Opening line:
Behind every man now alive stand thirty ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber the living.
2001 – A Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke
September 7, 2009 at 10:53 am (Arthur C Clarke, Opening lines, science fiction)
Out of the Silent Planet by CS Lewis
September 7, 2009 at 10:41 am (CS Lewis, Opening lines, science fiction)
Opening line:
The last drops of the thundershower had hardly ceased falling when the Pedestrian stuffed his map into his pocket, settled his pack more comfortably on his tired shoulders, and stepped out from the shelter of a large chestnut tree into the middle of the road.
Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams
September 7, 2009 at 10:06 am (Douglas Adams, Opening lines, science fiction)
Opening line:
The regular early morning yell of horror was the sound of Arthur Dent waking up and suddenly remembering where he was.
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
September 7, 2009 at 10:01 am (Isaac Asimov, Opening lines, science fiction)
Opening line:
I looked at my notes and I didn’t like them. I’d spent three days at U.S. Robots and might as well have spent them at home with the Encyclopedia Tellurica.
I am Legend by Richard Matheson
September 7, 2009 at 9:59 am (Opening lines, Richard Matheson, science fiction)
Opening line:
On those cloudy days, Robert Neville was never sure when sunset came, and sometimes they were in the streets before he could get back.
The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien
September 7, 2009 at 9:57 am (J R R Tolkien, Opening lines, science fiction)
Opening line:
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
Herbert West – Reanimator by H P Lovecraft
September 7, 2009 at 9:55 am (H P Lovecraft, Opening lines, science fiction)
Opening line:
Of Herbert West, who was my friend in college and in after life, I can speak only with extreme terror.
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
September 7, 2009 at 9:40 am (Douglas Adams, Opening lines, science fiction)
Opening line:
This time there would be no witnesses.
The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
September 7, 2009 at 9:39 am (Bruce Sterling, Opening lines, science fiction, William Gibson)
Opening line:
Composite image, optically encoded by escort-craft of the trans-Channel airship Lord Brunel: aerial view of suburban Cherbourg, 14 October 1905.
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
September 7, 2009 at 9:37 am (John Wyndham, Opening lines, science fiction)
Opening line:
When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.
17 Days in December 