Meme, courtesy of aurora77.

[shirenomad]

The following are the first sentences of ten of my favorite books (not necessarily in order). See if you can guess them.

If some remain unguessed by this time tomorrow, I'll add the second line, and so forth each day. In cases where the first line was just too flipping obvious, I start with the second line; I'll note where I do this.

1) It has now been a mere two score of years since we had the honor to have our work, Toward Beginning a Survey of Some Events Contributing to the Fall of the Empire, rejected by Lord Tri'ari and Master Vrei of the Institute. - The Phoenix Guards, by Steven Brust (guessed by bugen)

Second line, not the first: 2) For one thing, he hated the summer holidays more than any other time of year. - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling (guessed by jordanis)

3) The naked child ran out of the hide-covered lean-to toward the rocky beach at the bend in the small river. - The Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jean M. Auel (guessed by zerodotjander)

4) It was a dull autumn day and Jill Pole was crying behind the gym. - The Silver Chair, by C.S. Lewis (guessed by jordanis)

5) Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tidewater dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego. - The Call of the Wild, by Jack London (guessed by urbankotq)

Extended after 24 hours: 6) It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him. - Catch-22, by Joseph Heller (guessed by bugen)

7) "I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears, and I tell you he's the one." - Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card (guessed by bugen)

8) Once upon a time in Westphalia, in the castle of Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh, there lived a young boy whom nature had endowed with the gentlest of dispositions. - Candide, by Voltaire (guessed by jordanis)

9) This is the bright candlelit room where the life-timers are stored -- shelf upon shelf of them, squat hourglasses, one for every living person, pouring their fine sand from the future into the past. - Mort, by Terry Pratchett (guessed by jordanis)

10) Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York; and all the clouds that lour'd upon our house in the deep bosom of the ocean buried. - Richard III, by William Shakespeare (guessed by jordanis, who's kicking all your butts)

Comments

[surgo.livejournal.com]

#1 is something by Terry Pratchett. I've never even read any of his books.

#2 is something in the Harry Potter series.

#10 is "The Winter of our Discontent" by John Steinbeck.

That's it.

[shirenomad]

1) Wrong.

2) The judges refuse to comment until you give an actual book title.

10) Nope.

[jordanis.livejournal.com]

I'm going to say #2 is Prisoner of Azkaban

[surgo.livejournal.com]

Oops. I took the easy bait with #10. But Steinbeck always ripped his titles off of something else. Remember that!

[jordanis.livejournal.com]

Ten is... Shakespeare. Richard III?

[jordanis.livejournal.com]

Eight is Candide, by Voltaire

[shirenomad]

Correct on both.

[jordanis.livejournal.com]

Oh! Four is the Silver Chair (I should really put all these in one place...)

[jordanis.livejournal.com]

#9 is Mort, Terry Pratchett

[shirenomad]

Yes, please do so.

[scribe-of-stars.livejournal.com]

Hey, I got one of these for once! Number Five references good ol' Buck the dog from Jack London's The Call of the Wild.

And "Number Five" references good ol' Short Circuit!

[shirenomad]

Correct.

[bugen.livejournal.com]

#7 is Ender's Game.

[bugen.livejournal.com]

...and #1 is The Phoenix Guards by Stephen Brust (which I didn't read much of yet -- I actually have a far too large backlog of books to read now :p).

And if you need me to name an author for #7, Orson Scott Card.

[shirenomad]

Right on both counts.

[bugen.livejournal.com]

And #6 is Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. I haven't actually read it, but the name made it pretty easy to guess.

[shirenomad]

I knew I was forgetting something. Yeah, you got it.

one of the lines is from lord of the flies

[(Anonymous)]

3) The naked child ran out of the hide-covered lean-to toward the rocky beach at the bend in the small river.

Lord of the Flies

Re: one of the lines is from lord of the flies

[shirenomad]

Nope. Not a bad guess, but nope.

Re: one of the lines is from lord of the flies

[westmarked.livejournal.com]

Is is The Cay?

Re: one of the lines is from lord of the flies

[shirenomad]

Still no.

[thunderphoenix.livejournal.com]

I knew none of these. This makes me sad. -_-

[zerodotjander.livejournal.com]

#3 is Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jean Auel.

[shirenomad]

Correct.