My friend and fellow Codexian writer James Maxey tagged me in a chain cascade to post five things few people know about me. I need to put some thought into this one, so while I do that, I thought I’d participate in something that some other Codexians are doing. Alliette de Bodard started things, but I discovered this on Mary Robinette Kowal’s blog (linked at right). We’re posting the first line of our last five stories.
“It is incredible how one person can have so much influence over the success or failure of an organization.” from The Mysterious Marcus Sedrik
“Costanze Mozart looked out the carriage window at the fireball racing through the twilight sky.” – from K.622
“Transmissions from Earth took forever to get to the asteroid belt.” – Oh! Mallary!
“Ted Barlow pulled into one of the few cleared spots in the plowed area near the main observatory building on top of Mount Hamilton.” – from Flare: Lick Observatory
“It’s funny how everything seemed so peaceful as the timer counted down to flip-over.” – from A Nice Day for a Walk
Thanks for sharing these.
Cool! I really liked the one from Oh! Mallary! I’m getting a light-hearted space opera vibe from it…but I could, and probably am, wrong. 🙂
#1 doesn’t really do anything for me, sadly–because it’s a statement I don’t quite agree with and it throws me off. It’s the main problem with that kind of opening.
#2 is intriguing.
#3 definitely is space opera-ish–and tackles a problem a lot of SF glosses over (the transmission delay). Interesting.
#4 is probably a setting hook, but Mount Hamilton isn’t a place I know. I’d want to read the next sentence, though.
#5 is my fave of the bunch.
Thanks for the comments.
#1 talks is about such a person. You se this a lot in sports, where one athelete carries the team. Also in business, one person can make or break success.
#2 was a fun story. I had wanted for a long time to write an sfnal story involving Mozart. Extra credit to anybody who can identify K.622 without googling it.
#3 isn’t from a space opera, but I may recycle the opening line and write one. Instead, this is a tragic story about a man who tries to do everything right and has everything go wrong.
#4 I don’t generally start a story with a description of setting, but in this case, the fact that it’s winter is crucial to the plot. Alliette, Mount Hamilton is a few miles east of San Jose, California. Lick Observatory sits at the top.
#5 I like this one, too. It says a lot in a short space. Setting: slower-than-light space travel. Time: Half-way thorugh the journey. And, clearly something goes wrong.