The Sentinel by Arthur C Clarke

The Sentinel by Arthur C Clarke. Narrated by Siddig El Fadil. Copyright 1995 by Dove Audio.
Wow - almost 50K views! Thanks for listening!

[@peterbugg3943]

best narration of this wonderful story -thank you

[@louisbrugnoni1291]

These are amazing! So much better than tv or movies! Causes your mind to explode with images! 👍👍👍👍

[@mikeshea398]

Same! Well said. I just closed my eyes and imagined.

[@jrh5067]

Myths, legends, gods and monsters. All came to be about today due to the power of imagination when stories were told. Way way way before tv, radio and the internet.

[@jrcadet4]

Just attended a 50th anniversary showing of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY yesterday. I've loved Clarke's other writing since I was a teenager, and especially 'The Sentinel'...so glad to find this here!

[@nuru666]

I've wanted to read or hear this story since I found out about it about a decade ago!

[@simeonmihaylov8820]

Very nice, one can hear 2001 coming around the corner here. Yet it is a very good story on its own

[@Jeffrey314159]

Simeon Mihaylov Not unless you know some of the back story to the making of 2001. I presume you mean the movie and not the novel?

[@kyriakospentheides]

No, he can clearly see that this is the origin for the Tycho expedition sequence from the novel and the movie of '2001'. Clarke cannibalized this short story and a few others for his screenplay and novel.

[@markanthonycoliinson873]

I love this story: embryonic 2001. Alexander Sidding does a brilliant reading of this, too. Thanks for uploading this.

[@kevind1183]

You're welcome! I hope to upload some more audio books in the not too distant future

[@AlanMedina314]

This story was a gem and the narrator was perfect for it. This story is an example of a great mind Arthur C Clarke and a transcendental question of life in the universe. The story was a beautiful interpretation of the desire by sentient beings to alleviate the loneliness that comes from being truly alone in an ocean of infinity.A truly noble cause . Perhaps, the quest for other lifeforms is an inherent part of all sentient beings. Who is to say that in time we could become the fathers of sentinel monoliths waiting patiently for life to emerge from chaos in a distant star on an alien moon. Thanks Kevin, I really enjoyed this story wish it was little longer.

[@kevind1183]

Glad you enjoyed and thanks for the comments! There were a lot of wonderful audiobooks from that time period and I'm glad they can be shared and enjoyed and not lost to time.

[@AlanMedina314]

I Thank You, again for this great story. This one and The Star are now some of my all time favorite short stories. This story will not be forgotten thanks to the efforts of true aficionados like you and me. Please feel free to add more of these wonderful storiesl they are truly appreciated.

[@ivandiablo8282]

Alan Medina narrator was 'the doctor' on star trek - deep space 9

[@AlanMedina314]

kano8506 I think So.

[@Jeffrey314159]

Alan Medina Obviously you fell in love with the movie Mission to Mars?

[@billymandalay7513]

Woohooo! It's Doctor Bashir !

[@rtelkin2194]

Thanks for posting. A few memorable lines remain, as does the story.

[@ianroberts7119]

Fab story thanks for posting Kevin :-)

[@davidgifford8112]

I’ve read this many times, but listened to it the term “between fire and ice” sticks out. A 1948 reference to what is now called the “Goldilocks” or habitable zone.

[@debrasalitra8844]

great story! You can tell it is the moon portion of 2001.

[@MicrobyteAlan]

Most excellent, thanks

[@peterarnt]

The narrator is Alexander Siddig. He is also known for portraying the character Dr. Julian Bashir on the 1990's TV series Star Trek DS9.

[@zapfanzapfan]

He did a very good job.

[@Jeffrey314159]

Peter Arnt The name here is Siddig El Fadil, not Alexander Siddig. What, he changed his name cause it sounded too middle eastern?

[@zapfanzapfan]

Both are stage names, Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdul Karim El Mahdi was a bit long I guess...

[@Jeffrey314159]

zapfanzapfan So where does the Alexander come in? His long Arab name not royal enough?

[@zapfanzapfan]

Picked at random apparently. At least he stuck with Siddig. Kirk Douglas and John Wayne are completely made up.

[@rorysmith9382]

This was a clever story.

[@jrh5067]

Audio books. Great things, let's your mind to do what it wants, each listener will have a different visual representation. Myths, legends, gods and monsters. All came to be about today due to the power of imagination when stories were told. Way way way before tv, radio and the internet.

[@008fiona]

Thank you 😊

[@zapfanzapfan]

Thanks for putting it up, I have seen 2001 many times but not read the basis for it. Very interesting to listen to and with hindsight know what he got wrong and what he got right. A bit of ice where the sun don´t shine, yes, previous water oceans and life, not so much. Also interesting that he thought we would get to the Moon by 1996, he got the last two digits messed up there :-)

[@popeinnocentiii6315]

First of all: this story is better characterized as inspiration than as basis for 2001. Arthur C. Clarke himself vehemently denied the notion that it is the latter. I'm not sure if this was meant to be realistic speculation. It seems to be more about the ideas set forth. If that is right, then 'getting it right' is not applicable here.

[@zapfanzapfan]

Abramelin the Mage Little was known about how the Moon was formed back then so he got it as correct as he could be expected to. And if not for the space race we would have yet to set foot on the Moon. Physics he always gets right, messy things like biology and human behavior less so :-)

[@Jeffrey314159]

zapfanzapfan Again, when did he write this story? His info about the moon is so dated. The characters are frying sausages in a frying pan inside their lunar tractor? The fumes of such would corrupt the CO2 air-scrubbers of their vehicle.

[@zapfanzapfan]

Jeffrey314159 Written in 1948, long before any actual space travel.

[@Jeffrey314159]

zapfanzapfan Well, that makes sense, they were still smoking inside undersea submarines back then.

[@TheAgentmigs]

This is pretty much the premise of the Mass Effect series.

[@martinschell4212]

You have to read 'Adrasteia' by Peter Frey, available from Amazon. It's the best new sci fi/time travel book on the market.

[@gamingprince5312]

this helped

[@jamieengel6198]

Kevin Degnon you the real mvp

[@kevind1183]

Thank you!!!!

[@constantin3886]

17:30

[@Jeffrey314159]

The Sentinel, or Sentinel for Eternity?

[@texasfloodthe9370]

The narrator sounds kinda like Ewan McGregor

[@Musabre]

+texas flood, the Ewan McGregor when he's hiding his Scottish accent? ;P

[@dmonvisigoth1651]

texas flood, the That's Sidig El Fadil! Dr. Fucking Bashir!! Don't you know??? He's not even Scottish, he's an Indian Brit! Jesus Christ!!!!

[@kyriakospentheides]

Actually he is not Indian, his father Sudanese (North African).He is also the nephew of Malcolm MacDowell (so he is also a Scottish-Englander, I guess) and he does look like MacDowell (because he takes after his mother whom looks a lot like her brother).

[@chriswieman]

Kyriakos Pentheides - Fascinating! As the story began I kept thinking the narrator sounded like Malcolm McDowell, so much so that I thought that it was him, and the audio maybe at the wrong speed (to account for the differences).

[@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812]

Honestly I can hear why you thought he sounded similar to Ewan McGregor.

[@gageplayz3965]

9:58

[@DirtiestDMusic]

FAT FARM--

[@onlyonewhyphy]

Buuuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[@hectorpascal]

Serious hum and some bandwidth restriction certainly spoils the good reading..... :((