^TagSentinel (short story)

View of the surface of the moon.Elements of this image furnished by NASA

^{Type
post

Gary Varner
Date
December 27, 2025

Categorized
Science Fiction

Tagged
2001: A Space Odyssey, Dave Bowman (Space Odyssey 2001), Featured, HAL 9000 (motivations), Heywood Floyd (Space Odyssey 2001), Monolith (Space Odyssey 2001), Sentinel (short story)}

2001: A Space Odyssey: The Brief Story of Heywood Floyd

_{In Part 4, we look at what the middle story — meeting the Monolith on the moon — is doing} _{Gary Varner
December 27, 2025

8

Science Fiction}

We don’t really get to see enough of HAL 9000 when he is actually a help to the space travelers, which reduces the impact of his turn.

Space Odyssey 2001: Decisions To Make About That Monolith

_{In Part 2 of my series on the sci-fi great, I want to consider where the Monolith fits in the hard vs. soft magic systems that make for sci-fi stories} _{Gary Varner
December 13, 2025

7

Science Fiction}

Letting the question of who sent the monolith remain a mystery was probably a wise dramatic choice on the part of the writers.