Will You Buy These Books Based on the First Lines?

June 5, 2020August 6, 2020 Lynette M Burrows

Buying books is a personal thing. What one person loves the next one hates. Why you buy this book instead of that one isn’t the same reason I buy those books. Covers, descriptions, reviews, word of mouth are all used to make buying decisions. But will you buy these books based on the first lines? First Lines The alley was dark and stank of piss and vomit. It was home for quick-footed rats and the bony, hungry-eyed felines who hunted them. J.D. Robb, Rapture in Death He, or very possibly she, was known as The Rose Thief. Claire Buss, The Rose Thief Gramp Stevens sat in a lawn chair, watching the mower at work, feeling the warm, soft sunshine seep into his bones. Clifford Simak, City I was loving this. First day on the job and I was off to a possible location of the vamp killers. Rose Montague, Jade I’ll make my report as if I told a story, for I was taught as a child on my homeworld that Truth is a matter of the imagination. Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness. Kamakzi. The word looped in my head, and I tasted it. Kamakzi. Elin […]

Pearls of Wisdom From Science Fiction

May 13, 2020May 13, 2020 Lynette M Burrows

No matter what we experience in life there is always someone who has shared a pearl of wisdom that we can apply. The same is true of our pandemic life today. Here are some pearls of wisdom from science fiction books and authors. “Beware At war Or at peace, More people die Of unenlightened self-interest Than of any other disease” ― Octavia Butler Nobody dares to solve the problems-because the solution might contradict your philosophy, and for most people clinging to beliefs is more important than succeeding in the world. ― Michael Crichton, State of Fear The monsters don’t live in the belly of the world like they all say. The monsters live inside of us. We make the monsters. ― Kameron Hurley, The Stars are Legion All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible. ― Frank Herbert,Chapterhouse: Dune Arrogance and Conceit are the mother and father of a closed mind. ― Richard Nance, “Journey of the Chosen” Just as every villain imagines themselves a hero, few heroes see when they’ve become the villain. ― Nicholas Tana Fire is catching!” I am shouting now, determined he will not miss […]

Which Great Line Would Make You Read the Book?

May 8, 2020August 6, 2020 Lynette M Burrows

Have you gone through your to-be-read (TBR) pile yet? Or do you look at your TBRs and find nothing that interests you right now? Here’s a collection of lines from various speculative fiction novels. Which great line would make you read the book? Anthology “I have no mouth. And I must scream…” ― Harlan Ellison, I Have No Mouth and I MustScream Cyberpunk “Bees? Are you telling me we have space bees?” ― David Colello, Trillion Dollar Sky: Mission Cerex Horror “Jane woke, stretched, and decided to kill herself. If she hadn’t found a reason to live by the end of the day, she would jump from the rig. It felt good to have a plan.” ― Adam Baker, Outpost Science Fiction Beware of more powerful weapons. They often inflict as much damage to your soul as they do to you enemies. ― Greg Cox, The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh “There was no escaping the screaming rats.” ― Jim L. Owens, The Neptune Bubble I am a leg of the death tripod that will destroy our foes. ― Frank Herbert, Dune “Damn it, no horizon should bend upward.” Jan S. Gephardt, What’s Bred in the Bone “What was I before the war? It’s hard to remember that far back. […]