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Originally Posted by tompe
No, the only way to see in a paragraph if a book is bad is if there are typos or bad language.
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Really?
Cause I can get a lot more...
...and we are *supposed* to get a lot more.
If there is one thing that writers get hammered into their heads is that you need a strong lead; either a quick hook or a clear narrative voice, preferably both.
One paragraph was all I needed to know that Gaiman's STARDUST was going to be a jewel. I was a tad skeptical about Harry Potter (an adult-friendly book that was also supposed to be age-appropriate for ten year-olds?) but the dickensian tone settled that question right away. Asimov's THE GODS THEMSELVES opening with Chapter Five, Heinlein's BEYOND THIS HORIZON opening with the protagonist tallying up "sourpusses" in a utopia...
I'm not scared of the odd typo or bad grammar (in a first or second-person narrative) per-se, but I do demand a good opening.
Grammar or not, they don't get much better than this:
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"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."
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Except maybe this:
Quote:
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He was one hundred and seventy days dying and not yet dead. He fought for survival with the passion of a beast in a trap. He was delirious and rotting, but occasionally his primitive mind emerged from the burning nightmare of survival into something resembling sanity. Then he lifted his mute face to Eternity and muttered: "What's a matter, me? Help, you goddamn gods! Help, is all."
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