won’t be too far off the mark.
The story of the Sentinel crew is by far the more interesting of the two storylines. Left for over a decade manning a failing battle station, they are divided about whether they should break radio silence and contact their superiors or blindly continue doing their duty. Inevitably, the various factions start to turn against one another.
Unfortunately, the reader is left with the distinct impression that these guys wouldn’t last five minutes going up against those crazy killer chickens, which is a problem since that was always where this particular story was headed. Cue the arrival of the Blackbeard crew because, no matter what level of knockabout silliness is about to ensue, you know that these guys will always come out smiling – though invariably with a Cosplay cutlass clenched between their teeth.
Wallace writes well and his mismatched characters are often engaging but there’s no escaping the sense that we’re just marking time here ‘til the story proper kicks off with Book 2.
June 30, 2016
Mediocre and Small SciFi "Shoot 'Em Up"
"The Sentinel" is a mediocre and small SciFi "shoot 'em up," that doesn't break any new ground, is mildly entertaining, and a real fast read.
Basic storyline: future star traveling humans are divided into different empires, fighting and allying with various alien races. An alien apex predatory species, known as the "Apex" (sic) are carnivore poultry, pecking and clawing their way throughout the galaxy. A warship, the "HMS Blackbeard," from a Britannic type empire fights the "birds" and attempts to ally with a stealth human battle station of Asian heritage, who have been hiding for over a decade.
The writing is OK, the proofreading competent, and editing is absent-far too frequent repetitive passages. The storyline and plot are hackneyed, immature, and lacking in any real imagination. The science is pretty much absent or "fantastical." The end of the book was more like the ending of a Part I in a full book, as the big climax was left approaching- unresolved(cheap, lazy, and greedy eBook authorship at its worse). Additionally, though Book 2 listed by author as available, it's not.
The overall banality of the eBook makes it so comic book, that a higher rating is not merited.
"The Sentinel" is a mediocre and small SciFi "shoot 'em up," that doesn't break any new ground, is mildly entertaining, and a real fast read.
Basic storyline: future star traveling humans are divided into different empires, fighting and allying with various alien races. An alien apex predatory species, known as the "Apex" (sic) are carnivore poultry, pecking and clawing their way throughout the galaxy. A warship, the "HMS Blackbeard," from a Britannic type empire fights the "birds" and attempts to ally with a stealth human battle station of Asian heritage, who have been hiding for over a decade.
The writing is OK, the proofreading competent, and editing is absent-far too frequent repetitive passages. The storyline and plot are hackneyed, immature, and lacking in any real imagination. The science is pretty much absent or "fantastical." The end of the book was more like the ending of a Part I in a full book, as the big climax was left approaching- unresolved(cheap, lazy, and greedy eBook authorship at its worse). Additionally, though Book 2 listed by author as available, it's not.
The overall banality of the eBook makes it so comic book, that a higher rating is not merited.
September 21, 2016
Very Good Read
This was a good read and the characters are already well developed and the storyline is great. Plenty of action and full of twists that you will not see coming. The story is about a alien species that feed on anything by basically butchering them by eating all the parts of their bodies and now they have learned how to control some of them and are using them for information about the battle group. You have to read it because it sounds better when you read it then the way that I explained it. Nice work Michel Wallace . I will be reading the next book in this series.
This was a good read and the characters are already well developed and the storyline is great. Plenty of action and full of twists that you will not see coming. The story is about a alien species that feed on anything by basically butchering them by eating all the parts of their bodies and now they have learned how to control some of them and are using them for information about the battle group. You have to read it because it sounds better when you read it then the way that I explained it. Nice work Michel Wallace . I will be reading the next book in this series.
October 31, 2016
OK, it's an attempt at "Hard" Science Fiction. I'm not sure I believe the human culture. I think the author wasted a lot of pages on Old Earth history.
The alien race, Apex, were very interesting if totally bloodthirsty and ruthless. Their kind shows up very infrequently in SF. The other aliens, Hroom, (one crew member and numerous references) reminded me too much of the aboriginal peoples her on Earth.
Overall, this was not exactly a wasted few hours and I intend to finish the trilogy. I would not pay "real money" for the book or keep it in my library once I finished, but IF you see it at the library or in a free book bin grab it. My copy was borrowed from Kindle Unlimited.
The alien race, Apex, were very interesting if totally bloodthirsty and ruthless. Their kind shows up very infrequently in SF. The other aliens, Hroom, (one crew member and numerous references) reminded me too much of the aboriginal peoples her on Earth.
Overall, this was not exactly a wasted few hours and I intend to finish the trilogy. I would not pay "real money" for the book or keep it in my library once I finished, but IF you see it at the library or in a free book bin grab it. My copy was borrowed from Kindle Unlimited.
June 17, 2016
Great new beginnings...
I enjoyed the continuation of these characters! Having read the blackbeard books I really enjoyed this new arc! I am so glad Mr Wallace has continued with these characters and the story. I have to go now so I can get the next book in the series and start reading it!!!! Do yourself a favor, just get the book...you won't be disappointed.
I enjoyed the continuation of these characters! Having read the blackbeard books I really enjoyed this new arc! I am so glad Mr Wallace has continued with these characters and the story. I have to go now so I can get the next book in the series and start reading it!!!! Do yourself a favor, just get the book...you won't be disappointed.
December 14, 2016
I hesitated to read this book after the starship blackbeard series. I wasn't too keen on reading about voilent space travelling birds. As it turned out, this book was very well written with unexpected plot twists and a nice side story. I recommend the book and will definitely read the rest of the series.
May 26, 2017
I will read the next one but it's annoying that this isn't really a complete story and shouldn't be sold as such. I believe the story would have been much stronger with less of the alien scenes. Save that for Book 2 and tell a complete story here. There's a lot more room for characterization that the author doesn't give us but which I would have appreciated.
July 27, 2016
Blackboard story continues...
Faced with overwhelming odds the crew prepares to battle a race bent on their destruction. Loved the action and the twists and turns. Can't wait to read the rest of the trilogy series.
Faced with overwhelming odds the crew prepares to battle a race bent on their destruction. Loved the action and the twists and turns. Can't wait to read the rest of the trilogy series.
August 24, 2016
Started slow, but got better. Will try the next book to see if I want to continue this series.
November 21, 2016
I thought this was a well written book. I highly recommend it.
Read
December 4, 2016Neither book nor narrator is for me.
December 9, 2016
I enjoyed the story line and the inclusion of prior characters from another series. I would like to see more confrontation between Albion and APEX forces . I guess that's in the next book.
April 13, 2017
Great book and story line
May 3, 2017
Awesome read!!!
I love the way you write, very suspenseful and exciting, carrying your reader away into the story! Amazing read, looking for more!
I love the way you write, very suspenseful and exciting, carrying your reader away into the story! Amazing read, looking for more!
November 2, 2017
Good book
Well developed plot, engaging characters. Not sure I need to say more as this pretty much says it all too,
Well developed plot, engaging characters. Not sure I need to say more as this pretty much says it all too,
April 19, 2018
Enjoyed it. Loads of characters and an easy enough read.
May 2, 2019
Heady
I jumped into this book without reading the intervening stories. It's a great read but now I have to race back to read the details of the stories that lead to this series.
This is a good continuation of the blackboard series. It features key characters from the first series and the characters haven't just grown, some have grown up. It's a very tactical naval/military story with some political maneuvering and a lot of strategic issues thrown in.
The aliens are the biggest menace and their weaknesses are coming into play. There isn't any guarantee that any of the human characters will survive the next volume but the human systems will definitely blunt the alien assault and seem to stand a decent chance of destroying them. Since the Apex don't negotiate, there are only two options, exterminate the Apex or be exterminated. It makes a very streamlined strategic situation.
The new human characters are almost as strange as the killer aliens. The characters are everything and the background is delicious. I enjoyed the descriptions of alien interactions and the insight into the culture and tech. I think it's done at least as well here as in the best that I've read before.
I going back to the original series to get caught up on the background for this book.
I jumped into this book without reading the intervening stories. It's a great read but now I have to race back to read the details of the stories that lead to this series.
This is a good continuation of the blackboard series. It features key characters from the first series and the characters haven't just grown, some have grown up. It's a very tactical naval/military story with some political maneuvering and a lot of strategic issues thrown in.
The aliens are the biggest menace and their weaknesses are coming into play. There isn't any guarantee that any of the human characters will survive the next volume but the human systems will definitely blunt the alien assault and seem to stand a decent chance of destroying them. Since the Apex don't negotiate, there are only two options, exterminate the Apex or be exterminated. It makes a very streamlined strategic situation.
The new human characters are almost as strange as the killer aliens. The characters are everything and the background is delicious. I enjoyed the descriptions of alien interactions and the insight into the culture and tech. I think it's done at least as well here as in the best that I've read before.
I going back to the original series to get caught up on the background for this book.
January 10, 2021
meh not as good as the first series kinda slow
March 2, 2022
Great reating
Excellent Sci-Fi as the story of Blackbeard continues. enjoy reading 2019
Excellent Sci-Fi as the story of Blackbeard continues. enjoy reading 2019
January 6, 2017
The book moved pretty quickly, but the ending... I'm guessing that they decided to break the book into three parts, but I think it would be better as one book. That was a terrible way to leave a book.
September 1, 2016
The narration of this audio book was terrible. I'm not sure if it was the narrator or the sound engineering but you can listen to a sample on Audible for yourself. The narrator sounds like he is whispering the entire book. Not sure why that is so annoying but the constant high pitched whistles as he pronounced 's' and 'c' was like nails on a chalkboard. As for the story, it was interesting enough and perhaps I will read it on Kindle later.
May 28, 2020
Do not read this while eating. Just don't.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews