Celebrating (or commiserating) with the USA as the nation enters back to school days, these first lines are from stories about space cadet or magic school.
First Lines is a series of blog articles posted on around the first of the month. Inspired by a friend’s suggestion that I write a post on how to write the first line of your story, I started this series. My idea was to inspire my writing with these examples. I also hoped to inspire other writers and point readers to books they might enjoy.
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.
I stare through the bug-smeared canopy at the tan desert floor rushing up to meet me. Bile creeps up in my throat as the harness digs painfully into my clavicles. Fighting against the pain and nausea, I pull the small plane up and hard right.
Prologue
A scream tore through the silence, echoing down the halls of the quiet hospital. The essential first breath was drawn. It was over. Jacquelyn squeezed her eyes shut and with a final pant of exhaustion, slumped back against the pillow.
Chapter 1:
From One Impossible Job to the Next
I stood in front of the assembled survivors from Operation Blackbird aboard the transport ship headed to the Expo system. It had been a long process to get to this point, we had trained and fought and bled… and altogether too many of my people had died.
Prologue
Cassiopeia B- Date 2280/06/01
The shuttle’s engines hummed in the background as the thrusters ignited, SSE00007 was thrown back into her seat as the shuttle went into evasive maneuvers. She was sure of that as the small ship was violently shaken by what must’ve been a near missile explosion.
Fleet Mage Academy: Star Sorceress: Book One, D.L. Harrison
Chapter One:
Ghost and Alistair Blackstar
Ghost read the letter again with bitter disbelief. The Feast of Shadows, in his honor? It had to be a mistake. In his decade as a member of Solaria’s most notorious assassin’s guild, he’d attended the event only once.
Battledeck Academy: Reborn Assassin Book 1, Harmon Cooper
The First Defining Moment
Six-year-old Anna circled her sister, staff twirling in her hands, snow crunching under her bare feet.“Good. No strike, Anna! Strike!” Sun-bronzed Panza called. The old northern monk stood off to the side in the clearing, arms folded over his chest, almond-shaped eyes alert. The girls’ red brick home sat behind him, nesting amidst the snow-laden spruces like a hibernating bear.
Prodigy of Thunder, Chronicles of Anna Atticus Stone Book 1, Sever Bronny
Prologue
Hi there, dear encrypted diary, repository of all my deepest and darkest secrets, I’ve two confessions to make today..One, I was a complete rube when I first arrived on Earth.. H had no idea. Everything was new and confusing. It completely overwhelmed me.
Chapter 1
The best part about dragon school is choosing your dragon. It’s the part that everyone talks about and the part that they’ll tell stories to their children and children’s children about someday — if they live that long. Dragon riders don’t live very long. Noth that that bothers anyone.
Dragon School: First Flight, Sarah K.L. Wilson
1 Terra Base
To Matthew Brooks Dodson,” the paper in his hand read, “Greetings:
Having successfully completed the field elimination tests for appointment to the position of cadet in the Interplanetary Patrol you are authorized to report to the Commandant, Terra Base, Santa Barbara Field, Colorado, North American Union, Terra, on or before One July 2075, for further examination.”
Chapter One
Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches stood at the top of a high mountain surrounded by a pine forest. It looked more like a prison than a school, with its gloomy grey walls and turrets. Sometimes you could see the pupils on their broomsticks flitting like bats above the playground wall, but usually the place was half hidden in mist, so that if you had glanced up at the mountain you would probably not have noticed the building was there at all.
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Academy!
The sun was just peeking over the horizon, casting a warm glow over the Space Cadet Academy. Luna, Max, and Zara stood at the gates, their eyes wide with anticipation. Today was their first day, and the academy loomed before them, grand and inspiring with its gleaming metal and glass structures
Space Cadet Academy : Starbound Adventures, Selena Harris
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 hook you? Do you want to read more? They are here for your enjoyment. And to entice you to support and encourage your favorite authors by buying, reviewing, and sharing more books.
Check out previous First Lines posts.