Hey bookworm friends! I’m back again this week with the continuation of Battle of the First Lines! Last week, I shared round one, where 24 first lines from books I read from Jan to June faced off against each other. We’re now left with half of those, which will go head to head in the quarterfinals. Then 6 will battle in the semi-finals, finally leaving us with a top 3 finalists. From those finalists I’ll reveal my personal favourite of the summer division. But first, there will be a vote you can participate in, if you like pressing buttons😉. If you want more details about the rules of this tournament, read here. And now, let’s get to the good part!
Quarterfinals – 6 Matches
Now that the book title for each first line has been revealed, I will refer to each quote by their book title rather than by the anonymized way that I did last week. That being said, I’m still judging each first line by how much it grabs my attention by itself (regardless of how much I loved each book as a whole).
QF Match 1
The Vanished Birds
He was born with an eleventh finger.
Wyrd Sisters
The wind howled. Lightning stabbed at the earth erratically, like an inefficient assassin.
Click to reveal winner.
This one is tough because both of these starting lines are excellent. Though, the second one makes me laugh and I think that tips it over the edge slightly. Winner: Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett.
QF Match 2
The Stone Initiation
There was a boogeyman in my closet. Again.
Cursed Cocktails
Thick snowflakes drifted through the air, concealing the sprawling wilderness of the frozen north.
Click to reveal winner.
As much as I love the beautiful nature imagery in Cursed Cocktails, The Stone Initiation presents more immediate questions for me to wonder about. Winner: The Stone Initiation by Debbie Cassidy.
QF Match 3
Slime Sweets And Dungeon Treats
The scent of freshly cut grass and campfire smoke teased my senses, pulling me out of what felt like a very deep sleep.
Gemina
Frobisher, L: “…over seven hundred thousand employees across dozens of colonized worlds. Is it that difficult to believe?
Click to reveal winner.
It’s the quarterfinals, choices need to be made and I have to become more ruthless. As much as I loved the format of The Illuminae Files, I don’t think files and documents lend themselves well to a strong first line. Winner: Slime Sweets And Dungeon Treats by Pandora Pierce.
QF Match 4
The Librarian of Crooked Lane
The woman crouching under the desk near my feet expelled an unladylike snort of derision.
The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 1 (Light Novel)
What I wouldn’t give for some good street-stall meat skewers.
Click to reveal winner.
The Apothecary Diaries’ first line is good but it’s not amazing. The delightful mental imagery of the first quote is so entertaining that it’s hard to compete with that. Winner: The Librarian of Crooked Lane by C. J. Archer.
QF Match 5
The Spellshop
Kiela never thought the flames would reach the library.
Silent In The Grave
To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband’s dead body is not entirely accurate.
Click to reveal winner.
I like the start of the Spellshop but the first line of Silent in the Grave has a sense of fate about it that already makes you think of the future. Now that’s a lot of power for a first line! Winner: Silent In The Grave by Deanna Raybourn.
QF Match 6
SOS Hotel: For A Supernaturally Safe Stay
I adjusted my tie, using my reflection in the whiskey bottle sitting on the bar.
Bookshops & Bonedust
“Eighteen!” bellowed Viv, bringing her saber around in a flat curve that battered the wight’s skull off its spine.
Click to reveal winner.
Bookshops & Bonedust has start in the middle of an action scene which is fun but feels a bit ‘generic fantasy’. In the meantime the first quote sets the tone of the book so well with a unique start. Winner: SOS Hotel: For A Supernaturally Safe Stay by Adam Vex.
Semifinals – 3 Matches
At this point, I like all the quotes so let’s do this quickfire-style, without thoughts just picking the top 3 finalists. Winners marked in green and with a medal🏅
Semi-final 1
Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett 🏅
vs.
The Librarian of Crooked Lane by C. J. Archer
Semi-final 2
The Stone Initiation by Debbie Cassidy
vs.
Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn 🏅
Semi-final 3
Slime Sweets and Dungeon Treats by Pandora Pierce
vs.
SOS Hotel: For A Supernaturally Safe Stay by Adam Vex 🏅
3 Finalists & Your Vote
Before revealing my personal winner, now’s your chance to vote for which quote you like the best! I’m curious to see if the fan favourite and the one I pick are the same or not 🖤. To help you with your vote, here’s a quick reminder of the top 3 first lines!
The wind howled. Lightning stabbed at the earth erratically, like an inefficient assassin.
Wyrd Sisters – Terry Pratchett
To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband’s dead body is not entirely accurate.
Silent in the Grave – Deanna Raybourn
I adjusted my tie, using my reflection in the whiskey bottle sitting on the bar.
SOS Hotel: For A Supernaturally Safe Stay – Adam Vex
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Okay, have you voted? Great!
Best First Line – Summer Division
CLICK TO REVEAL WINNER
And my favourite first line is from… Wyrd Sistes by Terry Pratchett! 🎉🏆
Let’s chat in the comments!
Did you recognize any of these first lines? Or, was there a first line you particularly liked and why?
My overall favourite got eliminated in the quarter finals – The Vanished Birds. I think its such a memorable one that instantly leaves you intrigued. The only other pairing we disagree from in that round is the last one. The fifth was the hardest for me to decide on as both leave you with different reasons to want to know what will come next but we did land on the same decision there.
Semifinals – I agree on the first choice and the second although I did find that one tough. But I’d have gone the other way with the final choice.
I went for Silent In The Grave on the last round but as I said my overall favourite was the one from Vanished Birds. This is so fun though and it’ll be interested to see how much we agree and differ on when you share the winter version
Oh no, sorry to hear your overall favourite one got eliminated! The Vanished Birds is such an excellent book I could not recommend it more! It is memorable for sure. Honestly this game got harder and harder the closer I got to the end and I just went with my gut I’m glad you agree on a bunch of them though haha. Hmm yeah it seems like you’re not loving the reflection in the whiskey bottle haha. 😜
Thanks for checking it out, Charlotte and I look forward to see what you think for the winter one as well :D! Silent in the Grave is a great pick too! 🖤
Yes I know how much you love that one. Which reminds me theres a special edition of it around, although I can’t remember who made it now. I stumbled across it the other day. I can definitely see how that would happen as the competition gets stronger. It just doesn’t grab me as such. I like an opening with a little intrigue 😂
Yes definitely looking forward to that one 🥰🥰
Hehe yeah I did mention it quite a lot 😅 ohhhh intriguing!! I’ll have to keep an eye out for that! Yes I definitely understand needing a little intrigue at the beginning to keep you reading! 🙂
Thanks 🥰🥰
I’m also team Vanished Birds! That whole opening section is really a masterpiece of writing.
Yess! I totally agree, it was like a whole life and THEN the story took off, I was blown away.
I haven’t read it yet but its definitely left me very eager to do so. Even more so if the rest of the introduction is just as compelling 😍😍
I had to divorce myself from the fact that the first finalist is Terry Pratchett, and consider them all more objectively to make my pick!
Ahaha that’s extremely fair it’s very hard to compete with Pratchett ;)! But in the end I loved that one the most, still!