nichtszusagen: TT #57

Thursday, June 14, 2007

TT #57

Memorable First Lines
click or highlight the space after each quote to see where it's from

"Many things are not as they seem: The worst things in life never are." --White Night by Jim Butcher
"On the day that his grannie was killed by the English, Sir William Scott the Younger of Buccleuch was at Melrose Abbey, marrying his aunt." --The Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett
"She woke in the body of a dead friend." --Carolina Moon by Nora Roberts
"Sam Vimes sighed when he heard the scream, but he finished shaving before he did anything about it." --Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
"If I'm dead, why does it hurt so much?" --Crimson Moon by Rebecca York
"It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression 'As pretty as an airport.'" --The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
"The unbelievable horror began when Fred walked in on her parents making love on the living room coffee table." --Sleeping with the Fishes by MaryJanice Davidson
"I am haunted by a memory I can't recall." --Living Dead Girl by Tod Goldberg
"God, how I do love being cold and wet." --Rogue Warrior: Option Delta by Richard Marcinko and John Weisman
"Lady Rowenna gasped in horror at the sight of Lord Raoul's majestic purple-helmeted warrior of love." --Improper English by Katie MacAlister
"A piece of advice: If you ever follow someone in my neighborhood, don't wear pink." --Sacred by Dennis Lehane
"Nobody ever tried to stab me when I did corporate work." --Blondes Have More Felons by Alesia Holliday
"It wasn't every day you managed to lose your king while on a security mission to an alien planet." --Parallel Attraction by Deidre Knight

*whew* That was harder than I'd expected it to be. This was supposed to be a quick and easy TT, since today's the last day of school. It's partly because I'm rather picky about what I wanted to post as memorable first lines. They needed to be one sentence, entertaining or intriguing in and of themselves, and convey both the tone and the story of the book. And I wanted to use only one per author. So many have fabulous first scenes, but the very first sentence just isn't much on its own.

Here are a couple of extras, though, just for fun:

"It rained toads the day the White Council came to town." --Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
"The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault." --Blood Rites by Jim Butcher
"Blood leaves no stain on a Warden's grey cloak." --Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher
"On the night he was murdered, Bernardo Baptista dined simply on bread and cheese and a bottle of Chianti." --The Villa by Nora Roberts
"The monster was back." --River's End by Nora Roberts
"Being dead didn't make Jack Mercy less of a son of a bitch." --Montana Sky by Nora Roberts
"The day I died started out bad and got worse in a hurry." --Undead and Unwed by Maryjanice Davidson
"It's hard to meet nice guys when you sell sex toys for a living." --Nice Girls Finish First by Alesia Holliday

So, what are some of your favorite first lines?

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
...more

Categories: ThursdayThirteen

Labels: TT

// posted by Darla @ 6/14/2007 08:57:00 AM

Comments:

My book store never has any of Jim Butcher's books in stock. I'm going to go order a bunch and read them. Those lines are awesome!

# posted by

Unknown : 6/14/2007 1:46 PM

Those are great. Jim Butcher is fantastic.

# posted by

Ann Aguirre : 6/14/2007 2:01 PM

I only knew the Jim Butcher and MJ Davidson ones. Great idea for a list!

# posted by

Angela/SciFiChick : 6/14/2007 2:03 PM

One of my all time favorites, "Last night I dreamt I was at Manderley" from Rebecca.

Good list!

# posted by

Cinnamon Girl : 6/14/2007 3:15 PM

Jim Butcher is my new favorite writer. I'm just chomping at the bit for the next Dresden book.

# posted by

Carmen : 6/14/2007 3:21 PM

Yep, those first liners must be grabbers if you want to keep the readers' attention. :) That's why I spend so much time trying to come up with a good first line.

# posted by

Tempest Knight : 6/14/2007 3:23 PM

I hate coming up with first lines. It takes forever and ever and ever, and sometimes even the good ones Just Aren't Right. Ugh.

I love Marjorie M. Liu's for the novella that kicks of her new urban fantasy series. "My mother used to say that the tale of the world is drawn in blood, blood in flesh, veins forking into destiny like the branches of the tree from which the apple hung and the serpent danced, trading whispers for the corruption of innocents."

# posted by

May : 6/14/2007 4:01 PM

These are all fantastic.

One of my favourite opening lines is...

"My wound is geography" in Prince of Tides.

Your quotes here make me want to read all of these.

Hey happy last day of school. I can't believe it's this time of year already...hope the kids are having fun, I bet they are excited!

Here is mine:

http://gnosticminx.blogspot.com/2007/06/forget-corn-remember-cabbage.html

# posted by

Candy Minx : 6/14/2007 4:01 PM

What a great list...and it looked difficult to do as well! I think I might have to try Jim Butcher :-)

# posted by

Tilly Greene : 6/14/2007 4:31 PM

LOVE that, Darla! Great first lines -- and one surprised me. I thought it would be something different.

Man, I need to read more...

# posted by

Susan Helene Gottfried : 6/14/2007 4:45 PM

Darla, wow, these were amazing. LOVED THESE! Great TT, and thanks visiting mine. Happy Father's day to your troop too. =)

# posted by

Red Garnier : 6/14/2007 4:51 PM

Great list of first lines! :) I like #6, probably because my humans are Douglas Adams fans!

# posted by

Dragonheart, Merlin, Devi, and Chloe : 6/14/2007 5:44 PM

Awesome TT, Darla! I especially love the Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. =)

# posted by

Robin L. Rotham : 6/14/2007 5:49 PM

What a fantastic idea for TT. Love how I could scroll over and see the title of the book at the end. Very cool. Enjoy your summer!

# posted by

Anonymous : 6/14/2007 6:08 PM

Wow, what a list. And you thought that would be simple!?

# posted by

Elle Fredrix : 6/14/2007 6:14 PM

I really, really need to look into this Jim Butcher character. And if I wasn't already sold on Nora, I would be.

Great list, D =)

# posted by

Emma Wayne Porter : 6/14/2007 6:30 PM

Darla, great first line! One of my favorite is the one you listed for Nora Roberts, from Carolina Moon. It happen to be my favorite book. It cool to see first line from some of my favorite authors, even when I have not read that book(s) yet *duck head* hehehe

Thanks for visiting my blog, Happy T 13!

# posted by

Julia : 6/14/2007 6:35 PM

Interesting idea for a TT!

Thanks for sharing and also stopping by my blog!

# posted by

Crimson Wife : 6/14/2007 7:02 PM

Douglas Adams makes my heart happy. :)

I'm terrible at remembering the first lines from books that I adore, so your list is wonderful!

# posted by

Anonymous : 6/14/2007 7:37 PM

Oh, good one, Starrlight--that one's even on my shelves. Don't know why it didn't occur to me to check Rebecca for a good first line. (like Caryle said, I can't remember most of them--I had to look almost all of them up)

May, that Marjorie M. Liu first line is very intriguing. If she weren't already on my must-buy list, that would convince me to check her out.

Thanks, Candy! So far, my youngest has done four loads of laundry--washed, hung it on the line, folded, and put it away. I know better than to expect THAT to last, but boy, is this nice!

# posted by

Darla : 6/14/2007 8:39 PM

Hee, that's a great list! I read some of them out loud to my hubby -- they definitely captured my interest.

Happy TT, and thanks for visiting my blog!

# posted by

Anonymous : 6/14/2007 9:03 PM

It is a great list! I didn't know where most of them came from though ...

My TT is up - 13 (+6 bonus!) free samples available online

# posted by

Jessica Morris : 6/14/2007 9:20 PM

This is too cool, Darla! Great list!

# posted by

Melody : 6/15/2007 1:59 AM

Wow, I just discovered John Weisman. I definitely have to check out #9, LOL!

Happy TT!

# posted by

Spy Scribbler : 6/15/2007 3:32 AM

Funny thing, I almost did this today, too!

I only recognized Night Watch and Long Dark Teatime. But that purple-helmeted love warrior, that looks like a must-read.

# posted by

Anonymous : 6/15/2007 8:02 AM

Amazing first lines! I'll have to check out some of those books!
Thanks for visiting my TT. I'm not very active in all those communities though, except for LibraryThing maybe. :-)

# posted by

Tink : 6/15/2007 1:13 PM

I love to read, but I don't think I've read any of these. The Nora Roberts line sounds really interesting. Great TT. Happy Friday!

# posted by

Anonymous : 6/15/2007 7:09 PM

# 11 sounds like the kind of thing my hero in my current-novel-in-progress would say ;-) Great first lines.

# posted by

Anonymous : 6/16/2007 3:01 PM

Great list. I really need to read those Dresden files.

# posted by

Lisa : 6/19/2007 12:19 AM

A really nice list. But this one "She woke in the body of a dead friend." definitely sounds strange to me. And not in a good way.
But I love the Pratchett and Douglas quotes. Both of them never disappoint. ;o)

# posted by

samulli : 6/28/2007 5:32 PM

nichtszusagen

Thursday, June 14, 2007

TT #57

About Me

reviews

fall reading challenge

tbr challenge

books

categories

index

ARCHIVES

other blogs