First Lines is a series of blog articles posted around the first of the month. I started this series thanks to a friend’s suggestion that I write a post on how to write the first line of your story. My idea was to inspire not only me but other writers and point readers to books they might enjoy. This month’s edition features the challenges of exploring new lands and new peoples.
As writers, we’re often told that the first line of a story must hook the reader (particularly if that reader is an editor.) Implied is that the editor will not buy the book if the first line isn’t great. But the hooky-ness of a first line is in the eyes of the beholder. I hope you enjoy these.
Prologue
There are great deserts in space. Matter is not spread evenly. On average it balances out in all directions, but some regions are not average.
For every dense cluster of galaxies in one place, there is a tremendous void somewhere else. These voids are not black holes. They are areas of normal space that just happen to contain…nothing much. There are no galaxies within them, no stars, no planets, and no moons.
They can stretch tens or even hundreds of millions of light years across. Scientists have theorized that, if a man found himself at the center of such an empty space and looked around, he would see only darkness in every direction. Even the brightest galaxies, they say, would be too far distant to be visible to the naked eye.
I got a chance to test that theory firsthand.
The Voided Man, Anthony Dean
The jet throttled back, slowing below transonic on the descent into San Jan. Isabel Perez gazed at the brilliant blue ocean lapping on emerald hills and caught her breath. She imagined a different scene twenty-seven years ago, days after her birth, hours before Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. Her parents took her away, leaving a birthplace she never knew, and to which she never expected to return.
Until today.
The SST, wings swept forward for the approach, descended over the outskirts of an island simmering in glorious disorder. Gray sprawl emerged from the vibrant green of lush forest, dotted with blue tarps in various shades of age. Closer still, traffic choked the roads. A thousand roofs, mottled with black mold, clustered around the infrequent islands of the solar collectors that covered every structure back in Tampa.
Isla Malta: A Fable of Puerto Rico in 2045, Sebastian Faust
Reggie rolled his eyes for the hundredth time that day as he listened to the never-ending complaints of the Caldivar on the other end of the call. So many beings refused to understand why he needed remote access to their computer to solve their issues. The most common excuse was they were uncomfortable with a stranger rummaging around in their private information. He’d heard it all before.
In any case, he’d already told the customer three times how to solve the issue, but she stridently insisted she’d done all that, and it didn’t work.
“Ma’am,” Reggie said patiently, “unfortunately, if you won’t allow me access to your terminal, then I’m afraid there isn’t much I can do to help you. Will you allow me access?”
Hunters & Hijinks: A Salvage Title Universe Novel (Salvage Treasure Book 1) , Nick Steverson and Melissa Olthoff
Captain Halit “Throttle” Reyne ran her third lap through the Gabriela’s vacant corridors. She could hear her boots hit the floor, but she couldn’t feel them. In fact, she couldn’t feel anything below her hips.
The ship’s motion sensors turned on the lights before her, and she knew from fifteen years of being on board the Gabriela that the lights would also turn off behind her. Her lungs burned—it was a good burn, like sipping a glass of dark rum. She pushed herself to run faster. Her leg braces clicked with every step.
The cargo hauler the had been repurposed as a colony ship was over a half mile in diameter and seven levels high.
Flight of the Javelin, Box Set, Rachel Aukes
Of all the bars in the galaxy, he had to walk into mine. Not that Lost was my bar. But it was a good bar as haunt bars went, and I didn’t want it ruined by a human infestation.
I gulped down the last of my cold brew coffee. They stocked it just for me. I added a tip for Rita, and stood, choosing to meet trouble head-on rather than wait for it to reach me.
Trouble stood about six feet tall, faking casual well, but not actually relaxed. His narrowed brown eyes met mine. “Madison Cardinal?”
I tipped my head toward the door. “Outside.”
He swiveled to precede me. His confidence in the alien bar, his fitness and the efficient precision of his movements marked whims a Pax Ranger veteran.
Alien Haunts, Pax Galactica Book 3, Jenny Schwarz
Blood gushes through my fingers like melted butter. It soaks through the wad of blue fabric pressed into the gaping wound.
Callaghan’s body is still beneath my hands. His face is damp, chalky, and pale. His eyes are still slightly open, but there’s no fight left in them. Callaghan has surrendered.
“We have a problem,” says Maggie.
She’s kneeling over the hostess’s body—the bot that’s been passing for human.
Callaghan must have smashed her head with the edge of the heavy Fram he ripped off the wall. She—it—didn’t shed a single drop of blood. All that’s left is a corpse of silicone, plastic, and copper.
Colony War, The Elder Chronicles Book 2, Tarah Banner
Clarification
There are no affiliate links in this post. I don’t make a cent off of the books listed on this page. Usually I pull these titles at random. They are from Amazon, my personal library, my area public library, or other online booksellers.
Do You Want to Read More?
Do these first lines hinting at the challenges of new lands and new peoples hook you? Do you want to read more? They are here for your enjoyment. And to entice you to buy more books.
Check out previous First Lines posts.