VOTE NOW! Reader's Choice Top 10 Fantasy and Literary Opening Lines of All Time

Alice at her book club meeting.

Our final category in the week long vote to find the best in science-fiction and fantasy is for the top 10 opening lines in a genre novel. We got some good suggestions during the nominations, and we’re happy to present them all here.

The first line of any novel needs to immediately grab the reader’s attention. It sets the tone for the rest of the book, and often can foreshadow things to come in only a few brief phrases.

Generally, a good opening line will take you by surprise, triggering your curiosity as to what’s going on so that you will read the next line. Some authors will use the in medias res (in the middle of things) technique where the story is already going and you are forced to catch up. Others will set forth a statement that seems almost legitimate, but there’s something slightly off… something unexpected. Some will make inflammatory statements. Others will simply state an obvious truth for you to agree with, but state it in a way that you probably never thought of before.

However a novel starts, the opening line can be the most important thing the author writes. The saying goes that a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. Well, the reading of a thousand pages starts with one sentence. With that single sentence, many readers will immediately decide whether they are going to keep reading or not, often while skulking about in a book store. If the opening line keeps the reader reading, then they might buy the book. If they buy the book, they might read it and recommend.

So, choose up to 10 Fantasy and Sci-Fi literary opening lines, click at the bottom of this post to see the results in the voting this far. As always, we ask our dear readers to spread the word about our little poll through Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn or word of mouth.

What Are Your 10 Favorite Fantasy and Science-Fiction Literary Opening Lines of All Time? (Choose up to 10)

Voting is still open for these categories:

<a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/6789366/”>What Are Your 10 Favorite Fantasy and Science-Fiction Literary Opening Lines of All Time? (Choose up to 10)</a>

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