Through fire and death (Korovia Book 1)

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What kind of a jerk-face rips off his own boa constrictor?

About colin_falconer_author@hotmail.com

I am full of shame. Didja catch the incredible alliteration in the Alphabetical Africa line? Jan 11, The first line of Ella Enchanted: It wasn't epic like most choices, but it was cute and engaging. Awesome poll, and really hard choices. P Besides, if the line grabbed you, that's all you need. I've actually been meaning to read Ella Enchanted for a while, just 'cause it seemed kinda fun. Thanks for your addition! I was hoping you'd pop up and throw in your two cents, Antoine. I'm so glad to see you did. It was hard to limit myself to these answers. More and more awesome lines would pop into my head as I went along.

Jan 12, Mark I agree that the last line's power comes from the context of all the lines before it. One of the links I shared was the best first and last line combo. I think that would be a good one. Some authors grab you then don't know how to end things. Like a song that repeats and fades. A "This poll contains spoilers" would be a good feature. Btw, has such a good last line because it's only 4 words long and says so much. I mean, what can I say in 4 words? Jan 13, P And I'm not really a scaley, so it's not terribly accurate say "Mark likes dinosaur girls".

I mean, I'm sure that a lot of girl dinosaurs were every bit as neat as boy dinosaurs, even better in some regards, but I don't like them in the same way that I like human girls. And you're entirely right about the books that taper off without a good, final punch. That's pretty much one of my biggest criticisms of my own work. I can create a mess just fine, thank you very much.

But my ability to create a satisfying resolution? An "Ending Line" poll or "Ending Line s " poll, as the case may be , still feels a little too much like a spoiler parade to me, even with a Spoiler Tag warning. My fidgety mind set would demand that I be as thorough as possible, but I'd still want a whole bunch of people to participate. Being thorough would mean I would have to list every single book that has the ending lines presented so a person would be warned before they even opened the poll.

You'd have to read through this gi-normous caveat and I still might wind up blowing the ending of a book for someone, and bam, I yam left with guilt again. Gomen nasai , Amber! So, while I think it'd be excellent fun to go through and put together, I think it'd have to be in some other venue, where impressionable young readers wouldn't just happen upon it and find out, say, that Moby Dick was actually Herman Melville's mother-in-law the whole time.

My guilt module couldn't take that. I respect your desire to keep something in this world a secret. As much as I love movie trailers, some of my favorite films were seen cold. I wasn't looking for specific scenes to happen. I just let it unfold. Sorry about miscounting the words. That's why I'm in Math In a way, you only need 2 words "Mark likes" everyone knows the rest.

You come correct , home-slice! I wouldn't worry about the actual word count. You're getting up to those math levels where all the numbers are imaginary. And that could be a poll in and of itself: All of the above. Jan 14, You come correct, home-slice! I have an imaginary number of imaginary friends. Which, I guess, is only marginally more difficult than trying not to swallow someone else's tongue.

Or ton, if you're your aunt. This is one of my favorite opening lines, but there are many in this poll I'm a fan of. Brother Card is never going to speak to me again. Thanks for bringing that back to my recollection, Paige. Urgh, It's been about a million years since I've read anything Ender related.

And now I've got the jones again. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in! Thanks also for voting, and especially for bringing another opener to the table! Jan 15, Kat , I am not going to lie to you. That is far creepier than I remembered Charlotte's Web ever being.

Two million points for you. Thanks so much for playing! Jan 16, That's a good one. Speaking of Rebecca, I have always been partial to "There was no possibility of going for a walk that day. That opening line always makes me think it'd be the start of an awesome Kate Bush song. Thanks for sharing, Sara! Jane Eyre is also a good choice, Antoine. See how hard it was to limit myself for this poll? Jan 17, Darn near impossible, I would say.

But you did a fine job here, Mark.

It is a lot like Dictionary, only instead of creating and bluffing the definition of a word you don't know, you are given the title, author, and concise plot summary of a novel, and you need to come up with a plausible first or last line depending on the flip of a coin. One of them, of course, is the real first or last line. If you don't have a deck of the cards, you can just pick out a stack of fiction and play it that way. Jan 18, This poll is awesome. Makes me wish I could remember first lines Jan 19, Good list fella, but here be the best opening line, ever Do love as well though.

Jan 20, This poll would have been better if the names of the authors weren't revealed. I didn't even read all of them. It is a lot like Dictionary, only instead of creating and bluffing the defi Ex Libris sounds like a game I used to play quite frequently, called Balderdash. The idea was basically the same, except you were providing plots for television shows and movies, or definitions for weird words. I'm going to have to look for it at Hastur's on the way home.

No Stephen King on my list, either? Man, I oughta be pummeled. I'm very glad you brought it up! I can feel like less of a ninny, now. I wish I had these all memorized. I do feel a little happy that I can remember that there were lines that I liked, at least.

Thompson without also thinking of Gonzo, the trumpet playing? I blame the Boston Globe. And that is a great first line. Although, you can tell how awesomely counter-culture I am when I read the words "Hunter S. Thomspon" and the first thing I think of is a muppet. There are multiple others on the poll I've always liked Neur I've never even heard of Quest for a Maid. It sounds like something I need to read.

Then I really would have voted on the quality of the first line, not because I loved that particular author, also, WA I know the poll was pretty long, but I had to practically sit on my hands to keep from adding more. I just had too much fun making it. I'm sorry if its length was offputting to you, but I'm glad you made it as far as you did. Thanks for your considerate and thoughtful advice. And I wish my first two initials were "D.

Jan 21, Well, I voted for "Catcher in the Rye", but i want also to suggest: Stranger in Strange Land by Heinlein. Search for a book to add a reference. We take abuse seriously in our discussion boards. Only flag comments that clearly need our attention. As a general rule we do not censor any content on the site. The only content we will consider removing is spam, slanderous attacks on other members, or extremely offensive content eg.

We will not remove any content for bad language alone, or being critical of a particular book. Benjamin 14 books 0 friends. Wake books 1 friend. Mauve 15 books 2 friends. Fay books 0 friends. Tabz 15 books 0 friends. I am a sick man. I am a spiteful man. Protagonist, main problem and goal all in the first line. This is why he got his reputation as an economical writer. It was the day my grandmother exploded. Banks, The Crow Road. It was love at first sight.

And nothing like the kind of love the reader is expecting. The novel just keeps getting better, funnier and stranger from there. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby. Flannery was a genius.

THE BEST 43 OPENING LINES IN NOVEL WRITING HISTORY

She never said more than she needed to say but it was always enough to keep the reader asking why. Wonderful metaphor, and so many questions arise from this simple sentence. You just have to know what he means and why the past is important to him. This is an opening that is impossible to resist. She raises two questions that you immediately want answered — one has to do with sex, the other with death. This is why other writers were afraid of Virginia Woolf. Kafka always started his stories at the very beginning, which is when Gregor changes into a cockroach. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful.

Or at least, how I try. Markus establishes voice, the unique nature of his narrator and tells you where this story is going. Cheating, I suppose, as this is more than just one line. Burgess introduces not only his characters but the new language he uses in the novel. He was outrageously handsome, even when he was drunk. His skin was olive dark and there was a reed-thin black moustache on his top lip.

He wore a white linen suit, an affectation usually reserved for visiting potentates and ambassadors. It looked as natural on the Corsican as his own skin.

Underneath the suit he wore a black silk shirt. The bar was open to the street, so there were no walls to absorb the impact; but the unexpected arrival of a large burgundy red American automobile with massive rear fins quickly scattered the occupants, who were mostly bored foreign correspondents and diplomats. The chrome bumper bar splintered several rattan tables and chairs, and demolished half of the bamboo bar. Dusty bottles of Vermouth, Byrrh and black rum toppled off the shelves and shattered on the floor. There was a ripple of applause from the western journalists, who were also drunk.

Any madness was a welcome diversion.

This Poll is About

At that moment Baptiste saw Noelle, stood on the bench seat of the Packard, and gave her a low bow. He was one of his business associates from Bangkok, wealthy, sophisticated, insufferable. He was also almost as old as her father. The barman brought the Corsican his cognac. He raised the glass towards her in salute and climbed out of the Packard. He made his way, a little unsteadily, across the bar towards them. All I want is the exquisite pleasure of having such a lovely young woman in my arms.

This is a wonderful piece not just for readers but for writers or visa versa. We all hear how wonderful books are, but few remember they are not really reading print on a page or screen, they are reading another mind, another person, another set of dreams, another soul.

Reading is human company. The whole debate about print v digital is really only about reading preference — literature, as you say, is about reading another soul. And the really good writers somehow translate theirs into story. A wonderful compilation of first lines. A few I remember; most I do not. Thank you for your kind words.

A lot of inspiring stuff there. One of my favorite characters. He was a tough man to redeem. I guess they do Julia. But he comes good in the end. He has to try and better himself and I guess from there the only way was up. Took a world war to shift him though. That is the only book that he never finished to my knowledge; I loved it. Thank you for the openers. I remember reading Catch in three days when I was 17 in between studying for finals and playing football seven times a week.

Yossarian remains one of the sanest lunatics in Literature, and that line — when you understand what he actually means — was a great way of introducing us to his warped mind.

There are some great opening lines here; not all led to books I enjoyed but I admire the craft with which each author introduced their story. Some lines can stick to you like a Disney song, pick one. Once was all that was needed they assured me. Now, I am doomed… Thanks, Colin. When I read it for the first time, I remember rolling my eyes. Never heard of it, Vickie. Evocative, extensively researched and emotionally complex, TRIAD is an edge of the seat thriller about greed, love, crime and redemption.

She survives the Titanic, witnesses first-hand the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, serves as a nurse in the Irish Civil War. Finally reunited with her childhood sweetheart, she still cannot escape her troubled past. Before she can save anyone else, she must first find a way to save herself. He's my kind of writer.

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