What are your favorite opening lines to a sci/fi novel? - Page 4

WT Sharpe · 10-09-2009, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

... my favorite closing line from a short sci-fi story was:

"LET THERE BE LIGHT!" ...

I might as well face it -- no one is going to ask me the name of that story. Just as well. If I gave the name it would spoil the story since I've already given away the punchline. So I won't say the name of the story, or even the author's name, except to say his name rhymes with Eye-sick Rasimov.

Slite · 10-09-2009, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Sure is, and the live show (which I've seen twice now) is even better!

I can imagine. Sadly I have to say I never did see the live show even once, but I would sure love too.

HarryT · 10-09-2009, 08:34 AM

It seems to do a tour of the UK every year. Perhaps you could catch it one of these years - it's well worth seeing.

wayspooled · 10-09-2009, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I might as well face it -- no one is going to ask me the name of that story. Just as well. If I gave the name it would spoil the story since I've already given away the punchline. So I won't say the name of the story, or even the author's name, except to say his name rhymes with Eye-sick Rasimov.

And there was light--.

kalitara · 10-09-2009, 10:17 AM

Well... novella:

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect."

WT Sharpe · 10-09-2009, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wayspooled

And there was light--.

Obviously you're read the story. For the uninitiated, I don't suppose that giving the hint -- author's name rhymes with "Eye-sick Rasimov" -- is giving away too much, since he wrote, I believe, over 400 (or is it 500) books in his lifetime, and upwards of a kazillion short stories.

DMcCunney · 10-09-2009, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Obviously you're read the story. For the uninitiated, I don't suppose that giving the hint -- author's name rhymes with "Eye-sick Rasimov" -- is giving away too much, since he wrote, I believe, over 400 (or is it 500) books in his lifetime, and upwards of a kazillion short stories.

Speaking personally, I didn't ask because I didn't have to. I am quite familiar with the story (and knew the author when he was alive.)
______
Dennis

badgoodDeb · 10-09-2009, 05:26 PM

"LET THERE BE LIGHT!" ...

Also makes a great closing line (or nearly the ending line) of a cult SF movie.

weateallthepies · 10-10-2009, 03:06 AM

EDIT: Whoops mostly fantasy

Bit long but gloriously over the top all the same..

Quote:

Know, oh prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars--Nemedia, Ophir, Brythunia, Hyperborea, Zamora with its dark-haired women and towers of spider-haunted mystery, Zingara with its chivalry, Koth that bordered on the pastoral lands of Shem, Stygia with its shadow-guarded tombs, Hyrkania whose riders wore steel and silk and gold. But the proudest kingdom of the world was Aquilonia, reigning supreme in the dreaming west. Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.

and of course

Quote:

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun

and even

Quote:

Everything starts somewhere, although many physicists disagree.

WT Sharpe · 10-10-2009, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Speaking personally, I didn't ask because I didn't have to. I am quite familiar with the story (and knew the author when he was alive.)
______
Dennis

Fantastic! I do so envy you! I would have loved to have met him. The closest I ever came was when I went to hear him at a speech he gave in my area. He was every bit as engaging in his talk as he was in his works. I considered asking him a question during the Q & A afterward, but -- as can well be imagined -- the line for the microphone was ridiculously long.

He was certainly one of the greats, in more ways than one.

DMcCunney · 10-10-2009, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Fantastic! I do so envy you! I would have loved to have met him. The closest I ever came was when I went to hear him at a speech he gave in my area. He was every bit as engaging in his talk as he was in his works. I considered asking him a question during the Q & A afterward, but -- as can well be imagined -- the line for the microphone was ridiculously long.

He was certainly one of the greats, in more ways than one.

The was a friendly and approachable fellow, who frequently attended SF conventions if they were convenient for him, and liked hanging out with the fans.

At one, I was there with my girlfriend of the time. Isaac liked to play lady's man and flirt with women (though everyone knew he was doing it in fun and was harmless.) He started coming on to my girlfriend, then belatedly realized she was there with me, and promptly backed off, claiming he was "too old for that". "Too old for what, Isaac?", I asked. "Oh, anything!" he replied. "Like writing science fiction?" I riposted.

At that point, Isaac had not written new SF in several years, and was turning out only non-fiction projects. Not long after, a new SF novel by Asimov was released. (If memory serves, _The Gods Themselves_.)

I've never quite been comfortable with the idea that I caused Isaac to return to SF after an absence, but I'd like to think I helped...

______
Dennis

WT Sharpe · 10-10-2009, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weateallthepies

... and of course

Quote:

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun

Of most sincerely and certifiably course!

Greg Anos · 10-10-2009, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lemurion

Have you walked the Road?

Never got past Singing Waters. The fishing was too good.

DMcCunney · 10-10-2009, 11:46 AM

THIS WAS A GOLDEN AGE, a time of high adventure, rich living, and hard dying... but nobody thought so. This was a future of fortune and theft, pillage and rapine, culture and vice... but nobody admitted it. This was an age of extremes, a fascinating century of freaks... but nobody loved it.

______
Dennis

DMcCunney · 10-10-2009, 11:50 AM

I always get the shakes before a drop. I've had the injections, of course, and hypnotic preparation, and it stands to reason that I can't really be afraid. The ship's psychiatrist has checked my brain waves and asked me silly questions while I was asleep and he tells me that it isn't fear, it isn't anything important - it's just like the trembling of an eager race horse in the starting gate.

I couldn't say about that; I've never been a race horse. But the fact is: I'm scared silly, every time.

______
Dennis

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10-09-2009, 08:34 AM	#48
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,545 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	It seems to do a tour of the UK every year. Perhaps you could catch it one of these years - it's well worth seeing.

10-09-2009, 10:17 AM	#50
kalitara Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Kansas Device: Kindle 2	Well... novella: "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect."

10-09-2009, 05:26 PM	#53
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,550 Karma: 64462893 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	"LET THERE BE LIGHT!" ... Also makes a great closing line (or nearly the ending line) of a cult SF movie.

10-10-2009, 11:46 AM	#59
DMcCunney New York Editor Posts: 6,384 Karma: 16540415 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: PalmTX, Pocket eDGe, Alcatel Fierce 4, RCA Viking Pro 10, Nexus 7	THIS WAS A GOLDEN AGE, a time of high adventure, rich living, and hard dying... but nobody thought so. This was a future of fortune and theft, pillage and rapine, culture and vice... but nobody admitted it. This was an age of extremes, a fascinating century of freaks... but nobody loved it. ______ Dennis

10-10-2009, 11:50 AM	#60
DMcCunney New York Editor Posts: 6,384 Karma: 16540415 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: PalmTX, Pocket eDGe, Alcatel Fierce 4, RCA Viking Pro 10, Nexus 7	I always get the shakes before a drop. I've had the injections, of course, and hypnotic preparation, and it stands to reason that I can't really be afraid. The ship's psychiatrist has checked my brain waves and asked me silly questions while I was asleep and he tells me that it isn't fear, it isn't anything important - it's just like the trembling of an eager race horse in the starting gate. I couldn't say about that; I've never been a race horse. But the fact is: I'm scared silly, every time. ______ Dennis

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