Books Unmemorable Book Openings #2 -- 'Doctor Who and The Daleks' by David Whitaker
"I stopped the car at last and let the fog close in around me. I knew I was somewhere on Barnes Common and I had a suspicious idea it was the most deserted part as well. A warm fire and the supper my landlady would have waiting for me seemed as far away as New Zealand. I wondered how long it would take me to walk home to Paddinton and the possible answer didn't do anything to cheer me up. A fitting end to an impossible day, I thought savagely.
"For a start, before breakfast, I'd torn my best sports jacket on a loose screw on the door of my room. It didn't help that I'd been putting off tightening it for weeks so I had nobody to blame but myself. Then later, after I'd driven all the way to Reigate for a job I was after as Assistant Research scientist at Donneby's the big rocket component firm, I found that a nephew of one of the directors had got the post and I'd made the journey for nothing. Now the fog and the prospects of a long, weart walk. I looked at my watch, delayed the decision as long a is possible. Nearly nine o'clock.
"Just as the second hand completed its minute, I heard the sound of running footsteps. Probably someone as lost as I was, I told myself, welcome for a delay from the final decision to begin walking. Suddenly, into the pallid glow of my headlights, a girl appeared. She stopped and I saw her hands moving slightly, and I could see her mouth opening to speak. I tore open the door and ran to her, catching her before she fell to the road..."
[Only really unmemorable for people who think that the series began with two teachers standing in for social services as they follow a strange young girl home to a junkyard to find out what her home life is like. Actually pretty memorable piece of writing if you know what it is. This offers a good explanation. Junkyard or Barnes Common, which do you think has the creepier opening? Well advised to pick up a copy at your local library for old times sake.]
Showing posts with label unmemorable book openings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unmemorable book openings. Show all posts
Quote Unmemorable Book Openings (#1): Star Fighters by Robert E. Miles
The forces of the Dark Empire seemed to be irresistible: its black star fleets ranged far and wide, extinguishing the light of freedom in galaxy after galaxy, creating in this manner the mightiest empire ever known among the stars. Rebellions were virtually unheard-of in that vast slave-empire, for the reason that their occurrence brought forth punishments of unbelievable severity.
The elite fighting force of the empire was the Death Legion, commanded by yet another elite, the Ysss: a race of fierce reptiloids who held the empire's highest offices and kept the counsel of the Dark Emeoror. They worshiped death and lived to destroy; friendship, kindness, pity and compassion they regarded as mere signs of weakness; they were creatures bred to murder. Chief among the Ysss overlords was Blorg, the Supreme Commander of all the empire forces and the being closest to the Ylang-Ylang.
The Dalk Empire spread across the star-fields in the manner of a tidal wave, and all who encountered it (with few exceptions) were convinced of its invincibility. It was a creation of darkness, a juggernaut fueled by evil and armoured in the powers of the dak side of the Infinite. Its might grew with each new conquest; and horror and terror filled the shadows it left in its wake. The empire seemed truly unstoppable . . . until one day a strange combination of forces, both accidental and intentional, vectored-in on the line of it's progress.
It started with the invasion of the Primula galaxy, a place where war had been unknown for over two hundred years; and this act of naked aggression brought together most of the principal actors in this cosmic drama . . .
[with apologies to Darren at LinkMachineGo, who has been supplying some very Memorable Book Openings over the past few weeks, like this one. This book was published in 1978. No surprise there...]
The forces of the Dark Empire seemed to be irresistible: its black star fleets ranged far and wide, extinguishing the light of freedom in galaxy after galaxy, creating in this manner the mightiest empire ever known among the stars. Rebellions were virtually unheard-of in that vast slave-empire, for the reason that their occurrence brought forth punishments of unbelievable severity.
The elite fighting force of the empire was the Death Legion, commanded by yet another elite, the Ysss: a race of fierce reptiloids who held the empire's highest offices and kept the counsel of the Dark Emeoror. They worshiped death and lived to destroy; friendship, kindness, pity and compassion they regarded as mere signs of weakness; they were creatures bred to murder. Chief among the Ysss overlords was Blorg, the Supreme Commander of all the empire forces and the being closest to the Ylang-Ylang.
The Dalk Empire spread across the star-fields in the manner of a tidal wave, and all who encountered it (with few exceptions) were convinced of its invincibility. It was a creation of darkness, a juggernaut fueled by evil and armoured in the powers of the dak side of the Infinite. Its might grew with each new conquest; and horror and terror filled the shadows it left in its wake. The empire seemed truly unstoppable . . . until one day a strange combination of forces, both accidental and intentional, vectored-in on the line of it's progress.
It started with the invasion of the Primula galaxy, a place where war had been unknown for over two hundred years; and this act of naked aggression brought together most of the principal actors in this cosmic drama . . .
[with apologies to Darren at LinkMachineGo, who has been supplying some very Memorable Book Openings over the past few weeks, like this one. This book was published in 1978. No surprise there...]
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