Unforgettable Opening Paragraphs

[Lord Mhoram]

Sorus,

Hm. Thought I'd read or read about all of Zelazny's stuff. What is Roadmarks?

[Sorus]

It's one of his more obscure, almost always out of print.

Basically, it's about a highway that leads pretty much everywhere - past, future, alternate timelines as well as physical destinations. Pretty light, but worth reading!

[Lord Mhoram]

I'll try to find that.

[Wyldewode]

Okay. . . here is one for you. . can you guess it?

Brother Francis Gerard of Utah might never have discovered the blessed documents, had it not been for the pilgrim with girded loins who appeared during that young novice's Lenten fast in the desert.

Never before had Brother Francis actually seen a pilgrim with girded loins, but that this one was the bona fide article he was convinced as soon as he had recovered from the spine-chilling effect of the pilgtim's advent on the far horizon, as a wiggling black iota caught in a shimmering haze of heat.

[Alynna Lis Eachann]

Ha! At last, one I can do without looking it up! It's A Canticle for Lebowitz.

[Avatar]

I love that book.

--A

[danlo]

This should be, somewhat easy, but I'm skipping the first sentence to make it harder

"...A thunderstorm was brewing to the north. Bruise-black clouds silhouetted a forest of giant gymnosperms while stratocumulus towered nine kilometers high in a violent sky. Lightning rippled along the horizon. Closer to the ship, occasional vague, reptilian shapes would blunder into the interdiction field, cry out, and then crash away through indigo mists."

[Ryzel]

It's one of his more obscure, almost always out of print.

Basically, it's about a highway that leads pretty much everywhere - past, future, alternate timelines as well as physical destinations. Pretty light, but worth reading!

Yes- to quoute the only thing I remember from the book: "Hello Adolf! Are you still looking for that place where you won?"

Not the most memorable Zelazny, but the first one I ever bought.

[danlo]

I'll give it one more week. Come on somebody guess! duchess knows this--but her head may be still spinning from the Mich./Ball St. game.

[Sorus]

Nice to see this thread active again!

(But I don't have any idea what the answer is...)

[duchess of malfi]

I'll give it one more week. Come somebody guess! duchess knows this--but her head may be still spinning from the Mich./Ball St. game.

Yeah, that's right. Pull me in from lurking, why don't you?

It's from one of my favorite science fiction books of all time!

Spoiler

Dan Simmons's Hyperion.

But does anyone else know?

Now, back to occasional light lurking until I get some of the stress in my life under a bit more control.

[Sorus]

I need to read that one of these days... It's been on my list forever.

[danlo]

Go over to Ahira's Spa and Tennis Club to de-stress!

[duchess of malfi]

I hope to God I can destress, or I could eventually be in trouble.

When I get home from work, either tonight or tomorrow, I will see about posting a new opening paragraph.

[duchess of malfi]

Ok. Here we go.

This is the first paragraph of one of the most charming and funny books I have ever read, one of my favorite reads of all time, and one I reread frequently.

I am a watchdog. My name is Snuff. I live with my master Jack outside of London now. I like Soho very much at night with its smelly fogs and dark streets. It is silent then and we go for long walks. Jack is under a curse from long ago and must do much of his work at night to keep worse things from happening. I keep watch while he is about it. If someone comes, I howl.

[lucimay]

edit for dinkasaurus rex.

A Night in the Lonesome October.

i haven't read it i googled (cheater that i am). but i intend to.
great premise, great passage.

reminded me of this.

When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside of Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon.

i

[duchess of malfi]

You got it.

A book well worth reading. And yes - Snuff is Jack the Ripper's dog.

[peter]

Preliminary notes to the second, reconstructed and revised, edition. The auther assures the reader that he will not have to die if he reads this book......