SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Let's see if we can recognize books if someone gives us the first sentence!


Three options:

1) Post the first sentence as is

"The Phurnacite factory in Abercwmboi killed all the trees for two miles around."


2) Edit out character/place names if they make it too easy

"At [?] Academy, an instructor had explained to [?]’s class that the threshold winnower was a weapon of last resort, and not just for its notorious connotations."


3) Post the first paragraph or a couple of sentences if the first sentence is too general

"Every time I come down here I think about my mother. I don’t want to; it just happens. My brain has decided it’s a critical subroutine that must be executed when the correct variables are in place: (when time = predawn) + (when physical location = beneath the colony) + (when physical act = opening the door to the Masher) run 'unpleasant memory of mother #345.'"


One book per post, start the post with the sentence, so it's easy to reply/quote!

Please post your guess/answer in spoiler tags so that others have the chance to try to figure it out without seeing the answer! If you don't know the book and google the answer, that's cool, but please don't post it. Let someone who *knows* take the credit :)

See Current Events for other games and fun things :)

"I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites."

Starting with an easy one :)

You can also guess the examples in the first post by referring to them by the numbers.

(I'm adding some random books/authors inside these spoiler tags, because book/author links show up as a list to the right of this post, and I don't want people trying to guess accidentally seeing the answer. These books/authors have nothing to do with the above quotes, they're just there to fill the list. (view spoiler)[ The Tea Dragon Society Nimona The Very Hungry Caterpillar The Moomins and the Great Flood Norse Mythology Tove Jansson Astrid Lindgren Mika Waltari Elias Lönnrot Hans Christian Andersen (hide spoiler)])

I know this!

(view spoiler)[
Killing machine!
(hide spoiler)]

Haha Ryan, yeeees? Same same but different! :D

edit: Sorry, the fam and I have been practicing for Hari Merdeka* My go-to is sama-sama, but I thought the above makes more sense to most people.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indepen...

"No shit, there I was..."

Anna wrote: ""I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites."

Starting ..."

All Systems Red?

To wound the Autumnal city.

Michelle, yes, but spoiler tags for guesses please! :)

Anna wrote: "Michelle, yes, but spoiler tags for guesses please! :)"

Oh I'm so sorry!!!

No problem, most people would probably guess this one anyway, no harm done! ^_^

1) "She was going to die because of the rutabagas."

2) "I was born on the full moon under an auspicious constellation, the holiest of positions - much good it did me."

3) "When we were eight, Dad cut me open from throat to stomach."

The last one isn't really SFF, but it's such a good opening line maybe it could be extra credit?

Colin wrote: "1) "She was going to die because of the rutabagas.""

This is (view spoiler)[ Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher (hide spoiler)] !

I think I also know 3 but I'm not sure without checking, is it (view spoiler)[ the wolf book by McConaghy? (hide spoiler)]

Anna wrote: "Colin wrote: "1) "She was going to die because of the rutabagas.""

This is [spoilers removed] !

I think I also know 3 but I'm not sure without checking, is it [spoilers removed]"

OMG, you are good! Correct on both!

Haha, the first one was like asking me to recognize myself in a mirror, having reread the book five or six times :D

The third one happened to leave an impression.

I feel like I should know the second one, but I can't place it.

Anna wrote: "Haha, the first one was like asking me to recognize myself in a mirror, having reread the book five or six times :D

The third one happened to leave an impression.

I feel like I should know the se..."

I can leave the second one in a spoiler, or should I give more time? I'll add a hard sf one:

"Tonight we're going to show you eight silent ways to kill a man."

More time! Someone will know it. I already googled it :P

Oh crap! I put the answer to mine under a spoiler tag! I'll edit and remove it. It's all Daisy's fault. (Our new Rescue Kitty.) I keep screwing up because I'm distracted.

Daisy:
[image error]

You have a free pass to screw up as much as you need, not that you have, because new kitty! It's OK to have the answer in spoiler tags if you want, at least that way there's no fear of forgetting what the book was :D

and I want to see the kitty

CBRetriever wrote: "and I want to see the kitty"

I had posted the picture several hours ago! I don't know why it's not there now. Let me do it again...

Michelle wrote: "CBRetriever wrote: "and I want to see the kitty"

I had posted the picture several hours ago! I don't know why it's not there now. Let me do it again...

"

thanks - she's real purdy

“Sometimes, a person reaches a point in their life when it becomes absolutely essential to get the fuck out of the city.”

(Not counting the prefaced document excerpt.)

I'm not sure if they're supposed to be well-known, but here's one from the book I just started, as it's a good first line:

Once upon a time - for that is how all stories should begin - there was a boy who lost his mother. A bit vague?

Tamara wrote: "Once upon a time - for that is how all stories should begin - there was a..."

Hmm this has very strong tones of (view spoiler)[Neil Gaiman (hide spoiler)]

Beth wrote: "Tamara wrote: "Once upon a time - for that is how all stories should begin - there was a..."

Hmm this has very strong tones of [spoilers removed]"

Ah; nice try, but no cigar. Not so different a style from him, though.

Gosh that's somehow familiar, Tamara.

Ooh! I know that one! (view spoiler)[The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly (hide spoiler)]

Here’s my first line:
“She felt their eyes, all those executioners.”

Howard Roark laughed.

Anna wrote: "The Phurnacite factory in Abercwmboi killed all the trees for two miles around."
(view spoiler)[ Among Others (hide spoiler)] (I happen to be re-reading this one at the moment)

Sim1 wrote: "Howard Roark laughed."
(view spoiler)[ The Fountainhead (hide spoiler)]

Here is one for consideration:
"I lost an arm on my last trip home. My left arm."

Becky wrote: "Ooh! I know that one! [spoilers removed]

Yes! We have a winner!

For ScoLgo's quote, (view spoiler)[Kindred, by Octavia Butler (hide spoiler)]

{?}, that is, the main massing of the original stone, taken by itself would have displayed a certain ponderous architectural quality were it possible to have ignored the circumfusion of those mean dwellings that swarmed like an epidemic around its outer walls.

Roger wrote: "{?}, that is, the main massing of the original stone, taken by itself would have displayed a certain ponderous architectural quality were it possible to have ignored the circumfusion of those mean ..."

(view spoiler)[Titus Groan (hide spoiler)]

CBRetriever wrote: "To wound the Autumnal city."

(view spoiler)[Dhalgren (hide spoiler)]

“The bedroom murmured to itself gently.”

That was from an old time sf novel by a very famous author, that happened to be lying here to hand. Nobody’s going to remember it. I’ll post an opening passage from a somewhat more recent classic in the next comment.

“I had my recurring dream last night. I guess I should have expected it. It comes to me when I struggle — when I twist on my own personal hook and try to pretend that nothing unusual is happening.”

Stephen wrote: "Roger wrote: "{?}, that is, the main massing of the original stone, taken by itself would have displayed a certain ponderous architectural quality were it possible to have ignored the circumfusion ..."

That was quick!
As I wrote that sentence down, I realised that it perfectly represents the writing style of the whole book!

"Dead men had whispered to (view spoiler)[Hervor (hide spoiler)] in her sleep for so long she'd almost gotten used to it."

The character's name is in the spoiler and will give it away.

Roger wrote: “… it perfectly represents the writing style of the whole book!"

As it happens I just read the novel earlier this year, and read that sentence more than once. I think it also more or less states a theme.

Stephen wrote: "“The bedroom murmured to itself gently.”"

I think (view spoiler)[this author laid the foundation for much that came after (hide spoiler)]

Roger wrote: "Stephen wrote: "“The bedroom murmured to itself gently.”"

I think [spoilers removed]"

Yes, I think you’ve got it.

"For ten thousand years, the bright empire of [?] ruled the world, drawing her power from terrifying compacts with the supernatural."

(I'm looking for a very specific answer here!)