Favorite opening sentence?

[Ammanas]

Favorite opening line to a book? Mine is a toss up between two:
1. It was the day my grandmother exploded.
2. Nyx sold her womb somewhere between Punjai and Faleen, on the edge of the desert.

[Quadrophenia]

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

[Zathoth]

"The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault."

"One day Gregor Samsa awoke to find himself transformed into a giant insect."

[Oversleep]

"They said he walked straight out of the waves of the Northern Sea and that he was born from their freezing, raging vastness and that he was brought forth by a drowner impregnated by the sea."

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Technically two sentences, but….

"First the colors. Then the humans." 

[soyperson]

"In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

(More of an opening line, but still)

[Who Sharded?]

I don't know, but Brandon is really good at opening sentences.

[Sunbird she/her]

9 hours ago, Zathoth said:

"The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault."

Spoiler

"Gordon Edgley's sudden death came as a shock to everyone--not least himself."

Quote

 

Hoodlums punch my face

I would smite them if I could

Mortality blows

 

"During the third attack, Hazel almost ate a boulder."

[soyperson]

I don't know if Apollo's haikus count, but that was brilliant.

[ShadowLord_Lith he/him]

On 11/4/2016 at 3:44 PM, bleeder said:

"In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

(More of an opening line, but still)

Where did you find this!?!?!?

also:

Magnus Chase-"I know, your going to read about how I died in agony and your going to say: "wow! Cool, Magnus, can I die in agony too?"

[mattig89ch he/him]

1 hour ago, ShadowLord_Lith said:

Where did you find this!?!?!?

also:

Magnus Chase-"I know, your going to read about how I died in agony and your going to say: "wow! Cool, Magnus, can I die in agony too?"

I believe its from hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.

For me it has to be from the Dresden Files: "They've taken our daughter".  First line in Changes, and my word what a line to start with.

[Darkness Ascendant he/him]

Szeth Son son vallano, wore white on the day he was to kill a king. have to admit, that's a pretty awesome opening line. It's what got me hooked into the world of Brandon in the first place.

Call me Ishmael.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. —Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities 

You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a winter's night a traveler. —Italo Calvino, If on a winter's night a traveler 

 It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the house-tops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness

[Sunbird she/her]

3 hours ago, ShadowLord_Lith said:

Magnus Chase-"I know, your going to read about how I died in agony and your going to say: "wow! Cool, Magnus, can I die in agony too?"

I debated about posting this one but decided it was too long for "opening sentence." But I totally agree, it's fantastic.

[Eagle of the Forest Path he/him]

"Call me Ishmael." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick (Yes, it's already been posted here by @Darkness Ascendant, but it's such a classic!)

"It began with my father not wanting to see the Last Rabbit, and ended up with me being eaten by a carnivorous plant." - Jasper Fforde, Shades of Grey

edit: Oh! If epigraphs count, then I have to add: "I am, unfortunately, the Hero of Ages." - The Hero of Ages, Brandon Sanderson

Edited November 7, 2016 by Eagle of the Forest Path

[Eki]

"The wind howled. Lightning stabbed at the earth erratically, like an inefficient assassin." - Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett

Not my favorite, but I recently read it.

Other than that, the WoT openings (granted, not the first line of the books since they have prologues, but still) always make me happy to read.

[aeromancer he/him]

"It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea."

[thegatorgirl00 she/her]

My name is Stephen Leeds, and I am perfectly sane. My hallucinations, however, are all quite mad. 

[Hood he/him]

1.  "Jasnah Kholin pretended to enjoy the party, giving no indication that she intended to have one of the guests killed." (Words of Radiance)

2. "Sometimes, I worry that I’m not the hero everyone thinks I am." (Mistborn: The Final Empire)

 

 

[Glamdring804]

"In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit."

And so modern fantasy was born.

[Zathoth]

Ash fell from the sky.

Yes I know the chapter heading is before that, but it barely counts.

[soyperson]

The sun peeked over the horizon like the head of a giant radioactive manatee.

[Sunbird she/her]

XD @bleeder what is that one from?

[soyperson]

Just now, Nightbird said:

XD @bleeder what is that one from?

Calamity.

[Sunbird she/her]

Oh. Duh. No wonder it sounded familiar. XD

[AngelEy3 he/him]

On 11/4/2016 at 1:24 PM, Quadrophenia said:

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

You beat me to that one. I'm a little late to this party though for sure. Have an upvote.