What are your favorite opening lines to a sci/fi novel?

wayspooled · 10-02-2009, 08:50 PM

Did you ever buy or get hooked on a sci/fi novel because of the very first line? What are your favorites?

Neuromancer - "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel"

kennyc · 10-02-2009, 09:15 PM

...to wound the autumnal city.

pilotbob · 10-02-2009, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wayspooled

Neuromancer - "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel"

Of course, kids today will read that and say... How can the sky be black? That's just weird.

BOb

kennyc · 10-02-2009, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Of course, kids today will read that and say... How can the sky be black? That's just weird.

BOb

or bright blue!

pilotbob · 10-02-2009, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

or bright blue!

Or have a message that says "You are not subscribed to this channel, please call your cable provider."

BOb

neilmarr · 10-03-2009, 01:16 AM

***It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.***

One of my all time favourite opening lines. Orwell's 1984, of course. N

montsnmags · 10-03-2009, 04:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

...to wound the autumnal city.

You know, SF is my favourite genre, and yet I couldn't remember a single opening line from one SF book(*)...until you said that, and it all flooded back.

Cheers,
Marc
(*) Others, yes, but not SF.

kennyc · 10-03-2009, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by montsnmags

You know, SF is my favourite genre, and yet I couldn't remember a single opening line from one SF book(*)...until you said that, and it all flooded back.

Cheers,
Marc
(*) Others, yes, but not SF.

Dhalgren is one of my favorites.

HarryT · 10-03-2009, 05:44 AM

"Tonight we're going to show you eight silent ways to kill a man."

Joe Haldeman - "The Forever War".

Sparrow · 10-03-2009, 05:48 AM

"No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water."

HarryT · 10-03-2009, 05:49 AM

Good one, Sparrow. That one really is a "classic", in every sense.

montsnmags · 10-03-2009, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Good one, Sparrow. That one really is a "classic", in every sense.

I don't know that from the opening of the book, seeing as I haven't read it. I do know it (or, rather, it-with-variation) from the opening of one of my first LPs, which still sits in the record collection back at mum's.

Cheers,
Marc

HarryT · 10-03-2009, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by montsnmags

I don't know that from the opening of the book, seeing as I haven't read it. I do know it (or, rather, it-with-variation) from the opening of one of my first LPs, which still sits in the record collection back at mum's.

Cheers,
Marc

You really should read it, Marc! You can download it here at MR.

montsnmags · 10-03-2009, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

You really should read it, Marc! You can download it here at MR.

Yes, I should. ~sigh~ (As a prompt for myself though, I will download it right this minute).

Cheers,
Marc

HarryT · 10-03-2009, 09:58 AM

It's a very short book; you can easily read it in an evening.

10-02-2009, 08:50 PM	#1
wayspooled Crab In The Dark Posts: 486 Karma: 2328180 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Virginia Device: Tablet PC until a 10" comes out that I like	What are your favorite opening lines to a sci/fi novel? Did you ever buy or get hooked on a sci/fi novel because of the very first line? What are your favorites? Neuromancer - "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel"

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10-02-2009, 09:15 PM	#2
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,930 Karma: 119747553 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2 & PW, Onyx Boox Go6	...to wound the autumnal city.

10-03-2009, 01:16 AM	#6
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,215 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	**It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.** One of my all time favourite opening lines. Orwell's 1984, of course. N

10-03-2009, 05:44 AM	#9
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,560 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	"Tonight we're going to show you eight silent ways to kill a man." Joe Haldeman - "The Forever War".

10-03-2009, 05:48 AM	#10
Sparrow Wizard Posts: 4,395 Karma: 1358132 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: UK Device: Palm TX, CyBook Gen3	"No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water."

10-03-2009, 05:49 AM	#11
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,560 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Good one, Sparrow. That one really is a "classic", in every sense.

10-03-2009, 09:58 AM	#15
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,560 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	It's a very short book; you can easily read it in an evening.