The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings #11

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader.  Visit their links to learn more.

Title:  Revival

Author:  Stephen King

The Beginning:  In one way, at least, our lives really are like movies.  The main cast consists of your family and friends.  The supporting cast is made up of neighbors, co-workers, teachers, and daily acquaintances.  There are also bit players:  the supermarket checkout girl with the pretty smile, the friendly bartender at the local watering hole, the guys you work out with at the gym three days a week.  And there are thousands of extras -- those people who flow through every life like water through a sieve, seen once and never again.

The Friday 56:  "You don't know.  You don't understand.  It was terrible because it was no one's fault.  Certainly not George Barton's.  He simply had a seizure."

Comment:  I have no idea yet where this novel is headed, but it's been impossible to put down so far!

The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings #10

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader.  Visit their links to learn more.

Title:  The Gate to Women's Country

Author:  Sheri S. Tepper

The Beginning:  Stavia saw herself as in a picture, from the outside, a darkly cloaked figure moving along the cobbled street, the stones sheened with a soft, early spring rain.  On either side the gutters ran with an infant chuckle and gurgle, baby streams being amused with themselves.  The corniced buildings smiled candlelit windows across at one another, their shoulders huddled protectively inward - though not enough to keep the rain from streaking the windows and making the candlelight seem the least bit weepy, a luxurious weepiness, as after a two-hanky drama of love lost or unrequited.

The Friday 56:  "Things happen to you when you're young.  And you think you know what it was that happened, but you really don't.  Then later, sometimes years later, you suddenly understand what was really going on.  And you feel such a fool because it's too late to do anything about the mistake you made."

Comment:  The imagery in this book is incredible.  I usually don't do such a long beginning, but this beginning just spoke to me.  So much of this book is just beautiful -- not to mention, it's a great story!

The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings #9

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader.  Visit their links to learn more.

Title:  Sovereign

Author:  C. J. Sansom

The Beginning:  It was dark under the trees, only a little moonlight penetrating the half-bare branches.  The ground was thick with fallen leaves; the horses' hooves made little sound and it was hard to tell whether we were still on the road.

The Friday 56:  'Mistress Jennet Matlin, a maid in waiting.  She has cause to look sour.  Her fiance is in the Tower, accused of a part in the conspiracy.'

Comment:  This author writes some of the best historical fiction I've ever read.  This is the 3rd of his books I've read and they are always enthralling.

The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings #8

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader.  Visit their links to learn more.

Title:  Breathless

Author:  Dean Koontz

The Beginning:  A moment before the encounter, a strange expectancy overcame Grady Adams, a sense that he and Merlin were not alone.

The Friday 56:  Few crimes occurred in this remote land, and those were mostly crimes of passion, seldom theft or vandalism.  Consequently, Grady occasionally forgot to lock the workshop door.

He might have forgotten this time, but he hadn't left the door open, as it now stood.  With the faintest click of claws, Merlin preceded his master across the threshold.

Comment:  I'm not sure where this novel is headed, but it's got my interest!

The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings #7

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader.  Visit their links to learn more.

Title:  The Ask and the Answer

Author:  Patrick Ness

The Beginning:  "Your Noise reveals you, Todd Hewitt."  A voice -- In the darkness -- I blink open my eyes.  Everything is shadows and blur and it feels like the world's spinning and my blood is too hot and my brain is clogged and I can't think and it's dark --

The Friday 56:  "I'm sorry," she says, almost tenderly.  Almost.  "I don't know anything about a boy."  She frowns.  "I'm afraid I don't know anything about anything except that you were brought to this house of healing yesterday morning so close to death I wasn't at all sure we would be able to bring you back.  Except we were informed in no uncertain terms that our survival rather depended upon yours."

Comment:  I'm on book two of the Chaos Walking series and it is absolutely fabulous.  If you haven't read it yet, give it a try!

The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings #6

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader.  Visit their links to learn more.

Title:  Dark Satanic

Author:  Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Beginning:  The sign on the door, in modest gold letters, read JAMES C. MELFORD, MANAGING EDITOR.  The faintly pretty girl at the reception desk smiled, depressed a button, and murmured, "Mr. Melford?  Can you see Mr. Cannon for a few minutes?"

The Friday 56:  Now I have learned to serve a new God -- a God who makes allowances for the faults of humanity -- and I am at least learning to live.  Before I die, I will have my revenge on those who taught me that life was nothing but guilt and fear.

Comment:  This book was published in 1972 and in some ways seems a little dated, but the excitement keeps building and I have to find out what is going to happen!

The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings #5

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader.  Visit their links to learn more.

Title:  Shadow Moon

Author:  George Lucas and Chris Claremont

The Beginning:  In the middle of the night, Willow Ulfgood rode the back of a dragon.

The Friday 56:  A Great Hunt numbered thirteen.  Thorn prayed they didn't face that many; if they did, they had no chance.

Comment:  This is the first book in the trilogy written by George Lucas as a sequel to the movie Willow.  It's very promising so far.

The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings #4

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader.  Visit their links to learn more.

Title:  Forge of Heaven

Author:  C.J. Cherryh

The Beginning:  Grozny was where Lebeau Street mingled with the Style, where the low haunts of Blunt Street flowed into the Trend and rubbed shoulders with the rich and carefree.

The Friday 56:  (from page 56)  He was tired of fighting his parents' taste.  There were greater problems in the universe, and the parentals he was convinced wouldn't remember next month what gift he'd gotten them this year or last, as long as it didn't scare them or offend them.

Comment:  This sequel to Hammerfall is really a great science fiction story.  Many of my questions have been answered and I have faith that the rest of the answers are coming.

The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings #3

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader.  Visit their links to learn more.

Title:  Hammerfall

Author:  C.J. Cherryh

The Beginning:  Distance deceived the eye in the Lakht, that wide, red land of the First Descended, where legend said the ships had come down.

The Friday 56:  (from page 56)  But she went veiled, and disconsolate, and brooded.  Marak shared a tent with her and never had seen her face.

Comment:  Great story and great science fiction.  I love this author!

The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings #2

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader.  Visit their links to learn more.

Title:  Prince of Darkness

Author:  Sharon Kay Penman

The Beginning:  They came together on a damp December evening in a pirate's den.  That was how she would one day describe this night to her son.

The Friday 56: (from page 56)  Bennet was as tall and thin and supple as a mountain ash; he had the gaunt, lean look of a man who'd often gone to bed hungry.  That had indeed been true in his hardscrabble youth, for he and his older sister, Molly, had been accursed with a downtrodden drudge of a mother who'd sadly vanished from their lives, and a mean drunkard of a father who'd sadly stayed.

Comment:  This author is one of the best at historical fiction.  This story has captivated me.

The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings #1

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader.  Visit their links to learn more.

Title:  The Fall of Atlantis

Author:  Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Beginning:  At the sound of sandaled feet upon stone, the Priest Rajasta raised his face from the scroll he held open on his knee.  The library of the Temple was usually deserted at this hour, and he had come to regard it as his peculiar privilege to study here each day undisturbed.

The Friday 56: (from page 56)  ....the emotion he sensed between Micon and Domaris was a fragile and lovely thing to hold such seeds of grief.

Comment:  This is my first book of the new year and I've already begun it.  So far, I'm loving it.