Sunday, October 14, 2018

Top SF Opening Lines


Is there anything better than a great opening line or paragraph? It can set the tone for the whole book, and oftentimes a great opening will hook me right from the get-go. I was thinking about this and I realized that there are just some that stick with me, even years later. And how fun would it be to share them? I'd love to see yours as well, so if you have any favorites share 'em in the comments! 


The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy 

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by [Adams, Douglas]

"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun."

Game of Thrones 

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)

"We should start back," Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them. "The wildlings are dead."

Six Wakes 

Six Wakes

"Sound struggled to make its way through the thick synth-amneo fluid."

"With the smears on the outside of the vat and the purple color through the bluish fluid Maria floated in, she figured the orbs were blood drops. Blood shouldn't float. That was the first problem."  

Star Wars  

A New Hope  (Star Wars: Novelizations, #4)

"ANOTHER galaxy, another time. The Old Republic was the Republic of legend, greater than distance or time."

"They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally they became heroes."

Leia Organa of Alderaan, senator

Replica

Replica (Replica, #1) 

"On very still nights sometimes we can hear them chanting, calling for us to die."

Contagion

Contagion (Contagion, #1)

"In the ransacked Black Quarry base, the boy climbed into an overhead vent and secured the cover behind him. Peering through the crosshatched metal, he watched the engineer consider the pistol in his lap."

The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)

"As she woke up in the pod, she remembered three things."

Lost Girls

Lost Girls

"I remember last night perfectly. I know what we ate for dinner. I know my little brother didn't do his homework. I know Dad drove me to my ballet lessons, and then waited for me in the Starbucks across the street. I know that, later in the evening, I fell asleep when I was supposed to be studying geometry, my earbuds in while I listened to Taylor Swift's latest album. That was my yesterday. The problem is, everyone, from my parents to my teachers to the police, say that stuff didn't happen yesterday. It happened last year."

The Pack

The Pack (The Wanderers, #2)

"Two lions met a woman in the woods. 
Ro could tell right away that the woman was like them- a shifter, and a lion- in the way she held herself."

Obsidian and Stars

Obsidian and Stars (Ivory and Bone, #2)

"The day is so new, it's barely day at all. Yet we are already far out on the blue water, gliding under the blue sky. The first rays of the sun paint long stripes of light on the surface."

Brave New Girl

Brave New Girl by [Vincent, Rachel]

"When I was little, I thought every girl in the world looked just like me, because that's how it is in the nurseries."  

The Extinction Trials 



"She couldn't see him. She didn't even know he was there." 

20 comments:

  1. oh wow ok! I GOTTA read Lost Girl and Replica! It's Oliver so I'm not surprised! wow what a first line!

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    1. Hey Daniela! Yes you do- they're both great! :)

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  2. I'm going to be reading Chambers and Lafferty this November! :)

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  3. such great examples! I love all of them especially Star Wars.

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  4. I couldn't agree with you more about opening lines, they really can make or break a book. One of the best ones I've ever read is from the Lady Julia Grey series by Deanna Raybourn, so good!

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  5. I love the one from Replica. I'm a sucker for a really creepy or funny opening line.

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

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  6. So many great books here. I really want to read Brave New Girl and Obsidian and Stars but I just haven't gotten to them yet.

    This is a really great post, opening lines are always really important and often what I use to judge if I'll keep reading the book after a while.

    Thanks for sharing,
    ~Brittany @ Brittany's Book Rambles

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  7. I love the opening line to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! But the opening lines of Contagion, The Pack, and Lost Girls totally make me want to check out and read those books, too. Fun post! :)

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  8. Great lines. I really like Hitchhiker's Guide and Replica

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  9. So many great first lines here. I really love the ones for the Hitchhiker's Guide and A Game of Thrones.

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  10. 😂 I can barely remember opening lines by the end of the book, though I agree, a good one can get me from the get go and possibly determine if I will like or dislike the book (sometimes that isn't the case, but it usually is). I really like the opening from Six Wakes and the cover! Brave New Girl has a good opening as well - perhaps the accuracy of that sentence calls to me.

    I enjoy The Extinction Trials as well! It gives off THG vibes, which might be the intention.

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  11. Ah! Opening lines can be the best. I can't recall any on the top of my head but it is usually my favorite reads that have the best opening lines for sure. That or any mystery really. I'm curious why would, in the Lost Girls, would the family know all those details happened the year before. I guess she could have been captured.

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  12. Why is Lauren Oliver so brilliant!? Like I got chills from that line and I didnt even love the book hahha. And now you are REALLY making me want to read Obsidian and Stars. These are great!

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  13. You keep teminding me how I need to do a re-read of Hitchhikker's. I think that is my favorite cover, too! 🚀

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  14. I've never read Hitchhiker's Guide, but it seems fun. Ooh the second and third book openings are creepy, in different ways, and definitely set some tones for the books! The Replica one is strange and makes me curious. Actually so does the Contagion one. What is he doing with that pistol? Why is that kid watching him from a hidden space? Ooh, the Lost Girls one was so chilling! These are some great opening lines!

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  15. I'm so looking forward to the third Extinction Trials book!

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