Novel first lines meme

[eldritchhobbit]

Blame altariel1. I usually don't do the meme thing, but this sounded like too much fun to miss.

1. Choose 10 of your all time favourite books.
2. Take the first sentence of the first chapter and make a list in your journal.
3. Don't reveal the author or the title of the book.
4. Now everyone try and guess.

Here goes:

1. There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
guessed by randomalia and greenhoodloxley

2. It was predictable, in hindsight.
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
guessed by roo2

3. Lest anyone should suppose I am a son of nobody, sold off by some peasant father in a drought year, I may say our line is an old one, though it ends with me.

4. A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.
Dune by Frank Herbert
guessed by estellye

5. Brother Francis Gerard of Utah might never have discovered the blessed documents, had it not been for the pilgrim with girded loins who appeared during that young novice's Lenten fast in the desert.
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
novel guessed by beledibabe
novel and author guessed by roo2

6. Mr. Dunworthy opened the door to the laboratory and his spectacles promptly steamed up.
The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
guessed by roo2

7. I see in Lunaya Pravda that Luna City Council has passed on first reading a bill to examine, license, inspect -- and tax -- public food vendors operating inside municipal pressure.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
novel guessed by ltlj
novel and author guessed by guessed by roo2

8. One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes blind with frost, icicles fringing every roof, children skiing on slopes, housewives lumbering like great black bears in their furs along the icy streets.

9. The row of comconsole booths lining the passenger concourse of Escobar's largest commercial orbital transfer station had mirrored doors, divided into diagonal sections by rainbow-colored lines of lights.
Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold
guessed by ltlj

10. The night before he went to London, Richard Mayhew was not enjoying himself.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
guessed by roo2 and terrylj


And two bonus ones, both short stories instead of novels:

11. There was a village once, not very long ago for those with long memories, not very far away for those with long legs.

12. West of Arkham the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut.
"The Colour Out of Space" by H.P. Lovecraft
guessed by roo2


Also, it is wonderful to see agentxpndble in LJ-land. Welcome! Check out her two terrific websites:






For the quote of the day, a first line that didn't make the above list, because I thought it was a dead giveaway:

"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."
-George Orwell, 1984