My Favorite First Lines in a Novel or Short Story

[@meris8486]

“The building was on fire, and it wasn’t my fault.” ― Jim Butcher, Blood Rites What a banger

[@meris8486]

@@mankhobley4187 I liked most of it but the fight in the deeps was a real turn-off, just don't like how Murphy was treated by the story. Mavre was honestly a much cooler antagonist than Lord Raith

[@kylerieman221]

"The Man in Black fled across the desert...and the Gunslinger followed."

[@zerohero6602]

Hell yeah

[@mikesbookreviews]

Hey guys! I realize I messed up on the Sanderson one where I skipped a prelude to the prologue. These things happen when you go entirely off memory on sometimes. Hope you’ll forgive me. Enjoy!

[@ducky36F]

It’s worth it for that line don’t even worry 😂

[@faust13301]

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents." HP Lovecraft - The Call of Cthulhu

[@utschb18]

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” A punch in the face.

[@hoid8069]

"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again." -Robert Jordan, "The Shadow Rising"

[@wilson1728]

Robert Jordan, every WoT book haha

[@kathrynorleski6250]

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

[@scottferris2686]

The Rook - “The body you are wearing used to be mine.” Best opening line ever!

[@TheBralessDiaries]

“I would have lived in peace, but my enemies brought me war” I love the book, but it’s also one of my biggest fears. I’m terrified I’ll have everything I ever wanted then have it all taken away. I think that’s why this book hits so hard for me.

[@saeedajaib]

Mark Lawrence has some great opening lines. In Red Sister. It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. The Girl and the Stars. Many babies have killed, but it is very rare that the victim is not their mother.

[@times7171]

Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place where was a den, and laid me down in that place to sleep; and as I slept, I dreamed a dream

[@brettmurray2473]

" The sunrise was the color of bad blood " That whole section at the start of Best Served Cold is awesome.

[@edsheeran1243]

"It is important when killing a nun to bring an army of sufficient size. For Sister Thorn of the Sweet Mercy convent, Lano Tacsis brought two hundred men." -Red Sister - Mark Lawrence 2017

[@rastrich]

Haha I was looking for this one. So good

[@jormungandthemidgardserpen1845]

Yup, the best one in existence. Just came here to write it myself, but no need.

[@ves138]

Hell yeah Mark Lawrence is awesome! My favorite one tho was his Prince Of Fools opening lines: 'i am a liar and a cheat and a coward, but i will never, ever, let a friend down. Unless of course not letting them down requires honesty, fair play or bravery"

[@KennethJAdams]

I do like the opening of Sapkowski's The Last Wish, the first Witcher story: " Later, it was said the man came from the north, from Roper’s Gate. He came on foot, leading his laden horse by the bridle. It was late afternoon and the ropers’, saddlers’ and tanners’ stalls were already closed, the street empty. " As for the "Dark and stormy night", Neil Gaiman wrote the best riff on that in The Sandman: "It was a dark and stormy nightmare."

[@ThisIsJaysWorld]

"The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years-if it ever did end-began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain." The sentence that began my greatest love affair with a Standalone Novel

[@praetorxyn]

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." had better be number 1. I'm not even sure Dark Tower is in my top 10, but that line is fucking amazing. Ah. No preference order. Well as long as it's on there then.

[@steverogers9859]

All things serve the beam. Great amswer bud

[@praetorxyn]

@@steverogers9859 Thankee, Sai Rogers.

[@MrJordwalk]

@@praetorxyn It's great because it's more than just a line, it's a plot summary.

[@blakemeads9225]

“They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. I don’t know what them eyes was a window to, and I guess I’d as soon not know.” - No Country For Old Men

[@AutomailUser]

A recent favourite of mine would be from The Blacktongue Thief. "I was about to die. Worse, I was about to die with bastards."

[@freedoughnut1833]

“It’s important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size” Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. Such a powerful opening

[@NAFUSO1]

"One of the things that happens when you get older is that you discover lots of new ways to hurt yourself." Thus begins one of the funniest scenes I've ever read in an excellent book by Bill Bryson called The Road to Little Dribbling.

[@ducky36F]

Terry Pratchett has some bangers. “Everything starts somewhere, although many physicists would disagree” “This is a story about a memory, at least that much is remembered”

[@TheWRYYYYYYY]

Many of my favorite books don't seem to have that memorable opening lines, but one comes to mind. From One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez: “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice ... The world was so recent that many things lacked names, and in order to indicate them it was necessary to point.”

[@epiphoney]

This is from chapter one: "He was one hundred and seventy days dying and not yet dead." - The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester “A screaming comes across the sky.” - Gravity's Rainbow 🚀🌈 "On his 75th birthday, he visited his wife's grave for the last time and then joined the Army." -- Old Man's War Best first two chapters -- Altered Carbon "Just outside the expanding light cone of the present a star died, iron bombed." -- Iron Sunrise, Charles Stross I thought Empire of the Vampire started with "ASK ME NOT if God exists, but why he’s such a prick.” "This is how an idea becomes real. "Am I shitting? It feels like I'm shitting!"" -- Saga

[@stevegoodson9022]

"It was the day my grandmother exploded" - The Crow Road, Iain Banks - unbeatable

[@ChrisJClegg]

That one has stuck with me for many years since I read it.

[@PerfectCell9]

That eye of the world prologue completely hooked me as well.. I often read it or listen to it on KZbin… “ remember!!! You light blinded idiot ! Shai’tan take you!!”

[@Mike-wr7om]

"All children, except one, grow up." ---J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

[@nl3237]

One of my 2 favorite openings: 1. "Let's start with the end of the world, why don't we? Get it over with and move on to more interesting things." The fifth season, N. K. JEMISIN 2. "The children were playing while Holston climbed to his death; he could hear them squealing as only happy children do." Wool - Hugh Howey.

[@Karlipagemaster]

This video came at the perfect time! I work at a bookstore and have to find books with great first lines for our blind date with a book display. Thanks Mike!

[@LightningRaven42]

“The Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts."

[@kessera5645]

I love his prose and reread his pro- and epilogues multiple times

[@LightningRaven42]

@@kessera5645 Yeah. I love his books as well. I'm just sad that Mike doesn't share the appreciation. I bet that with a reread he would see why so many of us love it so much.

[@k-majik]

'Through the ruin of a city stalked the ruin of a man'. The Dalek Invasion of Earth, novelised by Terrence Dicks.

[@sjkrum320]

Great list! I love that one from The Dresdin Fooes, too!!!! I knew that line from The Dark Tower was your favorite!

[@spencercorpuz]

I'm so glad you included the Dresden files one!

[@mikeptheoldbookworm.4751]

"When a day you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere" by John Wyndham in " The Days of the Triffids"

[@georgerashbrook3259]

Reading that book right now and that line got me immediately

[@craiglooney8220]

Ender's Game will always be way up there for me. "I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears, and I tell you he's the one. Or at least as close as we're going to get." Funny you mentioned Charlotte's Webb too - I've remembered that one since 2nd grade when our teacher talked about great opening lines and what made them memorable.

[@civoreb]

Breakheart Hill - “This is the darkest story I ever heard, and all my life I have labored not to tell it.” Thus begins one of my favorite books of all time. Very depressing book with hypnotic and lyrical writing.

[@mastersal4644]

I fully agree about the gunslinger… I knew I would love the Dark Tower when I read that line. It just blew my mind. So compact and so mysterious.

[@veronique5199]

"This is the way the world ends. Again", N.K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season

[@colonelfredpuntridge8799]

"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita."

[@CLFmoto87]

It is true that I have sent six bullets through the head of my best friend, and yet I hope to shew by this statement that I am not his murderer. -Lovecraft thing on doorstep

[@Yesica1993]

OH, YOU GOT GONE WITH THE WIND! I didn't think you'd read that! I've known this line by heart since I first read it in 8th grade! Have read it and watched the film too many times to count.

[@bridleybateson5622]

Just had a scan through a few books on my shelf. This is my favourite from Six of Crows- 'Joost had two problems: the moon and his moustache.'

[@redpaladin98888]

I love this! Seeing you get so excited about the first lines of some of your favorite books has truly made my heart feel full this morning. Thank you!

[@cmmosher8035]

Something Wicked This Way Comes has my favourite Bradbury opening "First of all it was October, a rare month for boys." Like Hill House the entire paragraph is great but as a 12 or 13 yr old who loved fall and Halloween, reading that i just resonated deeply with me.

[@ccam504]

Thanks for listing this book. My first great horror book , also saw the movie. Love Bradbury . My family has always heard me say Something Wicked this Comes.

[@cmmosher8035]

@@ccam504 i love the movie. Jonathan Pryce is great as the villian. Its super disappointing that Disney plus doesnt have either this or Watcher ij the Woods.

[@Cyriax71]

This is the best comment section for a KZbin video I’ve seen in a loooooong time :)

[@readingwithrobson3911]

"We’re going to tell you about three of the children in Mrs. Jewls’s class, on the thirtieth story of Wayside School. But before we get to them, there is something you ought to know. Wayside School was accidentally built sideways. It was supposed to be only one story high, with thirty classrooms all in a row. Instead, it is thirty stories high, with one classroom on each story. The builder said he was very sorry."

[@theskyisteal8346]

I forgot how great that book was!

[@xarvous]

Neal Stephenson had a banger opening line with Seveneves. "The moon blew up with no warning and for no apparent reason."

[@Patrick.__]

A SCREAMING COMES ACROSS THE SKY. It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now. Gravity's Rainbow. The first chapter is very memorable too.

[@QueenPrism]

I cried when Anne Rice died, she was my introduction to adult fiction, she was the reason for my obsession with vampires at twelve years old I fell in love with the movie and had to read the book and I remember having to look up every other word I read. And it's all thanks to me begging to watch Twilight and my dad saying, "let's watch a real vampire movie!"

[@Mjwestneat11]

Great stuff Mike! I always think about this topic when I start a new book. The Gunslinger, The Hobbit, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451 are tops for me! Cheers!

[@andreamiller3578]

This is one of those splendid nerdy videos that I watch with a big grin on my face as you mention favorite upon favorite and then add to my list of books to read--yet again. LOL.

[@RedFuryBooks]

I LOVE this topic - always have enjoyed opening lines. I did a similar video a few months ago, and we had several in common, including The Gunslinger being both of our favorites. Thanks for the video - I always love a great opening line!

[@Michael-ee4uz]

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

[@farhad_s]

Love all these! Here's another Lovecraft that's not necessarily spooky but quite a hook: "In London there is a man who screams when the church bells ring." (The Descendant).

[@Wildcarde1]

“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel” Neuromancer. You definitely hit on a few of my favorites as well.

[@theskyisteal8346]

"So, there I was, tied to an altar made from out-dated encyclopedias, about to get sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of evil Librarians" -Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson. I read this one so many times as a kid and I can literally never get it out of my head.

[@taseenmuhtadi1620]

I loved the Hitchhiker's opening line. I crack up so much on the first line, and it went on for the entire book. The Gunslinger's opening line hooked me like nothing else. Slaughterhouse Five's opening line really set the tone for the book, that book hit crazytown HARD.

[@esliet]

Awesome list ! In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, he told me, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had - The Great Gatsby. Love this opening line. BTW I do agree Scarlet O’Hara gets shit done !!

[@thtadthtshldntbe]

The opening line from "Of Beren and Luthien" from the Silmarillion. I think this is the greatest sentence ever constructed in the English language. "Among the tales of sorrow and of ruin that come down to us from the darkness of those days there are yet some in which amid weeping there is joy and under the shadow of death light that endures".

[@bungle.mr81]

"A screaming comes across the sky." - Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

[@reaper2r]

Ugh the opening bit in Small Gods is so fantastic

[@smeagoljuiceyfish8877]

Awesome quotes Mike. I love hearing you talking about classic books for a change to fantasy. My favourite opening line in a book is from the only book I have ever read. "in the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf" - The hungry caterpillar.

[@mathieuleader8601]

classic book

[@Rogue_VI]

That opening line from Voyage of the Dawn Treader has always been one of my favorites.

[@annetteboree85]

“Marley was dead to begin with”

[@GrahamRay2040]

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed". Ahh…it’s so simple yet brilliant.

[@mikesbookreviews]

Ka.

[@Michael-ee4uz]

Pattern Recognition by William Gibson: "Five hours' New York jet lag and Cayce Pollard wakes in Camden Town to the dire and ever-circling wolves of disrupted circadian rhythm." Gotta love Gibson

[@tammaraliberty]

Thank you! What a walk down memory lane!

[@scottkrametbauer90]

The line from Dickens is paraphrased in Babylon 5 when some major events have just happened. The line from the Dresden Files is still my favorite. Especially since I can hear it in Harry's voice, as he tries to claim innocence over the fire.

[@Yesica1993]

Wow, that Empire of Silence one - that would hook me for sure! I may have to put this series on the list for this year. I keep hearing good things about it.

[@ajzachy8673]

hey mike one of the reasong why i watch your vidoes are because of the nostalgia you use but it is really hard to imagine you being 14 and 15 years old

[@BookBavard]

A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favourite openings as well.

[@Vera_wondergirl]

thank you for video Mike! great job

[@TheLeniverse]

You have several of my favourites here, but I would like to add these two: "Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tidewater dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego." (Jack London, The Call of the Wild, 1903) "Let's start with the end of the world, why don't we? Get it over with and move on to more interesting things." (N. K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season, 2015)

[@mmurphy3608]

What a great video. Lots of fun:)

[@Yesica1993]

Some favorites here, some childhood memories, and some that I don't know at all. And it just hit me. When I was a child, I wanted to be a writer. But I always got stuck on that first line. Even as a kid I already had in my head that I had to have the perfect opening line, like these are, otherwise... why bother? Talk about setting yourself up for failure before you even start! It paralyzed me.

[@andreabknight]

Great one from The Shining: "Jack Torrance thought: Officious little prick"

[@aldan7812]

Mike, this is an internet Gem my friend - cheers :-)

[@jeroenadmiraal8714]

I appreciate the effort you put into this!

[@hoid8069]

"Ash fell from the sky." -Brandon Sanderson, "The Final Empire"

[@ccam504]

Great podcast! Bradbury & Anne Rice my favorites. Collected all her Vampire books . She will be missed but her first books were the best.

[@bridleybateson5622]

Great list! Thinking now I remember The Name of the Wind had a great opening line that hooked me in.

[@QueenPrism]

i'm fighting with myself over which of these books i want to go read right now!

[@johanjoseph4802]

Holy Fuck. Empire of Silence opening Line just kills it. Definitely climbed up my TBR

[@marchandorama]

Great video. #1 was a no-brainer. Glad you had the Martian on the list as well.

[@alexthiebaut2195]

This doesn't get said enough: Gone with the Wind is an amazing novel. Love the movie, love the book.

[@Coolto22]

I’ve not read this book, but I’ve heard the opening line and it has my attention! “‘In five years, the penis will be obsolete’ said the salesman.” Steel Beach by John Varley

[@thebarky1988]

This isn’t an opening line but I always loved “ You can carry the weight of the world on your shoulders as long as you know how to lift it off” Alex Cross, James Patterson…. It may not be a direct quote but it was close.

[@Dylan13Collins]

After reading the first line in the gunslinger, I devoured that first book! Then I went and researched all the books that is referenced or has the same characters in. I then began my 27 book read (I'm halfway or so). That line drove alot of intrigue and intensity for me.

[@joyousjoyous9358]

"It is a truth universally acknowledged..." I cheered when that one came up first! Best opening line ever and a line I use often on my children. "It is a truth universally acknowledged that your room is a tip, ...that you're a pain in the neck, ...that you need to wash the dishes 😁

[@TheDarkchum1]

Stephen King was 19 when he wrote that line and then sat on it for a while. Which is really great that he also got a lot of unconscious satisfaction out of just that line as well.

[@richards4711]

"When I awoke saturday morning, I was blind and paralyzed on one side. I had been blind on occasion and also paralyzed; but lately, it happened at the same time more and more often. I was growing concerned." - translation by me from German, Wolfgang Holbein, "Der letzte seiner Art" / "The last of his kind", 2003. Sadly not available in English, it's a Sci-Fi novel about an ex-US special forces soldier, who was turned into a cyborg for Desert Storm in the 90's. The top-secret program was scrapped and the volunteers live out their lives under cover and hidden away. He lives a quiet life in an irish village, his once high-tech systems failing one by one. Then, they come for him to tie up loose ends and bury the program for good.

[@SS-rr7by]

A book tuber named Daniel Greene does a series every so often where he "roasts" book shelves and gives them a grade. It's all in good fun and I find it hilarious!I I feel like if you sent him a picture of your shelf he would really like it and rank it high hehe

[@darkwitnesslxx]

It's not good fun. He's an asshole.

[@SS-rr7by]

@@darkwitnesslxx naww

[@jenniferobin7260]

One of my favorite opening lines was from City of Lies by Sam Hawke. "I was seven years old the first time my uncle poisoned me." Got me hooked from the get go.

[@fredriklvlien5695]

"Veldt to scrub to fields to farms to these first tumbling houses that rise from the earth." Perdido Street Station, China Miéville

[@collegestreetkolkata9669]

Love your channel Mike. Mine is more of a politics oriented channel but I binge on your vidz a lot. Right now writing up a piece for an upcoming video essay about a religious murder that happened in Rajasthan, while playin this video in front of me..fantasy is important for sanity.

[@mikesbookreviews]

Thanks! Interesting contrast since I avoid that topic like the plague here. Always happy to provide some relief from real life.

[@collegestreetkolkata9669]

[@meatsack3938]

"I was there," he would say after, until afterwards became a time quite devoid of laughter. "I was there, the day Horus slew the Emperor."

[@tomahawkchop7669]

That was a very entertaining video! I will give you credit for a great idea

[@TeamSnitchSeeker]

Fun video Mike! One of my favorites from recent fiction: "It was the first of November and so, today, someone will die." The Scorpio Races

[@zenthepoet.]

Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar, wore white on the day he was to kill a king..

[@kelozhale3515]

I saw the title, and I was like "The opening line to The Gunslinger better be in this video" I was not disappointed.

[@kirsireima5758]

"Let's start with the end of the world, why don't we? Get it over with and move on to more interesting things." The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin