first lines - Lynette M. Burrows

Myths, Magic, and Monsters YA First Lines

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 from myths, magic, and monsters YA hook you? Do you want to read more?

The Cover of Lore by Alexandra Bracken features a Medusa head in all white with the tag line of Bind Your Fate to Mine and a first line from myths magic and monsters ya

He woke to the feeling of rough ground beneath him and the stench of mortal blood.
Lore by Alexandra Bracken

“What do you want from us?” A tall, slender woman with doll-like features and beautifully curled, blonde hair demands in a shaking tone that betrays her state of absolute terror.
Blood (Redrowen) by D.C. Hart

The Cover of Fallen Shroud by D. J. Dalton features a woman in black leather jacket and white t-shirt with blue swirls of magic around her.

It wasn’t uncommon for kids to have an imaginary friend.
Fallen Shroud: Twisted Curse Book One by D. J. Dalton

This is a story of the Sun and the Earth.
Well, not quite.
A Song of Entanglement by Deena Helm

The cover of Fire Falls into the depths by R. A. Cooper features a young woman standing atop a mountain with icy magic depending form her hands.

In three days, my life went from tracking down the Jags to being hunted and saving my friends from the lion-headed vultures.
Fire Falls Into the Depths: Book Two of The Brimstone Archives by R. A. Cooper

Clarification

There are no affiliate links in this post. I don’t make a cent off of the books listed on this page. Usually these titles are pulled at random. They are here for your enjoyment. And to entice you to buy more books.

If you liked those first lines, I hope you’ll love these:

The giant bronze angel of death loomed over Miranda Clarke’s shoulder.
My Soul to Keep, Book One in the Fellowship Dystopia by Lynette M. Burrows

Fellowship.
One word and Ian Hobart’s world teetered into not safe.
Fellowship, a companion novel to the Fellowship Dystopia by Lynette M. Burrows

Do You Want to Read More?

Did you enjoy these first lines celebrating YA myths, magic, and monsters? Check out previous First Line Fridays posts. You’ll put another enormous smile on my face if you tell me in the comments below— Which myths, magic, and monsters YA first lines spoke to you? Did you buy it?

First Lines for September

First Lines 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 for September hook you? Do you want to read more?

Image of the book cover for The Legacy: Elijah. A seven stars above a cityscape silhouette sits inside a circle with wings.

An ear to the door. So simple it was stupid.
The Legacy: Elijah (The Legacy Series Book 3) by Tricia Wentworth

The night it began, all we could do was listen to the chaos.
Trying to Survive (Part 1) by C.J. Crowley

Charlie sat on a cracked curb in what had been just an hour before, a great city.
Simulant by Bobby Adair

An hour after the Resurrection Formula team leaders were served breakfast by his Bags, Brandon Kirby marched in the ballroom of his Connecticut country home.
The Opulent Life Option: A Dystopian Novel by Craig Proffitt

The scream builds in my chest, threatens to erupt out of me.
Contain (BUNKER 12) (Volume 1) Saul Tanpepper

Shayna Coldrake eased the truck around to the backside of a two-story house, watching for any sign of life.
Scorched Earth (Nevermore Book 1) by Stephen Monaco

A gunshot pierced the night.
A hollow ring echoed in its wake.
Age of Order by Julian North

There were quite a few interesting things about Johnnie: replacing his left hand was a golden claw, he had no scent detectable to any creature on Earth, and he was the most infamous mercenary in two out of three Confederate states.
Beyond the Last War: The Wayward Mercenary by Claude McKenna

And Here’s One More

If you liked those first lines, I hope you’ll love this one:

The giant bronze angel of death loomed over Miranda Clarke’s shoulder.
My Soul to Keep, Book One in the Fellowship Dystopia series by Lynette M. Burrows

Clarification

Do You Want to Read More?

Did you enjoy this list? Check out previous First Line Fridays. You’ll put an enormous smile on my face if you tell me in the comments below— Which of these first lines for September spoke to reader you? Did you buy the book?

From Vultures to Family It’s First Line Friday

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. From Vultures to Family It’s First Line Friday. These entries are from Amazon, my personal library, or other online booksellers. Do these first lines hook you? Do you want to read more?

The black silhouette of a vulture circles overhead, its large dark shape contrasting with the bright afternoon sky.
The Outlands by Tyler Edwards

Prologue-About to Catch Fire
Phillip Chestnut didn’t understand why things had started to go sideways.
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes

So you’re the person responsible for the death of the number one,” the burly man in a security uniform tells me.
All the Whys of Delilah’s Demise by Neve Maslakovic

When we were new, Rosa and I were mid-store, on the magazines table side, and could see through more than half the window.
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

The swallows skipped like flat stones across the surface of the infinity pool, their wings spread, and a lone woman in a gauzy beach coverup—what she might have called a kaftan if that word didn’t sound so matronly—watched them.
The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian

“His entire family was killed in a terrorist attack in Al-Iskan-dariya ten years ago,” said the Chief of Staff to the Executive Director of the Alliance General Intelligence Directorate.
Weft by Simon Rutter

People often tell me their family is strange.
The Arrival by Jessie Massey

Clarification

There are no affiliate links in this post. I don’t make a cent off of the books listed on this page. These titles are here for your enjoyment. And to entice you to buy more books.

Do You Want to Read More?

Did you enjoy From Vultures to Family It’s First Line Friday? Check out previous First Line Fridays. You’ll put another enormous smile on my face if you tell me in the comments below— Which ones spoke to you? Did you buy it?

First Lines from Legendary SF and F True Fans Read

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 are the First Lines from Legendary SF and F true fans read. Do they hook you? Which one(s) will you read?

The cover of The Blazing World and Other Writings includes a portrait of a 17th century woman holding a glob while sitting behind a table with a skull on it. It appears above one of the first lines ffrom Legendary SF and F.

A noble gentleman that had been married many years, but his wife being barren, did bear him no children; at last she died, and his friends did advise him to marry again, because his brother’s children were dead, and his wife was likely to have no more: so he took to wife a virtuous young Lady, and after one year she conceived with child, and great joy there was of all sides: but in her child-bed she died, leaving only one daughter to her sorrowful husband, who in a short time, oppressed with melancholy, died, and left his young daughter, who was not a year old, to the care and breeding of his brother, and withal left her a great estate, for he was very rich.
The Blazing World Margaret Cavendish (1666)

The cover of this version of the book Frankenstein shows a sepia toned look down a path in a forest. One of the legendary SF and F.

You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.
Frankenstein Mary Shelley (1818)

The cover for Isaac Asimov's The Foundation Trilogy shows saucer shaped futuristic or other worldly buildings on tall spindles. A man in robes sits before one of the spindles. A legendary SF and F title.

HARI SELDON—… Born in the 11,988th year of the Galactic Era; died 12,069. The dates are more commonly given in the terms of the current Foundational Era as—79 to the year 1 F.E. Born to middle-class parents on Helicon, Arcturus sector (where his father, in a legend of doubtful authenticity, was a tobacco grower in the hydroponic plants of the planet), he early showed amazing ability in mathematics.
Foundation Isaac Asimov (1951)

The novel The Stars my Destination has a tight focus on a woman's eye. Superimposed over the eye is scome white lines and boxes and a blue ring.

He was one hundred and seventy days dying and not yet dead.
The Stars My Destination Alfred Bester (1957)

Lem's cover of Solaris is a silohette of a bald humanoid figure from the shoulders up looking out at a blue field of stars with the edge of an orange planet or sun at the top of the image.

At nineteen hundred hours ship’s time I climbed down the metal ladder past the bays on either side into the capsule.
Solaris Stanislaw Lem (1961)

The cover of Dune has alternating orange and yellow sand dunes with two yellow moons visible in a star studded night sky at the top of the page. A lone figure in white strides toward the horizon, his cape fluttering in the wind.

In the week before their departure to Arrakis, when all the final scurrying about had reached a nearly unbearable frenzy, an old crone came to visit the mother of the boy, Paul.
Dune,Frank Herbert (1965)

This yellow cover shows leg restraint with a broken chain and the other end of the chain is attached to a planet

I see in Lunaya Pravada that Luna City Council has passed on first reading a bill to examine, license, inspect—and tax—public food vendors operating inside municipal pressure.
The Moon is a Harsh M istress, Robert Heinlein (1966)

Anna Kavan's book, Ice, has a cover that is an albino-like woman's portrait on a blue field. Superimposed over the blue and the woman's face is white frost-like graphics.

I was lost, it was already dusk, I had been driving for hours and was practically out of petrol.
Ice, Anna Kavan (1967)

The cover of the left hand of darkness is a graphic representation of rays a light colored star field and a dark colored star field that meet in a horizontal center line. Radiating lines cross from the center of the horizontal line out to the edges of each star field

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.
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin (1969)

On A Scanner Darkly's cover is a palm-up hand holding some little blue pieces. In the background behind the fingers is a yellow, lit light bulb with a curing extension cord leading to a round wall outlet.

Once a guy stood all day shaking bugs from his hair.
A Scanner Darkly, Philip K Dick (1977)

Clarification

There are no affiliate links in this post. I don’t make a cent off of the books listed on this page. These titles are here for your enjoyment. And to entice you to buy more books.

Now, if you buy My Soul to Keep or Fellowship… that will put a little money in my pocket. And a gigantic smile on my face. I love my readers.

Do You Want to Read More Legendary SF and F?

Did you enjoy theses first lines from legendary SF and F? You might also enjoy previous First Line Friday posts.

And you’ll put another enormous smile on my face if you comment below. Which first lines spoke to you? Did you buy or borrow it?

First Line Friday: Ghosts and Witches and Monsters

It’s October and that means for First Line Friday we’re looking for 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

photograph of a woman in a black cloak looking at a book in front of a pentagram drawn on the wall. Ghosts, witches, and monsters are the theme of this month's first lines Friday post.

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

Her eyes rested above the waterline as a moth struggled inside her mouth.
The Vine Witch Luanne G. Smith

And Monsters

In the beginning there was only the hunt—the primal need to fight, to feed, and to kill.
Wandering Spirit (Bill of the Dead Adventures) Rick Gualtieri

Krizzo fought while curled around himself in the control module.
The Trilisk Ruins (Parker Interstellar Travels Book) Michael McCloskey

“It’s the monster!” Shade Darby cried out, speaking to no one in particular.
Monster (Gone Book 7) Michael Grant

The giant knew Richard Nixon.
Monster: An Alex Delaware Novel Jonathan Kellerman

Tonight’s job had me sitting in a shadowy corner of a dead-end dive watching the unfortunate, the hopeless, and the degenerates.
Evil’s Unlikely Assassin: A Vampire Urban Fantasy Jenn Windrow

Analysis

Finding ghosts and witches and monsters in the lists of science fiction and fantasy books proved to be more difficult than expected. The so-called ghost stories and the witch stories rarely had a first line that established mood or that we were talking ghosts or witches. One reason this might be the trend is to establish the normal world. But I found this disappointing. How about you?

The monster stories almost always established the mood and idea immediately. As a result, these first lines appealed to me, even though I don’t read monster stories often. What do you think?

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll enjoy my previous First Line Friday posts.

Will You Buy One?

I hope you found at least one story about ghosts and witches and monsters that you’ll enjoy. Perhaps you’d like to share a first line from your favorite Halloween-themed book?