First Lines

First Line Friday: Ghosts and Witches and Monsters

Lynette M Burrows

It’s October, and that means Halloween is coming. So for this  month’s First Line Friday, we’re looking at ghosts and witches and monsters—in science fiction and fantasy books. As always, there are no affiliate links in this collection of first lines. These titles are available on Amazon. They may be available in other places as well.  Ghosts Alexis Kine always knew her luck would eventually run out.  We Dare (Ghost Squadron Book 1) Eric Thomson No one noticed the rock. The Ghost Brigades (Old Man’s War Book 2) John Scalzi Monday is nature’s way of telling you that the only easy day was yesterday. Ghost Dog: Military Science Fiction Across a Holographic Multiverse (Gate Walkers Book 3)  Ashley R Pollard I placed a paper shirt into the furnace. The Girl with Ghost Eyes: The Daoshi Chronicles, Book One M. H. Boroson And Witches Bess ran. The clear night sky and fat moon gave ample illumination for her flight. The Witch’s Daughter: A Novel Paula Brackston There had been no sign of the hunters for three days. The Witches of the Wytewoods M J Thompson I decided that Orion needed to die after the second time he saved my life. A Deadly Education: A Novel (The Scholomance Book 1) Naomi Novik […]

Do You Want to Read More?

Lynette M Burrows

First Line Friday is a series of blog articles posted on the first Friday of every month. The first line of a story, we’re told, must hook the reader. Implied is that the reader will not buy the book if the first line isn’t great. These entries are from Amazon, my personal library, or other online booksellers. Do these first lines hook you? Do you want to read more? John Allerton sucked in another painful breath and struggled not to cough it out. Tom Abrahams, Unprepared (The Scourge Book 1) Harvey Watson didn’t want to admit it, but he was lost. Ryan Casey, Outbreak: A Post Apocalyptic Survival Thriller  I had my recurring dream last night. Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower Alex Hawk looked from one corner of his basement to the other. Shawn Inmon, A Door Into Time: An Alex Hawk Time Travel Adventure Let’s start with the end of the world, why don’t we? N.K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth Book 1) It feels like we’re running away… S. M. Anderson, A Bright Shore (The Eden Chronicles Book 1) I sometimes wonder what was disappeared first—among all the things that have vanished from the island. […]

First Lines for August

Lynette M Burrows

August is the seventy-fifth anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. So I thought it fitting that I feature novels set in or about World War II in the First Lines for August post. Based on these first lines alone, would you buy the book? At dusk they pour from the sky.  All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr Carla knew her parents were about to have a row. Winter of the World, Ken Follet The man at the end of the long table—he wore a trimmed black beard streaked white at the ends of his mouth—looked up at the wall clock: three minutes past seven. Prologue, From Time to Time, Jack Finney We stood bunched in with the little crowd you can see on the balcony down there at the right—see it?—just over the pillared entrance to the Everett House: Julia and I, her hands in her muff; and our four-year-old son, chin on the balcony rail. Chapter One, From Time to Time, Jack Finney SS-Sturmbannfürer Gunther Dettmer had been dreaming of this day since his childhood.   The Heroes of Sainte-Mère-Église, J.D. Keene Once Harry made a decision, he rarely looked back. Midnight in Broad Daylight: […]