Writer's Block: Once upon a time…

[dweomeroflight]

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Oh Gosh. I can't list just one sentence! I have multiple favourite books. Well. Here are favourite books with favourite first sentences to try and narrow things down...

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." J.R.R Tolkien The Hobbit

"On a cold, fretful afternoon in early October, 1872, a hansom cab drew up outside the offices of Lockhart and Selby, Shipping Agents in the financial heart of London, and a young girl got out and paid the driver." Sally Lockhart Quartet by Philip Pullman, Book One, The Ruby in the Smoke

"If you are interested in stories with happy endings you would be better off reading some other book." ASOUE, The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

"Three children lay on the rocks at the waters edge." Daughter of the Forest, Juliet Marillier, Book One of The Sevenwaters Trilogy

I love fantasy and fantasy authors so all of my favourite books are in series.

Comments

[kitty-ryan.livejournal.com]

...You're a Sevenwaters fan.

It seems as if we read ALL the same books *grin*

[dweomeroflight.livejournal.com]

It must be an Australian thing ;)

I LOVE SEVENWATERS. The first three. Not a fan of the continuation ones so much. I actually really, really loved Child of the Prophecy. What a great ending!

[kitty-ryan.livejournal.com]

Fainne grew on me with re-readings, though my favourite is probably always going to be Daughter of the Forest/Son of the Shadows as a combined work. I just love the way they link together.

I had some patience for Heir of Sevenwaters, because Cathal was delightfully drawn, but the last one about Sibeal really disappointed me. I'm holding out for the final one, though, because logically it ought be about Maeve, and I'm REALLY curious as to what she does with that. I suspect there will be Heart's Blood/Beauty and the Beast parallels.

Oh, and have you read the Legends of Australian Fantasy anthology? There is a FANTASTIC Obernewtyn short story in there, as well as the sappiest thing I think Juliet Marillier has ever written.

[dweomeroflight.livejournal.com]

I always found SOTS a bit boring after DOTF which in my opinion surely has to be one of the strongest first novels I have ever read! I like Fainne and Darragh's story alot and how it was about Fainne making her own choices, seperate from what the Old Ones or The Fair Folk wanted.

I still need to read the Sibeal one. I'm way behind on my reading list ;)

No I haven't but I will add it to my list :)

Have you read Tales from the Tower: The Wilful Eye (collected by Isobelle and Nan McNab?) There is an Isobelle fairy story in it and the cover is GORGEOUS! My awesome lj bud brendanpodger got it signed for me at the Melbourne supanova by Isobelle, Nan and Rosie Borella. I haven't had time to read past Isobelle's introduction though! Yeah- I am WAY behind on the reading front!

[welshgirl15.livejournal.com]

XD I've just read the Sally Lockhart books!

AND I LOVE ASOUE!!

Will do this tomorrow if I remember :) (I should be asleep right now...)

[dweomeroflight.livejournal.com]

I know! And I love them to bits. I didn't think Pullman could write anything better than HDM but then I read Sally Lockhart and I actually enjoy them more.

ASOUE IS THE SERIES THAT TAUGHT ME HOW TO GRIEVE AND BE OK WITH IT.

[impetusofadream.livejournal.com]

A SEVENWATERS FAN?!?!?!?!? THEY ACTUALLY EXIST BEYOND ME AND THE PEOPLE I MAKE READ THE BOOKS?!?!?!?

Oh wait that's right, you live like where she does. No one cares here in America is seems like. I feel like I'm the only one who checks her books out of the library here. *had been bad and has had like the only copy of Heart's Blood out for like 7 months...because I keep getting distracted by other books*

I freely admit I found out about that series because I was looking for novelizations of Fairy Tales and Sur La Lune had is listed under the story of The Six Swans.

I actually like the sequels. Well, I actually thought Seer of Sevenwaters was better than Heir of Sevenwaters. *I think because I enjoyed Sibeal's struggle between the two desires of her heart. Not that Clodagh and Cathal weren't interesting, that book just felt REALLY long to me.*

Daughter of the Forest is still probably my favorite of the series though. *Needs to get around to actually BUYING all the other books other than just DotF*

And we've already talked about how I love the Sally Lockhart books. *FREDDIE!!!! WHY MUST CHARACTERS NAMED FRED ALWAYS DIE?!?!?!?!?!* Seriously though nothing pains me more than that scene at the end of The Shadow in the North when Charles gives Sally that portrait of Fred...*wibbles*

You really do have excellent taste in books m'dear!

[dweomeroflight.livejournal.com]

YES I LOVE SEVENWATERS. IT'S PROBABLY THE STRONGEST DEBUT NOVEL I HAVE EVER READ (IE DAUGHTER OF THE FOREST)

I need to read the Sibeal one before I can judge. It's on my to read list which is ever long and mounting ;)

I think Daughter of the Forest is near to being one of the most perfect novels I have ever read. I keep trying to force my Mum to read it ;)

OMG THAT BIT WAS SO SAD. I even cried in TRITS though, at the very end when Lockhart writes saying "now you will know what it means when I sign myself, your loving father." and also, something along the lines of, "One of the best choices I ever made was exchanging a ruby for you, my dear." I cried so bad. Damn you Pullman.

Also in Shadow in the North when she confronts that evil guy and he doesn't care and she keeps repeating "You killed Frederick Garland." THE DEATH OF ME.

As do you my dear.

[the-silverdoe.livejournal.com]

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."
Somehow, this sentence has all my childhood in it.

I haven't read any of the other books. *goes hiding*

[dweomeroflight.livejournal.com]

OMG re The Hobbit I agree completely!

Don't hide. GO read them lol!

[the-silverdoe.livejournal.com]

I will, once I've read all of the A Song of Ice and Fire books. ;)Did you read them?
No really, I want to read these Pullman books, at least, they sound really good and my love for fantasy is making a big comeback.

[sand-woman.livejournal.com]

'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'

Mortal Engines, Philip Reeve. I've lots of favourite openings, but all my books are packed away for the move. This one I recall because it came out when I worked in a Waterstones and I used to sell it to people by getting them to read the first paragraph.

[dweomeroflight.livejournal.com]

What kind of book is it?

[sand-woman.livejournal.com]

It's a young adult science fiction, slightly steampunk. It is a series but I've not read the entire series. There will be a film of it at some point.

[dweomeroflight.livejournal.com]

Steampunk? I must read it!

[sand-woman.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh, and I re-read the Hobbit recently and am now re-reading The Lord Of The Rings for the first time in YEARS, mostly because I bought it for kindle and it's a lot less intimidating and easier to carry around :)

[dweomeroflight.livejournal.com]

OMG REALLY? I AM AT THE END OF REREADING LOTR RIGHT NOW. I'm at Mount Doom. Spooky! I am then rereading The Hobbit and then reading The Silmarrilion for the first time.

[sand-woman.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I will be brave enough for The Silmarrilion. Let me know if you enjoy it :) I am hearing most of The Lord Of The Rings in the voices of Ian Holm, Michael Horden and William Nighy (etc) as my introduction to it was as a child through the radio serialisation from the 80s that my parents had on cassette. I've enjoyed reading about Tom Bombadill again.

[dweomeroflight.livejournal.com]

I'll do a general LOTR/Hobbit/Silmarrilion write up :)

I LOVE BOMBADIL. HIM AND HIS RANDOM SINGING.

[thisbluespirit]

Some great first lines - and some great books here! :-)

(I don't know what my favourite book is quite, but the opening line that always sticks in my head is I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith: I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.

[dweomeroflight.livejournal.com]

Love your icon!

I've heard that line a lot. Maybe I should add it to my 'to read' list.

Next up though is The Silmarrilion and then Sandman and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel :P

[thisbluespirit]

Thanks! :-)

From the things you've mentioned enjoying, I expect you'd enjoy it if you did. It's not fantasy, but it's very quirky & humorous in places and written by Dodie Smith (who obviously also wrote The Hundred and One Dalmatians), set in 1930s England and a bit autobiographical. It's about 17 year old Cassandra and her eccentric family who live in a ruined castle. (There's also a lovely film of it with Bill Nighy, Romola Garai and Rose Byrne, although the film loses some of the book's humour in places).

Yeah, that should take a little while to get through! I've read The Silmarillion, and Jonathan Strange is one of those books I keep looking at with interest.