The ''Sentinels'' novels by
Van Allen Plexico
Van Allen Plexico (born January 12, 1968) is an American professor of Political Science and History, a Sports and Pop Culture podcast host and producer, and a science fiction and fantasy author. He is generally considered one of the leading fig ...
comprise a sequence of
superhero fiction
Superhero fiction is a genre of speculative fiction examining the adventure fiction, adventures, personalities and ethics of costumed crime fighters known as superheroes, who often possess Superpower (ability), superhuman powers and battle simil ...
works in prose format with occasional interior illustrations. They are set primarily in the present-day
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The first novel was published in 2006.
The novels follow the adventures of a group of paranormal agents loosely affiliated with the
United States government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...
and the
US Defense Department
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...
. The central character, Lyn Li (codenamed "Pulsar"), is a Chinese-American college student and self-proclaimed "nerd" who discovers she possesses electromagnetic-based super powers. She is pursued by both good and villainous agents wishing to recruit her onto their teams. Thus far the series includes nine novels and one anthology, plus a large-format book collecting the interior and cover artwork done for the series by Chris Kohler.
The first trilogy of novels, ''The Grand Design'', centers around the schemes of an over-the-top villain called the Warlord and his assistant, Francisco, to unify the Multiverse into a single realm that the Warlord can rule. The second trilogy, ''The Rivals'', takes on a more "cosmic" aspect, with vastly powerful entities from space coming to Earth and possibly destroying it as a consequence of their ancient conflicts. The third trilogy, originally called ''Order Above All'' but then revised to ''The Earth - Kur-Bai War'', began in December 2012 with publication of ''Metalgod'' and concluded in 2017 with ''Vendetta''.
Plexico has spoken in interviews and in panel discussions at conventions about the origins of the characters and the series, and of planning a total of twenty or twenty-one novels in the series. He has described them as "action/adventure novels with a heavy “cosmic” SF theme, but with the flavor of 1970s-80s Marvel comics such as the AVENGERS." He has said that the main themes he seeks to address in the series are the concepts of identity, memory and loyalty.
Plexico has said his reason for writing superhero stories as novels rather than in the more traditional comic book format is, "I'm able to both cover a LOT of ground, time-wise-- more than a year's worth of story in just one book--and go more in-depth with the characters, the way a novel allows you to do."
The first three novels in the series were published in 2006 and 2007 b
WhiteRocketBooksand then, beginning in 2008, were reprinted b
Swarm Press an imprint of horror/apocalyptic fiction publishers Permuted Press. Subsequent volumes have been published by White Rocket Books. A paperback omnibus of the first three volumes, as well as a limited edition hardcover containing the first three books plus additional art and features, were published in 2007 but are now both out of print. New omnibus paperbacks of the first and second trilogy were published by White Rocket Books in 2012. Sentinels short stories have been published b
A Thousand Faces magazine
The seventh volume overall and sixth novel, ''Stellarax'', completing the "Rivals" trilogy, was published by White Rocket Books in June 2011. The eighth volume overall and seventh novel, ''Metalgod'', beginning ''The Earth - Kur-Bai War'' trilogy, was published by White Rocket Books in December 2012. The ninth volume overall and eighth novel, ''The Dark Crusade'', was published by White Rocket Books in September 2016. The final novel in the third trilogy, ''Vendetta'', was published in May 2017.
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The Sentinels series
#''When Strikes the Warlord'' (White Rocket Books edition, 2006; Swarm Press edition, 2008)
#''A Distant Star'' (White Rocket Books edition, 2007; Swarm Press edition, 2008)
#''Apocalypse Rising'' (White Rocket Books edition, 2007; Swarm Press edition, 2008)
#''The Shiva Advent'' (2009)
#''Worldmind'' (2010)
#''Stellarax'' (2011)
#''Metalgod'' (2012)
#''The Dark Crusade'' (2016)
#''Vendetta'' (2017)
The nine novels have been collected in three paperback omnibus editions:
#''The Grand Design'' (omnibus paperback collection of first three novels; 2008; reissued 2012)
#''The Rivals'' (omnibus paperback collection of second trilogy of novels; 2012)
#''The Earth - Kur-Bai War'' (omnibus paperback collection of third trilogy of novels; 2018)
Following publication of the ninth novel, an over-sized art book was published containing all the black-and-white interior illustrations from all nine books plus cover artwork and commentary by artist Chris Kohler and author Van Allen Plexico:
''Sentinels: The Art of Chris Kohler'' (2017)
There is also an anthology with stories by Plexico and several guest writers:
''Alternate Visions'' (anthology; 2009)
In 2007 White Rocket issued a special limited edition hardcover ''Widescreen Special Edition'' volume that included the first three novels plus the short stories from ''Alternate Visions'' and additional sketch art and other material.
External links
Author's Official Web site
Sentinels page at White Rocket Books site
References
{{Reflist
Superhero novels
Science fiction novel series
Space opera novels