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Violanthe
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 The Man with the Golden Torc by Simon R. Green
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 3:00 pm |
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How does this opener strike you?
It started out as just another everyday mission. A certain Very Important Politician, whose face and name you'd recognise, had come, very secretly, to Harley Street in London. Home to some of the most expert, and certainly some of the most expensive, specialised medical care in the whole of the civilised world. This politician, let's call him Mr. President, and no not the one you're thinking of, had himself booked into the Hospice of Saint Baphomet under an assumed name after contracting a supernatural venereal disease during a goodwill tour of Thailand. He was stupid enough to slip his handlers' leash and go looking for a little fun in the backstreet bars of Bangkok, and unlucky enough to end up getting it on with an agent of darkness masquerading as a ladything. As a result of which, Mr. President was now very heavily pregnant with something the very opposite of a love child. I had been ordered to terminate this unnatural pregnancy with extreme prejudice. The offspring was not to be born, or if born, not allowed to run loose in the material world.
If you've never read this book, or had no clue where the opener comes from, then how does it strike you? If you had only this opener to go on, would you read more? Does it grab you and spur you to read on? Or does it leave you unenthusiastic?
If you read the book it came from, did you remember right away or did you have to look it up? What made it so memorable - or not so memorable?
If you are interested to read on, then do a search on the opening line and tell us what it is.
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Last edited by Violanthe on Sat Aug 04, 2007 12:48 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Peter
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 7:38 pm |
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| Ouch - what a slab of text! |
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Violanthe
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Custer
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 4:58 pm |
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I used to love the "Hawk & Fisher" books, including the tales set back in the Forest Kingdom, but the "Nightside" present-day series didn't appeal to me. I didn't know Simon R. Green was doing "Shaman Bond" stuff now - it sounds as if it ought to be fun, though I can't imagine any country's President being able to "slip the leash" that much when on a goodwill visit.
Beginnings to novels are always tricky, and this one seems to work okay in telling you what to expect. He has got a lot he wants to establish right away, with such a wild premise.
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Violanthe
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Custer
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:00 am |
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It is a bit of a mindfull to present the reader with in one solid lump, I agree, but if you want to hook your readers, that may be better than "It was a dark and stormy night..."
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Violanthe
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Peter
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Violanthe
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Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:54 pm |
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Oh, I knew it was likely just a google away, Peter, but what kind of webmistress would I be if I didn't find every excuse to extend discussion threads? One with a pretty inactive forum.
So, thanks for googling. And I was glad to see A Wrinkle in Time mentioned in the Wikipedia article. I've often wondered why L'Engle started an otherwise so original book with such a trite, if classic, line.
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Nik
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I like Simon Green's oft-wicked humour...
Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:39 pm |
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Um, that paragraph is a bit on the long side, but if folk will only excerpt to the first gap...
Hawk & Fisher, Haven, Blue Moon & After were swashbuckling romps-- I'll look out for this next time I'm in 'Borders', see where it leads... |
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Epitarc
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Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 7:12 am |
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I've read some of green before and it's been a bit of hit and miss in my mind, not bad, but it sometimes feel like he's just putting stories together rather than writing one coherent story. ( will admit this is most felt in the Deathstakler series).
I liked this beginning though, reminded me of the stuff Charles Stross writes, sort of real-world-meets-Lovecraft.
Might pick it up if I see it. |
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Violanthe
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