Favorite Opening/Closing Lines In Brandon's Works

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

So recently I was wondering to myself what Brandon's best opening lines and closing lines were, and I looked around to see if there was a topic on it. Not finding one with the search function (sorry if it does already exist), I decided to make it myself! I made a thread in the General Discussion forum for favorite opening/closing lines in general.

 

There is obviously some room for interpretation of what is the opening/closing line of some of Brandon's books. I haven't read his short fiction, but in some of the novels there are ways to interpret the opening/closing line. For example, the Prelude to the Stormlight Archive in The Way of Kings could count as having the first line, but you could argue that it is the opening line of the series and not just that book. You could then say that the first line of the Prologue is the first line, but the Prologue has an epigraph, so that could also be the first line. Same for the epigraphs in Mistborn, and you could go with either the Prologue or first chapter of any other book. So just choose whichever one you want and click the book it is from in the Poll.

 

Please put a spoiler tag on a closing line if you post one. I hate reading the last line of a book before I get to it. Maybe it's just me, but have some respect. The opening line is more up to your discretion, as some may spoil previous books in a series, some may not.

 

My favorite opening is the that of the prologue in The Way of Kings: "Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar, wore white on the day he was to kill a king." It really draws me in every time I read it. It has so much mystery to it. Perfect.

 

My favorite closing line is also that of The Way of Kings:

"I feel you may be too late, my confused, unfortunate friend."

 

Note: I have only included works of novella length or greater because of restraints on the number of options per question.

Edited February 8, 2014 by GreyPilgrim

[Ete'ni]

I still like the final scene in The Alloy of Law:

 

- what did you trade it for?

- A threat and a promise

[Scriptorian he/him]

Alcataraz- "So, there I was, tied to am altar made from out-dated encyclopedias, about to get sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of evil Librarians."

So perfect, this opener captures the essence of the entire series.

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

That is a good line. Haven't read Alcatraz yet, but anything that starts with that must be good!

For me, the measure of a great opening line is how well it gets me reading or the feeling it evokes in me. Szeth's opening line in WoK is of the "gets me reading type". Most of Brandon's are really. I love how the opening of Mistborn, "Ash fell from the sky" begins to world build with a significant element of the plot and really sets the tone of the series as well.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

My favorites are all Mistborn, TWoK, and the original opener for Elantris.

As GreyPilgrim already said, the white killer is awesome.

I also like the "Ash fell from the sky." it just sets the world.

Elantris's prologue's original first sentence was, "Whispered are the days when Elantris was beautiful." Like Brandon in his annotations, I like this line a LOT. Much more than the current line.

[Pechvarry]

"Raoden awoke, completely unaware he had been damned for all eternity." Or something like that.

[Starspren]

I agree with TWoK, Alcatraz and Mistborn. "Ash fell from the sky." is just perfect.

I also love the last line from the Elantirs prologue: "Eternity ended ten years ago."

And the last line of Alcatraz   

"And so, untold millions screamed out in pain, and then were suddenly silenced. I hope you're happy"

[Argent he/him]

I think I'll dig through my books sometime this weekend and provide reference quotations for each book, because I doubt anyone remembers them all. I certainly don't... 

[Claincy he/him]

Yeah, would be rather tricky to remember them all. Here's the ones that I have copies of that I know where are:

 

I've put slightly more than the last line in a couple of cases because they work much better that way.

 

The Final Empire;

-'Ash fell from the sky.'

-'And realized that was all she had ever really wanted.'

 

The Hero of Ages

-'Marsh struggled to kill himself.'

-'No, I'm not troubled. In fact, I actually think everything is going to be all right. Finally.'

 

Warbreaker

-'It's funny, Vasher thought, how many things begin with my getting thrown into prison.'

-'She smiled broadly. "I don't care," she said. "And I never have to again."

 

The Way of Kings

(prelude)

-'Kalak rounded a rocky stone ridge and stumbled to a stop before the body of a dying thunderclast.'

(prologue)

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

(first chapter)

-'"I'm going to die, aren't I?" Cenn asked.'

 

-'"What is it we value?" Wit whispered. "Innovation. Originality. Novelty. But most importantly...timeliness. I fear you may be too late, my confused, unfortunate friend."'

 

Steelheart

-'I've seen Steelheart bleed.'

-'I hadn't been fighting because of my father's death. I fought because of his dreams.'

Edited October 5, 2013 by lord_Ffnord

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

Well of Ascension:

-"The army crept like a dark stain across the horizon."

-"He looked at her for a moment, then turned back toward the city and its people. 'We're going to do what Kelsier taught us, Vin. We're going to survive.'"

 

Alloy of Law:

-"Wax crept along the ragged fence in a crouch, his boots scraping the dry ground."

-"He would see this to the end. Roughs honor. When one of your own went bad, it was your job to see the mess cleaned up."

[FeatherWriter she/her]

I can provide those from the Infinity Blade novellas. I think you guys got the rest of the ones that I've got access to.

 

Infinity Blade: Awakening

-"God's death didn’t do much to change the lives of the people of Drem’s Maw. In fact, most of them didn’t even know their deity had been slain."

-"The truth was, he’d probably already done everything on the list a hundred times over, even if he didn’t remember. Saving the world, though . . . that was something he was certain he’d never done."

 

Infinity Blade: Redemption (This one is kind of hard to pick a real 'first' line for.)

(prologue)

-" 'You want stories of Siris, do you? Stories of the Deathless who fought for ordinary men?' "

(first chapter)

-"Siris snapped open his eyes and rolled. He had only a few moments before—"

(the real first part of the first chapter)

- Conciousness returned to Siris like an eagle spreading its wings.

(last line)

-"If a man like Raidriar could be a hero, what did it mean for Siris? It meant freedom."

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

I figured I would edit and revive this with Words of Radiance coming, seeing as it may change some people's opinions.